Product Description Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) stars as Billy, A.K.A. Dr. Horrible, a budding super-villain whose plans for world domination continually go awry. His two goals: getting accepted into the Evil League of Evil, and working up the guts to speak to his laundromat crush Penny, played by Felicia Day (The Guild). The only thing standing in his way is Captain Hammer, Billy's superhero arch-nemesis played by Nathan Fillion (Firefly). With one big score, Billy could get into the E.L.E. and earn the respect of Penny, but only if he can keep her away from the dashing Captain Hammer... .com Conceived as an "online miniseries event" during the 2008 writers' strike, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 42-minute musical romp that bears the distinctive stamp of Joss Whedon. Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) plays the title character, who video-blogs about his twin goals to join the Evil League of Evil and to woo the fair Penny (Felicia Day, of Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Web series The Guild), a woman he met at the local laundromat. Dr. Horrible is foiled on both fronts, however, by his arch-nemesis, the self-absorbed superhero Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion, Whedon's Firefly).Dr. Horrible was written by Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed's fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen, and the songs were written by Joss and Jed (who also produced, orchestrated, played, etc.) with some lyrics by Tancharoen. (Jed and Tancharoen have backup singing roles.) The offbeat, off-the-cuff humor is laugh-out-loud funny, and just like Dr. Horrible wants to take over the world, the songs will take over your head: they're engaging ("My Freeze Ray"), stirring ("My Eyes"), and sweet ("Penny's Song"). "So They Say" is particularly evocative of Jonathan Larson's Rent, but as with Joss Whedon's musical episode of Buffy, "Once More with Feeling," the influences are diverse. It's hard to imagine a better cast. Harris, who's sung Sondheim on Broadway, is a great lead and clearly the best singer, Day is completely charming, and who better than Captain Tightpants to play the pompous superhero? One could argue about the ending, and the independent budget shows, but Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a complete hoot for people who enjoy musicals with quirky humor. Plan on watching it multiple times. --David HoriuchiOn the DVDEven if you've already watched or downloaded Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a number of bonus features might entice you. There are two commentary tracks: Harris, the three Whedons, Tancharoen, Day, and Fillion recorded a spirited track discussing the movie, and there's also "Commentary! The Musical" in which they ignore the movie and sing about the writers' strike and each other (e.g., Fillion sings "I'm Better than Neil")--the songs aren't as good as the Horrible songs, but it's good silly fun. A 20-minute making-of discusses the cast, the recording sessions, and how the movie became a phenomenon, and 10 videos (a half-hour total) were recorded by fans who want to join the Evil League of Evil. And when's the last time you wanted to pause the FBI warning? --David Horiuchi
M**A
One-third of a movie is not a movie
I was very excited when I found this offered on Amazon. I paid my $20 and looked forward to watching it. My husband and I watched Act One and shut it off because it was late. Next week, we tried to watch the second act. Guess what...no second act! It is a three act movie released in three installments. Totally misleading to sell only Act One as if it is the whole movie. I find no way to request a refund or complain. Shame on you, Amazon. This movie is fantastic. Act one only is a complete let down.
A**W
Even those who don't like musicals will LOVE it!
I first watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Netflix. I'm not really sure why I selected it to watch; maybe it's because I love Neil Patrick Harris in his role as Barney Stinson of How I Met Your Mother...But I watched it, not really knowing what to expect. AND I LOVED IT!!! I swear I watched it every single day for a while...That is, until Netflix took it off. I was so bummed!For one reason or another, I never bought the actual Blu-ray. I ended up buying the soundtrack on iTunes, which satiated my love for the movie's music. However, the soundtrack only contains the actual songs, of course. While Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is primarily music, I missed the dialog of Dr. Horrible's daily blogs and his banter with Captain Hammer.So I finally caved in and bought the Blu-ray. And I am so glad I did because this movie is AWESOME! Like I said before, it's primarily a musical. But even people who don't like musicals will LOVE it! My husband isn't too fond of musicals; the only one that he actually likes is Little Shop of Horrors: The Director's Cut + Theatrical (BD) [Blu-ray ]. But he LOVED Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!! And he doesn't mind watching it over and over again because the songs are great and it is hilarious!The storyline is great, the comedy is witty...I even enjoyed watching the behind the scenes included with this Blu-ray.You really must buy this and watch it. It is simply amazing! Now I just have to wait impatiently for Joss Whedon to make a sequel!
