Justice League: The New Frontier is a 2008 American animated superhero film adapted from the DC Comics limited series DC: The New Frontier. The film was written by Stan Berkowitz, with Darwyn Cooke providing additional material. The film received a rating of PG-13 for violent content and images, and was released on February 26, 2008. It is the second film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies by Warner Bros. Animation. The film had its broadcast premiere on October 18, 2008 on Cartoon Network. It was broadcast again on December 20, 2020 on Cartoon Network's nighttime Adult Swim programming block through Toonami, as a celebration for the then-upcoming release of Wonder Woman 1984.

Plot

An unknown entity, named "The Centre," tells its story about how it was born from the Earth itself and has witnessed the evolution and extinction of the dinosaurs, and mankind's evolution. Due to man's capacity for war and violence, the Centre has concluded that they must be eradicated. At the end of the Korean War, United States Air Force pilot Hal Jordan and his wingman, Kyle "Ace" Morgan, are attacked by enemy pilots but survive. In Gotham City, Saul Erdel accidentally teleports J'onn J'onzz, the last survivor of the Green Martian race, to Earth, and dies from fright after seeing him. Unable to return, J'onn disguises himself as Erdel, learning about Earth from television. In Las Vegas, Iris West is on the telephone with her fiancé Barry Allen – also known as the Flash – at a casino when Captain Cold arrives to commit a robbery; he races from Central City to confront Cold. Flash finds Cold's bombs and captures him, before the latter is possessed by an entity. Two years later, J'onn has taken on the identity of John Jones and become a detective with the Gotham City Police Department, investigating a doomsday cult that worships the "Centre" and has kidnapped a child for a sacrificial ritual. J'onn and his partner Slam Bradley join Batman in battling the cult, but the former is briefly incapacitated by a fire. The cult leader is possessed by the entity, and warns of impending judgment. Meanwhile, Hal is training under Rick Flag at Ferris Aircraft for a government project to build a spacecraft for travel to Mars, overseen by special agent King Faraday. Batman suggests to J'onn that they work together to investigate the cult. After being attacked and nearly subdued by the US government, a disillusioned Flash announces his retirement. J'onn interrogates former Ferris employee Harry Leiter, apprehended for murder while under The Centre's influence, who tells them about the launch to Mars. Seeing the jubilant albeit contemptuous response to the Flash's retirement, J'onn gives his research to Batman and plans to return to Mars on the rocket. However, Faraday confronts him on the launchpad, as the rocket is damaged and malfunctions. Hal wants to attempt a landing but Flag reveals weapons of mass destruction are on board, intended to destroy all life on Mars. Hal is ejected from the cockpit and saved by Superman; Flag detonates the rocket as J'onn is imprisoned. On Paradise Island, Wonder Woman is training with Mala when The Centre attacks. As a result of Flag's rocket explosion, a fatally wounded Abin Sur crash-lands on Earth, gives his ring to Hal and tells him about the Centre. Meanwhile, Superman and Batman review J'onn's research. Wonder Woman's invisible jet crashes at Cape Canaveral and she warns Superman that The Centre is coming. J'onn decides to help save Earth after his hope for humanity is renewed, as The Centre, a massive flying island guarded by an army of mutant dinosaurs, begins its attack on America. The Flash, Green Arrow, Adam Strange, the Challengers of the Unknown, and the Blackhawks join forces to defend the Cape, as Superman is seemingly killed. Moved by his efforts, the heroes plan a frontal assault to provide cover for Hal and Ace while they fly a bombing mission into the Centre. At the same time, the Flash will use Ray Palmer's reduction ray to shrink it. The aerial assault is nearly outmatched, and as dinosaurs ambush Faraday's ground forces, the Centre's psychic force briefly overwhelms J'onn. Faraday is captured by a dinosaur, and sacrifices himself to kill it with a grenade. Hal and Ace shoot their way into The Centre's core but a hallucinogenic attack disorients them; Ace detonates his payload as Hal rescues him. The Flash leaps onto The Centre's surface and covers it on foot, shrinking the island before Hal brings it into space, where it explodes. As the team celebrates their victory, Aquaman emerges from a submarine carrying Superman. The world celebrates the Centre's defeat with a ceremony. The film ends with a montage of various heroes and villains, including the birth of the Justice League set to the titular John F. Kennedy speech.

Cast

Production

= Music

= Like Superman: Doomsday, Justice League: The New Frontier had a soundtrack released by La-La Land Records on March 18, 2008. The music was composed by Kevin Manthei, the track listing is as follows.

Home media

Justice League: The New Frontier is available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital and in single and two-disc editions. The DVD cover of the single disc includes the panoramic image from the film, while the two-disc, DVD Special Edition, HD DVD and Blu-ray commemorative editions have an image of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman above the title logo with other characters below it. Best Buy had an exclusive deal which included a Green Lantern action figure from DC Direct with the DVD package. Wal-Mart had an exclusive single DVD package with "The New Frontier Green Lantern" CD-ROM Comic Book inside. The single, two-disc and Blu-ray editions were released on February 26, 2008, with the HD DVD edition released on March 18, 2008. In October 2017 WBHE released the Commemorative Edition of the film on Blu-ray combo pack, Blu-ray steelbook and DVD. The special features include a documentary on the 47-year history of the Justice League, commentaries, a documentary on the early mythological villain archetypes in the Justice League stories, a featurette on the themes, elements from the comic to film versions of New Frontier, three episodes of Justice League Unlimited and a 10-minute preview of the animated film; Batman: Gotham Knight. Variety said that pre-orders for The New Frontier were greater than expected at that time.

Tie-in Media

On March 5, 2008, a one-shot called "Justice League: The New Frontier Special" was published. Written by Darwyn Cooke & penciled by Cooke, Dave Bullock and J. Bone, this serves as an anthology consisting of various tales set within the events of the film. In the comic, Batman goes to war with Superman after the latter is ordered by King Faraday and Pres. Eisenhower to arrest him for his vigilante activities, Robin & Kid Flash team up to prevent Soviet saboteurs from harming the President, while Wonder Woman and Black Canary look to calm the sexist natures of various male patrons within a New Gotham club.

Reception

Justice League: The New Frontier received mostly positive reviews. Screener copies were sent to website reviewers a month before the DVD's official release. Most of the reviews were positive. Newsarama reviewed the film, saying that it was "one of the best things to ever come out of [Bruce] Timm's stable", and said that the acting was exceptional. The World's Finest, a fansite dealing with DC Animations, said that it was "the first animated feature in a long time that I've felt completely satisfied while walking away from." A reviewer from Ain't It Cool News said that it was "my favorite film of 2008", and that it was "everything I had hoped for." Mainstream websites made similar comments; IGN gave the film and DVD a total score of 7.0, ENI said it was enjoyable, and DVDTalk.com said it was "recommended". The film earned $5,737,302 from domestic DVD sales.

= Awards and nominations

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References

External links

Official website Justice League: The New Frontier at IMDb Justice League: The New Frontier @ The World's Finest Justice League: The New Frontier Trailer Trailer (Windows Media) Justice League: The New Frontier Trailer Trailer (QuickTime)