Susan Blu Movies

As the Man of Steel prepares to reveal himself to the world and declare his longstanding love for "Daily Planet" reporter Lois Lane, an old nemesis teams with a foe of unlimited power to wreak havoc over Metropolis in this animated adventure that pits Superman against a villain the likes of which the world has never seen. A powerful computer with a special strain of kryptonite infused to his body and a hunger for world domination, Brainiac forges an unholy alliance with the dreaded Lex Luthor that aims to bring the world's most famous superhero to his knees. When a force beam originally intended to take out Superman instead blasts Lane, the race is on for the desperate hero to enter the dreaded Phantom Zone and find the cure that will restore her health. The nefarious partnership between Luthor and Brainiac takes a turn for the worse, however, when, believing The Man of Steel to have buckled under the pressure of his powerful blast, Brainiac betrays his one-time partner to strike terror into the very heart of Metropolis. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Clifford the Big Red Dog finally arrives on the big screen in the animated adventure Clifford's Really Big Movie, directed by Robert Ramirez. Clifford (voice of the late John Ritter) lives on Birdwell Island with his owner Emily Elizabeth Howard (voice of Grey DeLisle). Even though he loves the Howards, Clifford starts to think that his enormous size is too much of a problem for them. Feeling unwanted, he runs off and joins the circus with his friends Cleo (voice of Cree Summer) and T-Bone (voice of Kel Mitchell). They fall in with a gang of other runaway animals, including a Chihuahua and a ferret. The dogs compete in a big contest in order to win a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. Clifford's Really Big Movie encourages preschoolers to develop trust, independence, and confidence. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard. Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus (voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command. However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda (voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander), a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Directed by makeup effects artist John Carl Buechler, the seventh in the long-running, grisly horror series was far from the last, although the climactic fate of its antagonist would seem to suggest a final send-off. Lar Park Lincoln stars as Tina Shepard, a teenager with uncontrolled telekinetic powers. As a girl vacationing at Camp Crystal Lake, Tina killed her abusive father with the use of her mental abilities. Years later, seeking intensive counseling from manipulative, greedy psychologist Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser), Tina agrees to participate in a radical therapy that takes her back to Camp Crystal Lake. Unfortunately, Tina's psychic skills rouse the slumbering Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) from his watery grave and, in typically bloody fashion, the vengeful spook begins dispatching the randy teenagers partying in a house nearby. As Tina attempts to stop Jason's slaughter with the use of her powers, the mass-murdering ghoul encounters his toughest opponent yet. Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood was often referred to by series fans as "Jason vs. Carrie," an apropos reference to Tina's strong similarity to the main character in the horror classic Carrie (1976). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this theatrically released chapter of the 1984-1987 syndicated animated series, the struggle between the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons is taken twenty years into the future as both sides must deal with a world-devouring being called Unicron (voiced by Orson Welles). Set in 2005, The Transformers: The Movie serves as a bridge between the series' second and third seasons, with the deaths of several major characters and the introduction of new ones. Darker and more action-packed than the TV series, the movie was originally dismissed as little more than a feature-length toy commercial, but it has since grown in stature to become a cult favorite. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

In this entertaining feature for the 3- to10-year-old set, the wicked witch Hydia (voice of Cloris Leachman) and her two nasty daughters, Reeka and Draggle (voices of Rhea Pearlman and Madeline Kahn) are scheming to flood Ponyland with a strange liquid called Smooze. The ponies find allies in the Grundles, who have already been made homeless by the Smooze. The challenge is to stop the witch and her daughters, send them back into their volcano, and retrieve the lost land of the Grundles from under its cover of Smooze -- not to mention protecting Ponyland from the worst. Not an easy agenda, even after several adventures gear everyone up for the grand finale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

LifeLine rescues Bree Van Mark, daughter of a wealthy industrialist, from a watery grave. To show her gratitude, Bree showers the reluctant LifeLine with expensive gifts -- including a gold-plated helicopter. Inevitably, the girl becomes a pawn in the latest Cobra scheme. Celebrated cartoon voice-over director Susan Blu is heard as Bree. Written by Carla and Gerry Conway, "Million Dollar Medic" first aired in America on October 2, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The robotic cartoon adventure series The Transformers begins its second season with the episode "Autobot Spike," in which one of the human allies of the Autobots in their ongoing battle against the Decepticons literally loses his mind to a super-Transformer. "Autobot Spike" is one of the few single-episode storylines to be found this season. Many of the other scenarios take up two episodes or more, notably "Dinobot Island," wherein the discovery of a remote island populated by prehistoric beasts leads to a serious schism in the time-space continuum; "Megatron's Master Plan," in which the leader of the evil Decepticons does his best to turn public opinion against the Autobots; and "Desertion of the Dinobots," which finds the title characters rebelling against their enslavement by the robots and trying to claim the Autobots' home planet as their own. The best of The Transformers' two-parters during the series' second season is "The Key to Vector Sigma," a story built around a computer from the planet Alpatrian with which the Decepticons intend to bestow artificial intelligence upon their newly created flunkies, the Stunticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the made-for-television film Wild, Wild West Revisited, the classic comedy/espionage/western television series is brought up to date with a story featuring government agents Jim West and Artemus Gordon leaving retirement to battle Miguelito Loveless, who is planning to conquer the earth by cloning world leaders. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide