Product Description

From Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Dexter's Laboratory, comes the tale of a young samurai cast far into the future by the evil shape-shifting wizard Aku. Join Samurai Jack on his quest to return to the past and undo the destruction that Aku has wrought upon the land. With award-winning artwork and intricate, action-packed plots, the many journeys of Samurai Jack are a must for any fan's collection. DISC 1: Episode I - When Aku is reborn to set forth his reign of terror, a young samurai attempts to slay him with a mighty sword. But Aku banishes the warrior to the future. Episode II - After landing in the future, the samurai, now named Jack, begins his quest for Aku. Episode III - Jack attempts to beat back Aku's army and save a race of canine archaeologists. Episode IV - Jack helps free the Woolies from the tyrannical Chritchellites. Episode V - Jack and a group of scientists join forces to try and escape the wrath of Aku. Episode VI - A mysterious warrior woman joins Jack in his quest, but is she really an ally? Episode VII - Jack must get past three mysterious archers to reach an all-powerful wishing well. DISC 2 Episode VIII - Jack must do battle with his darker self, Mad Jack. Episode IX - Jack has an underwater adventure while hunting for an ancient time portal. Episode X - Jack survives a cave full of challenges before doing battle with a feared lava monster. Episode XI - When Jack and a Scotsman meet on a never-ending bridge, they end up shackled together and on the run from bounty hunters. Episode XII - Jack hooks up with some Chicago gangsters to try and get close to Aku. Episode XIII - Aku tells three fairy tales, with a decidedly skewed point of view, to the children in order to win them over to his side.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Interviews

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7749 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2004-05-04
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 298 minutes

Features

• From Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Dexter's Laboratory, comes the tale of a young samurai cast far into the future by the evil shape-shifting wizard Aku. Join Samurai Jack on his quest to return to the past and undo the destruction that Aku has wrought upon the land. With award-winning artwork and intricate, action-packed plots, the many journeys of Samurai Jack are a must for any fan's collectio

Amazon.com
When Samurai Jack burst onto the small screen in 2001, it introduced a boldly imaginative visual style to the often dreary realm of television animation. Other series have tried to imitate the flattened, angular graphics pioneered by the UPA studio during early '50s. Samurai Jack succeeds in recapturing the essence of the UPA shorts because creator Genndy Tartakovsky and his artists understand that these highly stylized visuals require equally stylized movements.

The ongoing battle between heroic Jack and the evil shape-shifter Aku simultaneously evokes and spoofs the conventions of anime and Western live-action film. Long ago, Jack nearly destroyed Aku in a duel; in desperation, the wizard hurled the samurai far into the future, where Aku's word is law. Jack fights robots, monsters, bounty hunters, etc. as he seeks to return to his own time, so he can prevent Aku's rise to supremacy.

The writing is sometimes uneven, but even when the material feels weak, the visual imagination never falters, from the flamboyant character designs to the use of split-screen. The filmmakers stage the quiet moments as skillfully as the action sequences, and Samurai Jack offers more exciting storytelling than many big-budget animated features. (Unrated: suitable for ages 10 and older: stylized violence, occasional profanity) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Time to Rejoice!
The announced release of the first season of the brilliant animated series, Samurai Jack, is a genuine cause to rejoice! Finally, a studio understands the value of an animated series in a timely manner. One can only hope that other studios will get the message that animated properties can and are just as popular as live-action series and movies.

Samurai Jack was created by the multi-talented and truly gifted Genndy Tartakovsky, who also created the fantastic Dexter's Laboratory. Samurai Jack combines innovative and imaginative storytelling with a captivating animated style that is at once simple and evocative. The series tells the story of a Japanese samurai who has embarked on an epic mission to fight evil and save his world.

In the distant past, the samurai, who calls himself "Jack," is the son of an emperor captured by the evil Aku, a shape-shifting wizard. The young Jack is sent away not only to survive but to train his mind and body in all forms of martial arts so that he will eventually be capable of vanquishing Aku.

Jack returns as an adult and reunites with his mother who gives him the sacred sword of the samurai to defeat Aku and rescue his father.

Armed with the sword, Jack is on the verge of a final confrontation with Aku when Jack is literally ripped from his own time by the evil wizard and hurtled thousands of years into the future -- a future where Aku has already become the all-powerful evil lord who controls the world and all living beings.

Jack begins anew, working not only to right the wrongs Aku has visited on the population of this future world, but ultimately to return to his own time and stop Aku before the nightmarish future he has seen can even be realized.

Mature themes including the true meaning of courage, morality, responsibility, faith, despair, good and evil are explored as Jack struggles, and risks his life time and again to overcome what at first appears to be a force that is all-powerful and unstoppable. However, through Jack's insights and pure heart, viewers come to realize there is hope, not just for Jack, but for any society in which just one individual risks it all against tyranny and evil.

Stylish Quality
I absolutely love this show. Samurai Jack explodes with a level of style rarely seen. The action, animation and stories are all fantastic. This is an extremely well done TV series.

The character of Jack is an immensely charismatic hero. His courage, resourcefulness and ethical code serves as a breath of fresh air in today's sea of common, immoral TV characters. This samurai actually inspires me to better myself in the real world. Not many shows have that effect and even fewer cartoons do!

The only special features in this set I liked was getting to see what some of the voice actors looked like.

The chance to own the whole first season must not be missed by Samurai Jack fans. I await the next season on DVD eagerly. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the following: samurais, clever plots, style.

GREAT SHOW
SAMURAI JACK-Season 1
2 DVD's-300 minutes

Samurai Jack is a very cool show and I'm glad it was released on DVD. It's a two-disc collector set with special features and 13 season 1 episodes. Anyone that's a fan of Cartoon Network cartoons will like this. It's definitely worth $20.

THE EPISODES IN THIS SEASON 1 SET:
I (The Beginning)
II (The Samurai called Jack)
III (The First Fight)
IV (Jack, the Woolies, and the Chritchellites)
VII (Jack and the Three Blind Archers)
V (Jack in Space)
IX (Jack Under the Sea)
VIII (Jack vs. Mad Jack)
XI (Jack and the Scotsman)
X (Jack and the Lava Monster)
VI (Jack and the Warrior Woman)
XII (Jack and the Gangsters)
XIII (Aku's Fairy Tales)

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Making of Samurai Jack
Original Artwork
Never Before Seen Footage
Creator Commentary