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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Ben 10: Alien Force-Volume 1 (2008)

Ben 10: Alien Force-Volume 1 (2008)

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Released 3-Dec-2008

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Animation & Audio
Game-10 in 10
Trailer-Other Cartoon Network Shows
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2008
Running Time 109:10 (Case: 115)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (65:40) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor
Cartoon Network
Madman Entertainment
Starring Yri Lowenthal
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI ? Music Andy Sturmer


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Title of Show : Ben10 : Alien Force

    Title of Disc : Volume 1

    Year of Production : 2008

    Country of origin : USA

    What's included? :  First 5 episodes of the new show (of 13 in Season 1).

    Episode Length : About 22 minutes each.

    Details of episodes : 

This new spinoff from the original Ben10 series is being released in volumes rather than whole seasons. The following episodes are included:

      1. Ben 10 Returns : Part 1
      2. Ben 10 Returns : Part 2
      3. Everybody Talks about the Weather...
      4. Kevin's Big Score
      5. All That Glitters

    Style of Production : Animation

    Premise of show : Ben10 : Alien Force is a new Cartoon Network production which follows on from the very successful Ben 10 series. It is not so much a spin-off as a sequel due to the original series completing after 4 seasons. There has been a gap of 5 years between the old series and this and Ben is now 15. He has not been fighting aliens for the intervening 5 years but suddenly aliens are showing a renewed interest in Earth and Grandpa Max has disappeared. He receives a cryptic message from Max and decides to put the Omnitrix back on. When he does this the Omnitrix changes shape and there are 10 new aliens rather than the original ones available to him. These episodes introduce some of them including Swampfire, Echo Echo and Humungosaur. This time Ben teams up with his cousin Gwen again but also forms an uneasy alliance with his old enemy Kevin Levin. They set out to rescue Max and fight the aliens. It is a bit more serious than the old show and includes little hints of romance and teenage angst.

    Age Group : 5-12

    Related to any other children's shows? : A sequel to the original Ben 10.

    Adult's view : A good show for young boys with a lot of excitement, some suspense, some mild scares and interesting and exciting characters.

    Child's view : My 6 year old son has been very excited about this new series ever since he heard about it. He loves the new aliens especially Swampfire, Echo Echo,Chromastone and Humungosaur. Another hit with fans of the original.

    Other Releases of this show available? : All four seasons of the original show have been released along with two feature length movies, one animated and one live action.

    Overall : A good updating of the concept, my kids have taken to it immediately. Fans of the original series will love it.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.

    The colour was very good with deep blacks.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English. They are yellow and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at 65:40 between episodes.

     

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The surround speakers were used for quite a bit of atmosphere and music and the subwoofer added bass to music and effects.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

   

Menu

    The menu was still but had music and a cool 10 based motif for the cursor.

10 in 10 (2:26)

    Each alien is shown disguised on screen for about 10 seconds and you have to guess which one it is before it is fully revealed. My boys loved it.

Poster

A large Ben 10 : Alien Force poster is included.

Trailers

    Other Cartoon Network shows.

 

 

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region 1 version is basically the same except for the extra trailers locally. Draw.

Summary

    Ben 10 rebooted as Ben 10 : Alien Force. Already a big hit with my little Ben 10 fans.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    Only one extra but it was popular with my boys.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-NS708H upscaling to 1080p, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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