4/5 When a Superman dies...
  by N. Durham (Philadelphia, PA)
The first in a line of straight to DVD animated features adapted from classic DC stories, Superman: Doomsday re-tells the much maligned Death of Superman saga from the early 90's in animated form, and despite what many of the negative reviews here say otherwise, it works. The Man of Steel (voiced by Serenity's Adam Baldwin) is in love with Lois Lane (voiced quite stiffly by Anne Heche) and both are enjoying their relationship, until his world is rocked by the arrival of the murderous creature Doomsday, who is inadvertantly let loose by Lex Luthor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's James "Spike" Marsters). If you've read the comics, you know what happens next, but the animated feature wisely ignores the Reign of the Supermen part of the arc, in place of an imposter created by Luthor, which results in an apocalyptic showdown. Being the first in a line of newly animated features, don't go into this expecting something among the lines of the DC animated series' that had come before it. The animation itself looks similar to what we've seen before (veteran animator Bruce Timm is heavily involved here), but the tone is noticibly different. The voice acting is solid (Marsters is magnificent as Luthor, while Baldwin is servicable as Superman) and the action is nicely orchestrated as well, all of which makes Superman: Doomsday an animated treat. This new two-disc edition has a few new features, including episodes from the underrated 90's Superman animated series, but there isn't anything else here that really warrants getting double-dipped for.

3/5 Not bad, but not what I remember...
  by John Dougherty (Wayside, NJ United States)
I read the book/graphic novel over ten years ago, if I remember. This isn't much like that at all. Superman fights something called Doomsday and dies, then comes back to life. That's about all that remains of the original story.
Gone are the side stories about Superboy and Steel, which were very cool IMHO. Gone also is the interesting story about how Superman came back to life. The mechanics behind how he does so in this DVD are completely different, from what I recall.
Not bad for a fun hour's watching, but don't expect this to be like the original story.
I wish they'd have made the movie of it like they'd planned :(

3/5 Good, but could have been great
  by R. Vashko (New Orleans, LA United States)
There's good stuff to recommend in this DVD, but there are some awfully big caveats I feel one should know before buying:

1.) Straight-to-video titles rarely have the production values of theatrical animated releases, so know going in that the animation is no great shakes - a notch above the latest Superman and Justice League shows on Kids WB!, but not a huge step up by any means. There are some inspired moments of animation, but they are few and far between.

2.) Don't be taken in by the "PG-13" rating. I suppose slapping "PG-13" on it works to WB/DC's advantage, suggesting the movie is a "hard" Superman story that attracts the fanboys. But while it does contain some language, violence and themes that you'd never see on the Animated Series on TV, in relation to what you see in theatrical films, this is squarely "PG" all the way.

3.) There is no way they could cram in everything from the Death/Rebirth of Superman storylines into a 90-minute film. I doubt they could effectively squeeze it all into a 3-hour film. So there's no Justice League getting whupped by Doomsday, no Supergirl or "heroic" Lex Luthor II, no Steel or Superboy, no Cyborg and Mongul colluding to destroy Coast City. No Kryptonian War-Suit.

If you go in with all that in mind, the film isn't so bad. IMHO, they did a good job of condensing the essentials of the storyline into a single digestible story. Those who strive for continuity with the comic books need not apply. They did manage to include things like the Eradicator (kinda), how Metropolis deals with the absence of Superman, the pain of Lois and Martha not being able to grieve openly, Clark being resusicated in the Fortress, the black suit and long hair, and the issue of whether Metropolis would be better served by boy-scout Superman, or a darker, more violent protector. So it's not a total break with the comic storyline.

Some of the dialogue is cringe-inducing, and I really didn't like Anne Heche as Lois. I've always found her voice to be a bit grating. But I really enjoyed Adam Baldwin as Clark/Supes. There's a great scene with the film's version of the Eradicator, where he rescues a cat from a tree and talks about "sweating the small stuff". Watch for it - one of the best parts of the film.

The animation was really a bit of a let-down - given how far in advance they'd been hyping this release, I really was hoping for something a good bit better than an episode of the TV show. So I couldn't give this four stars. Still, I would have given it 3.5 if I could have, as the overall narrative is pretty solid.

If you really like the Animated Series, and/or really want to see a movie-like translation of the Death of Superman storyline, pick this up. All others might be advised to rent and watch before buying.

5/5 Superman: Doomsday review
  by Russell R. Honbeck (Salem, OR)
Phenomenal.

I can't even express how impressed i was with this movie.

Is it the comic? not really. does that matter? hell no. this movie is based on "The Death of Superman," yes, but they never said it would be exactly the same. did they follow the basic premise and capture the essence of the story? hell yes, they did. and they translated all the most important parts of the story while still making it their own.

denying the pure quality of the movie itself is just a practice in bad taste. keep in mind that most of the people who will bash this movie for not being an exact adaptation of the three graphic novels it pulls inspiration from are probably the same people who own all box-sets of S:TAS and consider them to be bar-setting quality in Superhero television. was S:TAS exactly like the comics? hell no. in fact, to compare them on those grounds is just rediculous... they're about as different as they can possibly be, without S:TAS destroying the superman comic mythos. the key is that they kept the important parts the same, and delivered high quality writing, animation, etc. while still being allowed to add their own flavor to the stories.

the route they took with this movie was, i think, perfect for what they were aiming to do. they wanted to bring the classic story to the screen without bogging it down with all of the unnecessary plot tangents that drag the focus off of Superman himself. because that's what's important. Superman's death is what sold those comics, not the inclusion of the JLA. and then, subsequently, Superman's return from death after much mourning is done by the Man of Steel's loved (and not so loved) ones. all of this was captured flawlessly in the film and i think it deserves the highest of ratings for what it accomplishes in it's relatively short running time (even though the sheer scope of it makes it feel far more substancial than any other 70-80 minute movie i've seen).

basically, to wrap up, this movie exceeded my already high expectations and as far as i'm concerned, they already have my money when the Dvd is released.

i highly recommend it and suggest that you, at the very least, rent it regardless of any doubts.

3/5 Why fix what was not broken
  by J. Randall (Dayton, Ohio United States)
First off I really thought this show overall was pretty good. Much more adult orientated. The biggest problem I have is all the voice changes. I mean the same actors were used throughout Batman the Animated Series, then the Superman Series, and ongoing into the Justice League animated series. But for some reason the makers of this show decided like many American animation projects to get big name actors versus the actors that made these characters who we loved or loved to hate. Clancy Brown did a wonderful job as the voice of Lex Luthor, now they have some crappy wimpy sounding Lex Luthor. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? Keep the team of voice actors that gave us fans what we wanted.