H**E
Bad Horse Approved This Review
What can I say about Dr. Horrible? It's amazing. It's strange and irreverent humor and endearing wit and charm is just...perfect! It's never going to stop being one of my favorites. Here's the plot: we're in a world of super heroes and villains. But discretion is paramount, therefore during the day Dr. Horrible is just...Billy. Billy is in love with Penny. (Felicia Day.) Penny is in love with the idea of saving the world and falls for Captain Hammer (Corporate Tool!) played by the ever so handsome and charming Nathan Fillion. Frozen yogurt and well crafted lyrical puns mixed in with Neil Patrick Harris's adorable and Felicia's wit and Nathan's humor...it doesn't get much better than this. Billy convinces Penny over laundry to be friends with him, but every time he tries to make it something more...Captain Hammer stands in the way.I don't want to spoil the plot, but it's a GREAT show. It was one of the best things to happen in the big Hollywood Writer's Strike. It's a wonderful ride but be warned it just...ends. I'm very conflicted about the ending, but that being said it's one of my NUMBER ONE movies that people MUST see. I hope that someday Joss Whedon (director) will pick these characters back up again. Wonderful movie with a musical format that works, doesn't annoy and is very funny! I cannot say enough good about Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog!
R**N
Bought the Blu-ray because it's not on iTunes anymore
I purchased Doctor Horrible from the iTunes store back in 2008 when this first came out. 480p quality, etc. I was recently hoping to see if they had an HD option to upgrade my 480p files with, and found that neither the soundtrack nor the video was on iTunes anymore. Bummer. So I bought the Blu-ray.Doctor Horrible was a low-budget musical filmed during the break that everyone took during the 2008 Writer's Guild of America strike. Created by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers, Avengers 2, Justice League) and his frequent collaborators (his talented siblings and their talented spouses, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day) and NPH, this is a funny 45 minute musical in three parts.I love this. My ex-wife enjoyed it. My current fiance doesn't like it. My parents and in-laws don't like it. People I work with like/love it. So, depending on your sense of humor, geek cred, and enjoyment of musicals, you may land in a different place. There are Disc Extras as well which include fan-created entries into the “Evil League of Evil”. Most of them are terrible, but the solo standout is one called the “Pastor of Muppets” (a play on “Master of Puppets”).Enjoy.
R**R
Lots and Lots of "Horrible" fun!
I love this. It's a beautiful story of a supervillain, a girl, and a superhero. It has brilliant writing, singing, and acting. I particularly loved the song "Freeze Ray". It's a beautifully twisted look on the usual superhero story with a wonderful sense of humor. It does have a heart-breaking ending, but it's still alot of fun! And the bonus features! I love the making of featurettes, abd the filmmakers commentary. The musical commentary was fun, but a bit strange. And it was sometimes hard to tell what the heck they were saying.......plus it's mostly played for laughs rather than serious information. You'll get alot more info from the making of and the Filmmakers commentary. The ELE application videos were fun, except for the one about The Reverend. That was creepy. I also loved the ELE interviews. All and all a wonderful movie with fun extras! One little tip: be sure to watch the FBI warning. It has an interesting surprise, especially for first time viewers for Doctor Horrible like me.
