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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 26100
Released: June 20, 2006 |
| Our Price: $3.01 |
| Used Price: $1.94 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Superman, about to finally divulge his identity and his feelings to Lois Lane, suddenly finds his mighty hands full when Brainiac, a powerful computer, bent on universal domination and Lex Luthor team up to defeat him. Armed with new weapons and a special strain of kryptonite infused in his body, Brainiac becomes the most powerful enemy The Man of Steal has ever faced. When Lois Lane is critically injured by a force beam that was intended for him, Superman must race into the mysterious Phantom Zone to find a cure. Brianiac, believing Superman to be dead, betrays Lex Luthor and begins his attack on the city of Metropolis and ultimately Earth. Will Superman survive the Phantom Zone in order to defeat his deadly foes, save Lois and Metropolis?
Description of Superman: Brainiac Attacks - (Original Movie):
The direct-to-DVD animated feature Superman: Brainiac Attacks pits Superman against two of his longest-running foes: Lex Luthor and the robotic Brainiac. Luthor's scheme is to re-jigger Brainiac's configuration using a combination of Superman's DNA and a rare form of Kryptonite to make him an unstoppable weapon against the Man of Steel. Fans of TV's Superman: The Animated Series will be pleased to note the return of Tim Daly and Dana Delany, who reprise their roles as Superman and Lois Lane from the show, but hardcore Superman/Justice League Unlimited viewers may regret the loss of Clancy Brown's formidable performance as Luthor (who is voiced here by Powers Boothe), as well as Corey Burton as Brainiac (here handled by Lance Henriksen). Also missing is the series' adherence to its DC Comics origins and its serious tone, which here is blunted by Duane (The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures) Capizzi's frothy script, which hews closer to a combination of the Superman films and broad comedy. --Paul Gaita
Superman: Brainiac Attacks - (Original Movie) Reviews:
Superior to Common Reception 
2009-11-28 - Well it was only a matter of time... I'm a self-admitted DCAU (DC Animated Universe) aficionado and while the following property has typically earned nothing but poor reviews from professional critics and casual comic fans alike, I knew that I simply wouldn't be satisfied until adding this to my collection and viewing it for purpose of review.
Let's start with the facts. Released across a single DVD, Superman: Brainiac Attacks is packaged within a single standard sized DVD case and comes in at a runtime of 75 minutes. There are no extras contained on the set (rare for a DC animated release) but there is a nice assortment of Warner Bros. DVD trailers under the "Special Features" heading.
The story goes something like this: Super criminal Lex Luthor forms a dangerous alliance with the computer/villain Brainiac once his prototype satellite defense system proves quite unable to destroy the alien upon entry. Using advanced weaponry and a tiny sample of Kryptonite harvested from the far reaches of the galaxy, Luthor redesigns Brainiac after a near-fatal pummeling from Superman to defeat the Man of Steel once and for all.
The problem of course is that super-villains rarely learn to play nice together and by the time the union of Brainiac and Luthor crumbles, Superman's got both of them to deal with plus a strain of kryptonite infused nano-virus afflicting both he and Lois. The only known cure lies deep within the Phantom Zone.
The animation, which has been the subject of scrutiny in the past, is certainly on par with the CG-heavy efforts of the later DCAU properties (like Justice League/ JL Unlimited) and is vastly superior visually to the hand-painted efforts of Superman: the Animated Series. The color pallet is bright and crisp and many of the onscreen effects (fire, explosions, dimensional distortions and so on) are beautifully rendered throughout.
About the biggest complaint comes in the form of the voice actor casting as some of the Superman the Animated Series choices were retained (Tim Daly as Superman/ Clark Kent & Dana Delany as Lois Lane) others were replaced seemingly at random. Among the notables here is digitally effected Lance Henriksen (Bishop from the ALIEN franchise) as Brainiac and Powers Boothe as Lex Luthor (opposed to Corey Burton and Clancy Brown respectively). In short, Henriksen manages to deliver the goods. Chalk it up to the natural raspiness of his voice or the cybernetic associations through ALIENS and you end up with a very believable computer-powered organism. Powers Boothe, however, drops the ball as Luthor. Sad as it is to say, he displays too much vocal and emotional fluctuation. Lex is known for his smooth-sounding cunning and there's simply a bit too much inflection here to feel entirely convincing.
