| Superman/Batman: Public Enemies | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Sam Liu |
| Written by | Stan Berkowitz |
| Based on | Superman/Batman byJeph Loeb andEd McGuinness |
| Produced by | Bruce Timm Alan Burnett Michael Goguen Bobbie Page Sam Register Benjamin Melniker Michael Uslan |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Margaret Hou |
| Music by | Christopher Drake |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a 2009 American animatedsuperhero film based on theDC Comics story arc "Public Enemies" in theSuperman/Batman comic book series, written byJeph Loeb and drawn byEd McGuinness, which focused onSuperman andBatman teaming up to prevent ameteorite from strikingEarth, and taking downLex Luthor, who has been electedPresident of the United States. Directed bySam Liu, it is the sixth film of theDC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film received generally positive reviews upon release. Additionally,Tim Daly,Kevin Conroy,Clancy Brown, andCCH Pounder reprise their respective roles from theDC Animated Universe as Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor, andAmanda Waller.
The film was released byWarner Bros. Animation on September 29, 2009.[2]
Lex Luthor is electedPresident during a severe nationwideeconomic depression. Under his leadership, the economy begins to thrive, and he assembles a group of government-employed superheroes consisting ofCaptain Atom,Katana,Black Lightning,Power Girl,Starfire, andMajor Force. Despite Power Girl's enthusiasm about the peace and stability and Atom's loyalty to the government,Superman andBatman maintain their distrust toward Luthor.
The United States government discovers a massiveKryptonite meteor hurtling toward Earth. Instead of asking superheroes for aid, Luthor decides to destroy it withnuclear missiles. Luthor arranges a meeting with Superman inGotham City under the pretense of a truce, only to result in a battle with the hiredMetallo against Superman and Batman, in which Metallo manages to injure them both before an unknown assailant kills him. On national television, Luthor pins Metallo's murder on Superman, using altered footage of their battle to implicate him as well as a baseless claim that Kryptonite radiation can affect Superman's judgment, then places a billion-dollar bounty on Superman.
Batman and Superman break intoS.T.A.R. Labs seeking information on the meteor, and find Metallo's remains; they realize that a radioactive energy blast killed him, and it was made to look like Superman's heat vision. An army of villains looking to collect the bounty attacks them. Superman and Batman easily overpower most of the villains while Captain Atom defeats the rest with a giant energy blast. All of Luthor's superhero team except Power Girl, whose loyalties are divided, attempt to capture the heroic duo until Superman creates a twister using his super-speed, and the two heroes escape with Power Girl.
InMetropolis, Power Girl admits that she does not believe Superman killed Metallo and dislikes Luthor. Luthor's superheroes catch up and the fight begins anew with Power Girl aiding Batman and Superman until Batman deduces that Major Force killed Metallo under Luthor's orders and goads him into admitting it in front of everyone. When Major Force snaps and tries to kill him, an angry Power Girl punches him hard enough to rupture his containment suit, releasing his radiation. Captain Atom absorbs the energy, disintegrating Major Force and leaving him comatose.
Meanwhile, the missiles fail due to the meteor's radiation destroying them before impact.Amanda Waller discovers that Luthor has secretly been taking a serum composed of a strength-enhancing steroid and liquid Kryptonite. Luthor then informs Waller that he will let the meteor hit Earth as he plans to rebuild society in his image, becoming Earth's single leader. Batman and Superman battleCaptain Marvel andHawkman before breaking into Luthor's base of operations to retrieve data on the meteor. Luthor refuses to relinquish the data, going so far as to erase it from the lab computers, but Waller gives them a copy. Batman, Superman, and Power Girl head toTokyo to deliver the data toToyman, who has already built a rocket-propelledspacecraft to stop the meteor. Waller and the military then attempt to arrest Luthor, but he injects himself with more Kryptonite steroids and dons a power suit equipped with Kryptonite weaponry. After escaping Waller and the military, Luthor follows Superman and Batman overseas, intending to kill Superman himself.
After Batman and Superman arrive at Toyman's lab, he shows them the spacecraft, which resembles a giant, robot composite version of Superman and Batman, and with the data creates reinforcements so that it will not explode before impact. However, Luthor arrives and neutralizes Power Girl, Superman, and Batman, and disables the rocket's remote guidance systems so that it will not take off by itself. With no other choice left, Batman decides to fly the rocket himself despite Superman's protests. Though initially faring poorly, Superman eventually disables Luthor's suit, and he is apprehended by Captain Atom and his team. Batman successfully destroys the meteor and returns to Earth in an escape pod.
