The Simpsons: Bart Wars (1992)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cast:
Extras: Animatics
Rating:

’Bart Wars’ is a compilation DVD, offering four episodes from ’The Simpsons,’ all taken form separate seasons of the show. Since some of the seasons in question have not yet been released on DVD, this DVD will not only cater to the sporadic Simpsons viewer, but also to those among you who just can’t wait.

Taken from Season 3, ’Dog Of Death’ is the episode surrounding Santa Little Helper’s escapade when he runs away to become one of Mr. Burns’ infamous hounds. It’s a great episode that nicely plays off the dog for a change and makes for some cool selfish Simpsons moments.

From Season 7 we find ’Marge Be Not Proud’ on the DVD, an episode in which Marge learns that Bart was shoplifting and has to deal with the situation. Priceless Simpsons stuff here.

’The Secret War Of Lisa Simpson’ is an episode from Season 8 in which Marge and homer decide to send Bart to military school since they don’t seem to be able to handle the boy any longer. Standing by her brother’s side, Lisa decides to stay at the military school as well, but being the only girl on campus her solidarity and own willpower are quickly coming under fire.

The DVD is rounded out with ’Mayored To The Mob’ the ’Star Wars’ episode with Mark Hamill. After saving Hamill from fans during a scifi convention he decides to become a bodyguard for Mayor Quimby. Innocently he is suddenly exposed to the dealings of the mayor with the Mob… but handles it with bravery… the Homer way.

All four episodes on the DVD are certainly top notch and make for almost two hours of fun viewing. It covers a good span of content of the show and highlights a different character in each episode. As a bonus the DVD contains animatics for the episode ’Mayored To The Mob’ showing how the show developed from scribbles to a fully fleshed out episode.

The overall image quality is good, though some compression artifacting around the edges is evident upon close examination. Nothing too distracting but visible at times nonetheless, especially on large TV screens. Colors are strong and vibrant, making for an enjoyable viewing.

For around $10, this is a nice DVD to hold fans over until season 7, 8 and 10 will be available in their entirety. Of course, it’s also a great buy for anyone who just wants to see some highlights from the show for a change.