Aside from the vocal discrepancy (which I'm thoroughly convinced accounts for a majority of fan complaints), the other point of divergence from SM: TAS comes in the form of Duane Capizzi's (known for developing such shows as The Batman and Jackie Chan Adventures) script, which was admittedly developed as a counterpoint to the Superman films (with a slight comedic slant). As such, the sheer grit that viewers of the original Animated Series have grown to expect is absent and replaced with a livelier, friendlier Metropolis. However, rumors of the film's departure from the original SM: TAS are highly exaggerated.
Perhaps the film's greatest strength, which may simultaneously be its greatest weakness, comes in the form of the pacing. How can this contradiction possibly make sense? Well, the weak dialog can hardly be considered feature-length, as a good 30% of the film is completely action-sequence driven. The battles are truly massive in scale as is their resulting destruction. The animation in these segments is right up there with what viewers of Justice League have come to expect and unlike SM: TAS, Supes actually uses several of his long overdue abilities (freeze breath, heat and x-ray vision to name a few). Cooler still is that Brainiac, for as nearly invincible as his body may be, ends up getting the ultimate edge on the Man of Steel by attacking on a nanoscopic level. Very cool.
Interestingly enough, the film is typically not considered a part of the DCAU despite the fact that several of the DCAU's leading figures were heavily involved in its production. As a result many (mistakenly) believe there must be continuity issues but the show doesn't specifically violate any of the established timelines of the DCAU either. Capizzi has stated that the biggest difference lies in the fact that the script was developed from the onset to be a standalone plot line and in no way connected to the ongoing threads setup in SM: TAS.
In conclusion, it's quite easy to understand how the poor characterization of Lex Luthor has led to many of this film's negative critical responses, I feel like a lot of this stems simply from the fact that the DCAU has raised the bar so high, it's pretty easy to disappoint fans. Had this come out before SM: TAS or better still, from a completely unrelated firm, I don't think fans would be quite so critical. There's a lot of entertainment to be found here so long as you go in with expectations a few stages below the DCAU in its prime.
Give this movie a chance! 
2009-10-24 - The sheer amount of negative reviews for Superman: Brainiac Attacks are really not fair. Yes, this movie has some issues, but it's not nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe.
Good elements:
1) The action throughout is quite enjoyable. 2) The subplot with Clark contemplating whether he should tell Lois about his feelings is worth the price of the whole movie. 3) Without revealing too much, I personally loved watching Superman inside the Phantom Zone, I won't spill the beans, just watch it! 4) Brainiac is an enjoyable villain to pit against the Man of Steel (although I must admit that I miss hearing Corey Burton from Superman: the animated series voice the character). 5) Tim Daly voices Superman/Clark masterfully. Any issues that this film has simply cannot be blamed on Daly's performance!
Bad elements:
I actually only have a singular criticism. I have to agree with so many who despise Luthor in this movie. The biggest problem I had with him is that he's bipolar. In one scene, he's the Luthor we love to watch: cunning, ruthless and brilliant. Yet in the next scene he's the class clown, inserted for nothing more than comic relief, what's worse is that he's not even slightly funny. I love Powers Boothe's voice, but he can't pull this version of Lex off, I dare say no one could have.
That said, don't let my analysis of Lex scare you off. I still think you will enjoy this movie; at least I did.
