Official Synopsis:
Visually stunning, masterfully told, viscerally thrilling: Broken Saints is finally on DVD! This controversial and critically acclaimed graphic-novel saga fuses anime style, comic-book text, cinematic effects and music into a revolution in modern storytelling! Originally created by a small team of independent artists, this hypnotic and surreal fantasy/horror epic is now presented as a 12-hour, 4-Disc set with the celebrated voice talents of William B. Davis (The X-Files), Scott McNeil (X-Men: Evolution) and more, plus an entire universe of mind-blowing special features! In the quiet corners of the globe, four strangers receive a series of chilling apocalyptic visions. Simultaneously drawn to a dark city in the West, their fates-and the fate of the world-are somehow tied to a global satellite network, a massive conspiracy, and a mysterious orphan girl with a terrifying secret. What will they give to save us all? What will they give to know the truth? Includes over 5 hours of Special Features, 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound Mix plus the Original Voiceless Stereo Track for two totally different experiences!
Our Take:
I have to admit that I had never heard of Broken Saints, but apparently it was quite the internet phenomenon back at the turn of the new millennium. Fox has done a rather innovative thing and brought the online animated series/comic book to DVD, a move that I applaud.
Understand, I wasn't blown away by Broken Saints. It definitely draws heavy inspiration from video games like Final Fantasy. The problem with it is that, while it looks fantastic, it spends so much time waxing poetic and using flowery metaphors to tell us about the universe that at some point it forgets to be ABOUT anything. Still, I applaud Fox for taking a non-traditional DVD property and bringing it to disc. Judging by the amount of fan-driven extra features on this DVD set, there are clearly a lot of Broken Saints fans out there. This is the type of project that may not be mainstream, but it will make a lot of people happy.
What will make them even happier is what an incredible collection Fox has put together. In addition to all the original episodes on four discs, there are hours of extra features to wade through.
* Production Featurette (19 minutes) - A behind-the-scenes look at how Broken Saints was created.
* Voice Over and Audio featurette (24 minutes) - Focuses on the voice-over artists and their work in the series.
* A.I. Panel Discussion (49 minutes) - A Q&A session from a live panel discussion with the creators of Broken Saints.
* Biocom Website - A recreation of the website from within the story.
* Walker Lecture (34 minutes) - Footage of a live presentation given by creator Brooke Burgess.
* Buzz (45 minutes)- A collection of short news interviews and press events that the Broken Saints crew participated in.
* Broken Saints Tarot Tree - An interactive tarot card feature.
* Fan Films - Seven fan-made Broken Saints short films and a fan art gallery.
* Documentary (8 minutes) - A more promotional featurette about BS.
* Sundance Featurette (24 minutes) - A look at the crew at the Sundance Film Festival.
* Behind the Scenes - A collection of short animation tests, interviews, and miscellanea.
* Commentaries - The creators of Broken Saints, including Brook Burgess, provide commentary on every episode.
Broken Saints might not have been my cup of TV, but I can't help but recommend this set for anyone who's even remotely interested in the online phenomenon.
Overall Picture:
Movie: C
DVD: A+
- Mike Spring
Editor
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