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The Movie: The latest DVD releases for Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" programming, "The Brak Show: Volume 2" and "Sealab 2021: Season 4" offer up heaping helpings of animated absurdity for fans. Especially bizarre is "The Brak Show", a spin-off series taking the popular character from "Space Ghost" and putting him and fellow "Space Ghost" character Zorak in the middle of your average (well, not-so-average in this case) neighborhood sitcom - there's Brak's alien mother, miniature Latin father and a strange array of different neighbors. The series is certainly unique in both its sense of humor and its animation style. The images are often animated over static backgrounds, which actually works for the humor, which is a constant stream of off-the-wall absurdity. This set includes episodes fromt the second and third season, including: New Brak, Feud, Runaway, Brak Street, Dinner Party, We Ski in Peace, Braklet, Prince of Spaceland; Coma, Shadows of Heat, Enter the Hump, Splat, Sexy New Brak Show Go, All That I Desire You and Cardburkey. Still offbeat, but swimming in somewhat more mainstream waters is "Sealab 2021", a wacky workplace sitcom that's actually a remake of the old environmental cartoon, "Sealab 2020". This series takes footage from the old animated show and manipulates it while also integrating new animation, as well. In "2021", the scientists running the massive underwater research facility have lost their minds and end up screwing up their plans for just about every task they're confronted with. While the old series was rather square, the new series is crude (in one episode, a character is killed when he's having an affair with a shark and her shark husband arrives home - later in the episode, his half-shark/half-human son saves the day), utterly unpredictable and often quite funny. Episodes: Isla de Chupacabra, Joy of Grief, Green Fever, Sharko's Machine, Return of Marko, Casinko, Butchslap, Monkey Banana Raffle, Shrabster, Cavemen, Moby Sick, No Waterworld and Legacy of Laughter. The DVD VIDEO: "Sealab 2021" and "Brak Show" are presented in their original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratios by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment. Both shows use very basic animation, but the presentations handle the material well, as both shows look quite good, with scenes appearing crystal clear. Some minor shimmering was spotted on a couple of occasions during some episodes on both sets, but no pixelation, edge enhancement or other concerns were seen. Colors remained bright and vibrant, with nice saturation and no smearing or other flaws. SOUND: Both shows sport perfectly enjoyable stereo soundtracks, with crisp, clear dialogue, music and effects. EXTRAS: "Brak" boasts no supplements, while "Sealab" offers fans a bonus short ("Nightshift"), a "best of" featurette, deleted scenes for "Joy of Grief" and alternate ending for "Legacy of Laughter". Final Thoughts: "Brak Show" and "Sealab" are fun efforts, although I especially liked "Sealab"'s twisted retake on "Sealab 2020". Both sets offer very good audio/video quality and, in the case of "Sealab", an assortment of minor extras. Recommended for fans. |