For the Love of God, Do Not Buy This 
2009-09-30 - Oh wow. This one just stunned me. I enjoyed the Superman Animated Series but I always felt it was one of the weaker DC animated series. I think that most people would expect that a movie would be of higher quality than the television show but then most people would be incorrect. Brainiac Attacks is sort of a perfect storm of badness that combines horrible voice acting, lousy scripting, sub par animation and a lifeless plot. At the eye of the garbage storm sits the single worst portrayal of Lex Luthor ever in any media. Supposedly the movie takes place in a slightly different universe than the animated series and apparently in this universe Luthor is a worthless buffoon. I've actually never been a huge fan of Clancy Brown's voice acting in the animated series but Powers Boothe's irritating whine made me long for Brown's lower, more dignified vocal tone. Powers Boothe did the voice work for the Ultra Humanite in Justice League Unlimited and seemed fine but here it's just awful. When you combine Luthor's completely inappropriate voice with the terrible dialogue it just becomes painful. Who in there right mind thought that Luthor would say things like, "yadda, yadda, yadda" or "break out the tiki torches" or call Brainiac "Brainy Babe"? Brainiac is also left to suffer. I was always a big fan of Brainiac's voice in the Challenge of the Superfriends with his flat, emotionless tone. Here they decided to go with a name actor, Lance Hendrikson, and give Brainiac a little more character. After Luthor builds Brainiac a new shell, Brainiac says to Superman, "I've been keeping pace with current trends in technology" uh huh. Also, the three connected dots on his light up one at a time a make a sound like a pinball machine stripping away his last shred of dignity.
I have to admit that this movie does sometimes reach the level of so bad it's good. My favorite part was after Superman and Lois get blasted with Brainiac Kryptonite pulse beam for some strange reason they get raccoon eyes. I guess it's supposed to show that the Kryptonite is having an affect on their bodies but for quite a bit of the movie they have raccoon eyes and when Superman changes to Clark he still has the raccoon eyes. I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous they looked. This is like the worst episode of Superman TAS except triple length. The only way this one could be enjoyed is with copious amounts of alcohol which means it's inappropriate for kids. Do not spend one dime on this.
Weaker Entry Saved by Good Battle Scenes!
2009-08-18 - I do have to agree with some of the other reviewers. However the cartoon wasn't a total loss. Tim Daly's voice over for Superman did bring the show together, the elements were still there. What I expected to be a not so well drawn entry in the series was saved by the battle toward the end of the film. The Brainiac battle to the fininsh did save this little movie from obscurity. No it isn't as well animated as the series, however if you purchased it for $7.99 or less, it wasn't a total loss. If you see this in the $5 bin at Wal Mart, get this one. It's not worse than much of the material that goes for cartoons on the Cartoon Network. If your a Superman fan like me, it wasn't a total loss. Four Stars out of five.
Come on, Get serious. 
2009-01-26 - Alright seriously this movie has received more bad reviews then it deserves. It's really not bad at all. There are however several things you need to keep in mind before you watch the movie. This movie stands alone. It is in no way associated with the DCAU or Superman: The Animated Series in particular. Sure the animation style is similar but the movie came out a whole six years after the series ended. So when you watch this movie treat it as something that is entirely new. If however you don't leave your prejudices behind when you watch this movie your going to hate it.
Something I see a lot of people complaining about is Lex Luthor's voice and personality. People will complain that he is cheesy and has horribly written lines. Well knowing this going into the movie I actually found this trait quite humorous. It was pretty funny to see Lex Luthor as such a silly character with a bunch of lame puns. The way I see it since it was a standalone they can reinvent a character anyway they want from a serious villain to a comic relief one. This concept stands true for almost everything in the film. Just because something is not exactly the same people get all pissed off and thing it's just a bad movie. It is the right of the creator to interpret the elements of the series for themselves. This is how we've seen so many different Batman shows and movies.
I would just like to end with a couple of things about this movie that I liked in particular. Brainiac being integrated into a satellite was pretty awesome and made for a nice long action sequence. It was also cool to see the phantom zone used so creatively. Lastly I thought it was funny that they referenced Green Lantern and Mr. Mxyzptlk