B**D
Witty Superhero Musical Saves the Day
When the Writer's Guild of America went on strike over pay issues in 2008, Joss Whedon called together his closest TV writer-buddiesand wrote, funded and directed this short comedy-musical completely independently, to prove their worth to the TV execs. There wereno teams of technical geniuses on hand to polish up the film with CGI. No lush sets. Nobody to fetch their coffees for them. No... no,actually, that's all this film lacks. One set even looks impressive.It's got great gags that are still funny five viewings later, it's got catchy songs that are written by talented songwriters, and it'sgot some big stars including Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly), Felicia Day (The Guild,Eureka) and Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory.)Best of all, it's a traditional three-act play with a very modern twist. Neil Patrick Harris is Dr. Horrible, a would-be supervillianwho dreams of earning a place in the Evil League of Evil, and winning the love of the girl he sees every week at the laundromat. He hasto show his crush how sweet he is and show the League how evil he is, while keeping his online followers up to date on his antics - yes,the story is framed in the episodes of Dr. Horrible's video-blog.If you're looking for explosions and lasers galore, you might be looking in the wrong place. Where this film shines is in the quality ofthe script, and the songs. It's probably to its benefit that the film had a tiny budget, and an even tinier running time (42 minutes),because every line of dialogue is a treasure.The extras are well worth the money too. Also on the DVD is a making-of featurette, a director's commentary, and something entirelynew - Commentary: The Musical, a musical director's commentary comprised of songs sung by the actors and writers about the film,the process behind it, and the fun they all had making it. (This musical is probably better, too!)Not only is it a great story, but the soundtrack WILL get you singing-along, and it's a little piece of television history -how many independent films made for the internet have won an Emmy?It's not horrible - it's a brief but dazzling piece of musical comedy not unlike Avenue Q, Family Guy or maybe even Glee.Just buy it.Note: Although the DVD comes from America, it is region free, meaning you can play it on any DVD player. It's well worth the wait asit ships across the pond!
M**N
Excellent fun!
I found this short film / mini series to be hilarious fun when I first caught it on youtube, and knew I had to invest in it. Neil Patrick Harris shines as usual in this role as the comic book super-villain just desperate to make his name into the villain's league, and in his quiet alter ego who falls madly in love with Felicia Day's Penny; who struck me as very Alyson Hannigan-ish in the role (certainly no bad thing though!), with a cute cameo from his roommate Moist - Howard from Big Bang Theory. But the scenes are promptly stolen by the cheesy machismo of Nathan Fillion, who relishes his performance as the smug and suave superhero Captain Hammer, who takes great relish in making the life of his arch nemesis hell, making moves on Neil's love interest just so he can rub it in.The dvd also boasts a fantastic and unique feature; the commentary itself is also a musical, performed by the cast and crew respectively, and is almost worth the cost of the dvd itself!Overall I can't wait for the long-awaited sequel to this!
A**K
Evil League of Evil's favourite film
If you are a Joss Whedon fan, you already know how great this movie is. If you aren't, but are a fan of great humour, good music and lyrics and a talent cast, this is a good bet. I sort of stumbled across it on youtube and then had to buy a copy to have of my very own. You will find that you are singing along to every song and crying hard at the end regardless of what hardened type you previously thought you were. Also as a bonus, if you let the ELE know that you have bought this movie, I think you get extra Evil Points so that's good value as well. Shout out to Bad Horse!
Z**S
Joss Whedon strikes again
A super villain musical - only Joss Whedon could come up with an idea like that. This is hilarious and sad and wonderful to see actors you are fond of doing different things. Nathan Fillion (Firefly) is fabulous as the 'hero' Captain Hammer, Felicity Day as the love interest and Neil Patrick Harris as Dr Horrible. It is very short - only about 45 minutes but even the commentaries are sung. Very enjoyable stuff!!
C**K
Joss Whedon at his best. The script is hilarious
Joss Whedon at his best. The script is hilarious, the songs are brilliant, and the acting from Neill Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion is awesome.Seriously recommended for any fan of the Whedonverse. And it's fortunately Region-free, so any Blu-ray player in the UK will still be able to play it, even though it's imported from the US.
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