SUMMARY
Everything was
going so well for the Irken Army.
Operation Impending Doom 2 was underway, planets were to be
conquered.
Then Zim showed up.
Giving him a defective robot named Gir and sending him to a far
away planet called Earth, the Almighty Tallest (leaders of the Irken
elite) expected him to just fail at conquering the planet and
hopefully, destroy himself.
Well…you can’t have everything.
Follow Zim through more adventures of attempted Earth conquest.
DVD
VISION TEST
VIDEO: The
show never looked this good on TV (even on digital cable).
Everything is very clear and free of imperfections.
AUDIO:
You get English 2.0 and Spanish 2.0, plus commentary tracks.
Just like the video, no problems detected on any of the
tracks.
The 2.0 Audio Commentary is pretty
typical. The speakers come from the front while the show plays in
the background.
EDITS:
None really, though I’m almost positive that at the end of the
opening sequence when they show the “Zim” logo, a Nick logo has
been superimposed. I
don’t seem to remember it being there during its broadcast days.
EXTRAS: On each disc, you get audio commentaries for all but one episode
with Jhonen Vasquez and various cast and crew.
There are also extra commentaries for a handful of episodes,
Irken subtitles, animatics, and a 10-minute interview with some of the
staff.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY: Do
you like to laugh? Do
you also like sci-fi action/adventure?
You do? Excellent,
you’ve found a winner. “Zim”
redefines the word “wacky” by offering a bizarre sense of humor
with awesome visuals and action.
Just be warned…this show is very quotable.
ACTING:
This cast is just plain awesome.
You really have to give credit to Richard Horvitz for voicing
Zim, as it’s doubtful that many people would be able to scream
like this on a regular basis; his delivery is also top-notch.
Rikki Simons, the voice of Gir and others, is just
hysterical. His voice
for Bloaty’s Pizza Hog is both disgusting and funny at the same
time. Andy Berman also does an excellent job as the voice of Dib.
Like the rest of the cast, he has an ungodly range of
bizarre.
FAN SERVICE: Just name it. A
very large number of sci-fi references, a Chuck E. Cheese parody, a
“Vampire Hunter D” reference…it’s all in there.
I haven’t seen so much pop-culture references outside of a
Tarantino film.
CONCLUSION:
Not since
“Ren and Stimpy” has a Nickelodeon show made me laugh as hard as
“Invader Zim.” Offering
up some of the most bizarre dialogue in recent memory and really
brilliant observations of things in this wacky world, Jhonen and
crew really had a hit. It’s
just too bad that it was aimed at kids ages 2-11.
Using a seamless blend of 2D and 3D animation, the action scenes
in here are at times amazing. In
episode 13, “
Battle
of the Planets,” Zim discovers that Mars was converted into a ship
(yes…the entire planet) and decides to use it to destroy Earth.
When Dib finds out, he takes control of Mercury, and the two
have a fight in space with both of the planets; this is just plain
awesome to watch and is easily the best action sequence on this set.
Some of the jabs at sci-fi are brilliant; a personal favorite is
in episode 17A, “Megadoomer.”
Zim is accidentally sent a Megadoomer (the most advanced
combat mech in Irk’s military) thanks to a rebellious slave in the
Irken Army’s mail room. Thinking
that he can use the cloaking device on the machine and destroy the
humans with something they cannot see, Zim doesn’t realize that it
only cloaks the ship and not him.
Hilarity ensues when he finally realizes this and shouts,
“Oh, that’s stupid!”
Finally, something must be said about Gir, Zim’s robotic
assistant. Taking comic
relief to a new level, Rikki Simons is just funny as hell as this
character. Gir goes from
zero to crazy in a matter of seconds, spouting off some of the shows
most quotable lines (“It’s got chicken legs!”).
If you want to have a good time, then go to your local, filthy
human movie store and suffer your meaty fate.
In other words, just check out “Zim” and laugh yourself
stupid. This DVD set is
really the best this show has ever looked and you can tell Media
Blasters has put a lot of effort in making it.
Return to Top
Back to the Review Page
©All information protected by DVD Vision
Japan copyright unless otherwise noted.
