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Ben 10 Omniverse Aliens At War and Duel Of The Duplicates DVD Reviews

“Aliens at War” and “Duel of the Duplicates” are the latest “Ben 10 Omniverse” DVD releases.

If you’ve been aching to see more adventures of Ben and Rook, you’re in luck. Warner Brothers has released 2 recent DVDs titled “Aliens at War” and “Duel of the Duplicates.” In the “Aliens at War” set, fans get 10 random episodes from seasons 2, 3 and 4. The stories here involve a kidnapped Gourmand Queen, a dimension hopping Mr. Smoothy restaurant (yes, this is an actual plot), Ben and Rook taking Vilgax to a prison, two Bens, the Dwarf Star, a smuggler named Rad Dudesman (these names…), Dr. Psychobos and Princess Attea teaming up to try and invade Revonnah, villains (such as chupacabras, Dr. Animo, V.V. Argost, Incurseans, and Eon), new Omnitrix aliens, and an Incursean invasion of Earth.

Over on the “Duel of the Duplicates,” you get a 3 episode Albedo story arc. In this storyline, Albedo disguises himself as Ben as he searches for a device that turns him into his Galvan form while Ben (who is imprisoned twice in this) is disguised as Albedo courtesy of Khyber. As it turns out, Khyber and Albedo are working together to capture Azmuth to try and use him to take over the galaxy. What exactly is Khyber and Albedo’s masterplan and can Ben, Rook and company stop them? ‘Duel’ also comes with 2 bonus episodes that feature a Dr. Animo centric story called “Evil’s Encore” and a throwaway Forever Knights centric tale called “Return to Forever.”

While I fully admit I am not the target audience for “Ben 10 Omniverse,” I will admit that is infinitely better than the original “Ben 10” series from the sampling of episodes I have reviewed over the years. Yes, the series is tiresome, kiddy, cheesy, and rather routine in sci-fi storytelling department, but you can certainly do worse than watch this series. Of the 2 DVD sets here, ‘Duel’ is certainly the most engaging as the Albedo story arc is a nice change of pace. Not only is it bigger in scope and more cinematic, but the stakes are much higher in this arc as well. As for ‘Aliens,’ most of the episodes are entirely forgettable, but Cartoon Network fans will get a kick out of the Secret Saturdays crossover special. More astute animation fans may enjoy the Thundercats ode and character brawl in the “Special Delivery” episode as well.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: Widescreen. How does it look? The animation is certainly not high quality, but the vibrant colors are visually pleasing even in standard definition.

Audio Track: Dolby Digital 2.0 (for both DVDs). How does it sound? “Ben 10 Omniverse” screams for a 5.1 release instead of a soft sounding 2.0 track.

“Aliens at War” Extras include “Ben 10 Omniverse,” “Regular Show,” and “The Amazing World of Gumball” ads and Alien Database character bios for Ampfibian, Cannonbolt and Terraspin.

“Duel of the Duplicates” extras include ads for “Ben 10 Omniverse” and “Scooby Doo.”

May 30, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Ben 10 Omniverse: Aliens At War DVD Review, Ben 10 Omniverse: Duel of the Duplicates DVD Review