DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG (2008)

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Viewers will probably feel a bit short-changed by Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. After all, it is so darned good that one just wishes that it could go on and on – but unfortunately it runs a mere 42 minutes, a bit shorter than your average Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode . . .

Neil Patrick Harris is Dr. Horrible, a wannabe super-villain who wants to join the Evil League of Evil. Unfortunately his attempts at impressing the League come to naught as his plans are usually thwarted by a narcissistic superhero named Captain Hammer (excellently played by Serenity’s Nathan Fillion). That the hapless Billy (Dr. Horrible’s real name) also makes the somewhat amateur mistake of announcing his illegal schemes beforehand on his Internet blog doesn’t help matters either. Things come to a head one day when Captain Hammer saves a girl Dr. Horrible secretly has a crush on. Dr Horrible had better act soon if he wants to join the Evil League of Evil and get the girl at the end of the day!

Fans of director / writer Joss Whedon’s off-beat sensibilities will of course enjoy Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog the most. (Whedon is the brain behind the popular Buffy and the short-lived Firefly TV shows amongst others – as if you didn’t already know that.)
Like the beloved Buffy episode One More, with Feeling Dr. Horrible’s is a musical. The whole affair is drenched in his typical post-modern self-awareness (it pokes a lot of fun at super-villain genre conventions) and the ending is wholly unexpected. Since it was originally made for release on the Internet only the production values are the cheap side, but that doesn’t distract from the onscreen events.

THE DISC: This disc is exactly the same as the exclusive-to-Amazon.com-only DVD which has been available previously. Only difference is that this release will be available at retailers besides the online giant. Plus the DVD packaging finally acknowledges the fact that, yes, Joss Whedon was actually involved with the project and that this is a selling point with his small but devoted following. Thus Whedon is finally mentioned on the front cover.

Special features, etc. are precisely the same as the old release and there is no point in buying this edition as well if you already own it. To be honest the special features, though numerous, are somewhat on the disappointing side. A lot of Dr. Horrible-like fan films are included on the disc, but they – with one or two exceptions - just illustrate that one shouldn’t accept any imitations. The film-makers seem to have a lot of fun on the voice-over commentaries and the musical commentary (!) too, but we couldn’t make ourselves sit through them all to be honest.

WORTH IT? Yes.

RECOMMENDATION: If you’re the type who appreciates the quirky and off-beat humor of shows such as Whedon’s Buffy and Firefly then we suggest you buy this immediately if you haven’t already done so.