With the truth of Metallo's death now public knowledge, Superman is cleared of murder charges, while Luthor is arrested and taken to face trial andimpeachment for his crimes. Batman returns to Gotham while theDaily Planet's star journalist,Lois Lane, arrives and embraces Superman.
Although Jennifer Hale is credited for voicing Starfire, the character does not speak in the released version of the film and Hale is not credited for playingKiller Frost, a role she reprised fromJustice League andJustice League Unlimited.
In addition to Hale's uncredited reprisal of Killer Frost, actors that reprise their roles from theDC Animated Universe include Clancy Brown, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, and CCH Pounder, who reprise their roles asLex Luthor,Batman,Superman, andAmanda Waller, respectively.
| Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Soundtrack from the DC Universe Animated Original Movie) | |
|---|---|
| Film score (Digital download) by | |
| Released | September 29, 2009 |
| Length | 58:02 |
| Label | New Line Records |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Markets Crash" | 1:32 |
| 2. | "Main Title" | 2:27 |
| 3. | "Freeway Chase" | 1:15 |
| 4. | "Admit Something" | 1:40 |
| 5. | "Metallo" | 4:51 |
| 6. | "High Voltage" | 0:51 |
| 7. | "Framed" | 1:27 |
| 8. | "Luthor talks to Power Girl" | 0:55 |
| 9. | "S.T.A.R. Labs/ Banshee & The Cold Crew / Mongul, Grundy, Grodd" | 5:57 |
| 10. | "Bounty Hunters" | 1:58 |
| 11. | "No Surrender" | 2:02 |
| 12. | "Tornado Recovery" | 0:16 |
| 13. | "Trust Your Instincts" | 4:05 |
| 14. | "The Corps Fights Sinestro" | 2:48 |
| 15. | "Missile Launch" | 1:45 |
| 16. | "Luthor’s Fix" | 0:23 |
| 17. | "Shazam!" | 3:05 |
| 18. | "Luthor Shoots Up" | 1:17 |
| 19. | "Heroes In Disguise" | 3:11 |
| 20. | "Toyman" | 2:13 |
| 21. | "Blast Off" | 4:02 |
| 22. | "Ultimate Sacrifice" | 3:06 |
| 23. | "A Hero’s Return" | 2:56 |
| 24. | "End Credits" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 58:02 | |
IGN reviewed both the standard and Blu-ray versions of the movie positively, awarding an 8.0 rating.[3] This surpassedIGN's review ofSuperman: Doomsday,[4]Batman: Gotham Knight,[5] andGreen Lantern: First Flight.[6] The review score matched that ofJustice League: The New Frontier.
At the DVD sales chart,Superman/Batman: Public Enemies opened at #5, selling 197,626 in the first week for revenue of $3,222,460. As of today, 527,482 units have been sold translating to $7,911,279 in revenue (This does not include rentals/Blu-ray sales). This makesPublic Enemies the second highest selling DVD only behindSuperman: Doomsday and the third most profitable of the ten movies in theDC Universe Animated Original Movies line-up.[7] The film has currently[when?] earned a total of $11,037,595 from domestic home video sales.[7]
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was released on standardDVD in single and double disc editions, along with a high definitionBlu-ray release, on September 29, 2009. Special features for the double disc edition include an inside look ofWonder Woman,Batman: Gotham Knight,Justice League: The New Frontier, andGreen Lantern: First Flight, DC Comics' 2009 crossover eventBlackest Night, two production featurettes, a sneak peek ofJustice League: Crisis on Two Earths, trailers ofGreen Lantern: First Flight,Fringe, andBatman: Arkham Asylum, digital copy download, and two episodes ofSuperman: The Animated Series picked byBruce Timm. The Blu-ray edition has all the features of the double disc standard definition release including three additionalJustice League episodes selected by Timm.
The good performance of theSuperman/Batman: Public Enemies release has led Warner Premiere and DC Universe to release a sequel,Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, based on theSuperman/Batman comic storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". It was released on September 28, 2010.[8]
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