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Justice League of America (TV movie)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Justice League of America | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Félix Enríquez Alcalá |
| Produced by | Lorne Cameron David Hoselton Scott Shepherd Larry Rapaport |
| Starring | Miguel Ferrer David Krumholtz Kimberly Oja David Ogden Stiers |
| Music by | John Debney James Raymond |
| Cinematography | Barry Wilson |
| Editing by | Ed Rothkowitz |
| Release date(s) | 1997 |
| Running time | 82 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
This article is not to be confused with the upcoming Justice League film.
Justice League of America is a 1997 unsuccessful TV-pilot directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, based on a team of fictional DC Superheroes from the comic of the same name. The film centers on a female meteorologist who gains superpowers and on her subsequent induction into the "Justice League", whilst the city of New Metro is held to ransom by a terrorist armed with a "Weather Control Device".
The film is interjected with mock-interviews of various members of the Justice League, speaking about life as a superhero in a past tense, preceding the events of the film.
The pilot never aired on U.S. television, but has since become distributed in unauthorized versions.
Contents |
The film begins with an introduction to Tori Olafsdotter, a meteorologist working at the Eno Meteorological Institute who will later become Ice, as the protagonist. Then New Metro is attacked by a Tornado being controlled by a terrorist calling himself The Weatherman. Flash diffuses the Tornado using his speed whilst the other members of the JLA use their powers to save civilians.
Tori inadvertently stumbles upon a strange device in the lab where she works. Whilst investigating its use, she spills water on it and it strikes her with strange blue electricity. But she is unharmed and leaves the lab for home freezing everything she touches. En route she sees a man drowning, when she attempts to rescue him the water freezes around her. That night she is abducted by the JLA and interrogated, believing her to be The Weatherman. They release her and Tori believes it was all simply a bad dream.
The JLA suspect that Tori's timid work colleague Arliss Hopke is The Weatherman. New Metro is then again attacked, this time with Golf ball sized Hailstones. But disaster is averted when Fire melts them all. The JLA infiltrate a party at the Eno Meteorological Institute looking for evidence that Arliss Hopke is The Weatherman. Tori then discovers that it is in fact her boss, Dr Eno who is The Weatherman.
Tori takes this knowledge to the JLA and they in turn take her to their secret command centre the Watchtower. The JLA's leader J'onn J'onzz introduces himself to Tori and the other members of the League reveal their secret identities. At this point Tori discovers that Atom is actually a man whom she has been flirting with. The JLA attempt to train Tori to hone her freezing powers with not much success.
The Weatherman issues a demand of $20 million or he will engulf New Metro in a Tidal Wave. He then attacks the Watchtower using a "Heat-Ray". The JLA escape and devise a plan to stop the wave, leaving an inexperienced and pessimistic Tori behind. The JLA's attempt to stop the Tidal Wave is unsuccessful and it is in fact Tori who stops it by turning it into ice.
The film ends with The Weatherman already hatching his escape from prison and Tori joining the JLA.
- Kimberly Oja as Tori Olafsdotter / Ice: Tori is a timid and pessimistic meteorologist working at Dr Eno's Meteorological Institute, who gains her powers through an accident with a weather control device. She is in a relationship with Ray Palmer (Atom).
- John Kassir as Ray Palmer / Atom: Ray is a science teacher who gained his powers by discovering a compelling radioactive rock while conducting research out in the desert. As his condition developed he became a social outcast before being recruited to the league. He now is in a relationship with Tori Olafsdotter (Ice).
- Matthew Settle as Guy Gardner / Green Lantern: Although Green Lantern used only the name and costume of the Gardner version, in personality and appearance, he resembles Hal Jordan wearing the mask and insignia similar to that of Kyle Rayner and the ring of Alan Scott. However, this ring doesn't bestow the power of flight upon its wearer instead, Gardner flies by using the ring to generate a Helicopter rotor.
- Michelle Hurd as B.B. DaCosta / Fire: B.B. is a struggling actress, who has in the past dated her JLA team-mate Guy Gardner (Green Lantern). She embarks on a friendship with a younger man (Martin) over the course of the film. She was born with her powers.
- Kenny Johnston as Barry Allen / Flash: Barry is unemployed, has trouble keeping a job down, gets evicted from his apartment at the start of the film and eats exceedingly large amounts very quickly due to his "fast metabolism" (much like his successor, Wally West). He eventually gets a job as a councilor at a children's home. He gained his powers from a "lab accident". In counterpoint to his source character, he's portrayed as dim-witted.
- David Ogden Stiers as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter: J'onn is the leader of the JLA. He is a refugee from Mars because Martians do not have the freedoms that human beings take for granted. He has vowed to protect those freedoms in exchange for his time on Earth. He has Shapeshifting abilities, but can only spend limited time in human form.
- Miguel Ferrer as Dr. Eno / The Weatherman: Dr. Eno has his own meteorological institute and is also the terrorist known as The Weatherman. His motives seem to be driven by financial gain. He is seen beginning his escape at the end of the film.
- David Krumholtz as Martin Walters: Martin is a younger friend (and fellow actor) of B.B. and has an unrequited love for her. He discovers her secret identity by noticing that a pair of earrings Fire was wearing are the same as B.B's. However, J'onn uses his shapeshifting abilities to convince Martin otherwise. In the end, he gets a girlfriend his own age.
- Ron Pearson as Dr. Arliss Hopke: Arliss is one of Tori's work colleagues. He exhibits strange behaviour and the JLA suspect that he was The Weatherman at first.
The film has generally received poor reviews, scoring 3.6/10 on IMDb. Common criticisms are of the costume design and how the heroes' secret identities are portrayed.[1] Established writer for the JLA comics, Mark Waid referred to the movie as "80 minutes of my life, I'll never get back"[2][3]
Justice League of America was never aired in the U.S., but has been shown on Channel 5 in the U.K., on German television, and on Latin American cable networks.
The film was, however, transmitted to CBS affiliate executives and station managers over a satellite feed during a pilot evaluation period. For unknown reasons, this feed was not scrambled and home satellite dish owners could receive the signal. The transmission was recorded by members of the public and copies circulated through tape trading. Bootleg versions were later sold at conventions and comic book stores.
- ^ Michael Hutchison. "Justice League of America: The Movie", http://www.monitorduty.com/mag/fanzing09/feature3.shtml, retrieved on 29/04/07.
- ^ Stefan Robak. "JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA", http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/justiceleague/index.html, retrieved on 29/04/07.
- ^ JasonLeeSmith. "Why Did I Like This", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118365/usercomments, retrieved on 29/04/07.
| Justice League | |
|---|---|
| Creators | Gardner Fox |
| Characters | List of Justice League members |
| Related teams | Justice League Elite | Justice Society of America | Outsiders | Super Buddies | Teen Titans | Young Justice |
| Headquarters | Secret Sanctuary | Justice League Satellite | Justice League Watchtower | The Hall |
| Current series | Justice League of America (vol. 2) | JLA: Classified | Justice League Adventures / Justice League Unlimited |
| Previous series | Justice League of America | Justice League International | Justice League Europe | Justice League Quarterly | Justice League Task Force | Extreme Justice | JLA | Justice |
| Other media | Cartoons: The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure | Super Friends | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited Live Action: Legends of the Superheroes | Justice League of America |