Justice League of America (film)

Justice League of America is a 1997 television film and an unsuccessful pilot produced by CBS[1] and directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, based on a team of fictional DC Comics superheroes from the comic of the same name. The film centers on a female meteorologist who gains superpowers and is later inducted into the "Justice League", while the city of New Metro is held for ransom by a terrorist armed with a weather control device.

For the 2017 theatrical film, see Justice League (film).
Justice League of America
Directed byFélix Enríquez Alcalá
Produced byLarry Rapaport
Written byLorne Cameron
David Hoselton
Based on
StarringMatthew Settle
Kimberly Oja
John Kassir
Michelle Hurd
Kenny Johnston
David Krumholtz
Elisa Donovan
Ron Pearson
David Ogden Stiers
Miguel Ferrer
Robert Gallo
Nick DeMauro
Jason Weissbrod
Brian Sampson
Mary Ann Schmidt
Music byJohn Debney
James Raymond
CinematographyBarry Wilson
Edited byEd Rothkowitz
Distributed byWarner Bros. Television
Release date
  • 1997 (1997)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is interjected with mock-interviews of members of the Justice League, speaking about life as a superhero in the past tense, preceding the events of the film.

Plot

The protagonist, Tori Olafsdotter, is a meteorologist working at the Eno Meteorological Institute who will later become Ice. The city of New Metro is faced with a tornado controlled by a terrorist calling himself the Weatherman. The Flash dissipates the tornado using his super speed while the other members of the JLA use their powers to save civilians.

Tori stumbles upon a hidden device in the lab where she works. While investigating its use, she spills water on it and it strikes her with strange blue electricity. 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. The JLA, believing her to be the Weatherman, abduct and interrogate her. They release her and Tori believes it was all simply a bad dream.

The JLA suspect that Tori's timid colleague Arliss Hopke is The Weatherman. New Metro is attacked again, this time by golf ball-sized hailstones, but Fire melts them all. The JLA infiltrate a party at the Eno Meteorological Institute looking for evidence that Arliss Hopke is The Weatherman. Tori however discovers that it is 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 center, an alien spacecraft hidden underwater. The JLA's leader J'onn J'onzz introduces himself to Tori and the other members of the League reveal their secret identities. Tori discovers that The Atom is a man with whom she has been flirting. The JLA attempt to train Tori to hone her freezing powers without much success.

Martin Walters, a young man who has been pursuing B.B. DaCosta romantically, watches a news broadcast about the JLA and sees that Fire is wearing earrings that he gave B.B. as a gift. Martin tells B.B. that he knows her secret identity. B.B. secretly alerts the JLA, and J'onn takes the shape of Fire and appears before Martin and B.B. "Fire" claims that B.B. is a close friend who lent "her" the earrings. Martin is embarrassed by his "mistake", and B.B. gently terminates his romantic interest in her, although she assures him that he's a nice guy and that he will find true love someday.

The Weatherman demands $20 million or he will engulf New Metro in a tidal wave. He attacks the Watchtower using a heat ray. The JLA escape and devise a plan to stop the Weatherman, leaving Tori behind. They are unsuccessful, but Tori stops it by freezing the tidal wave solid.

The other heroes apologize for leaving Tori behind, and offer her membership again, including a costume and the codename "Ice". Tori forgives them and agrees to their offer.

Meanwhile, the Weatherman plans his escape from prison.

Cast

Production

The film's plot is based on the Justice League comic era of Keith Giffen & J. M. DeMatteis (writers).[2] It was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Reception

Reviews of the film have been negative. Common complaints are of the plot holes, poor special effects,[3] bad costumes and that the League members deviated heavily from their source characters.[4] Critics have also said the movie tried to be like "Friends with superpowers".[5] Established JLA writer Mark Waid said the film was "80 minutes of my life I'll never get back."[6]

Distribution

Justice League of America aired on CBS in the U.S. on Sunday December 28, 1997.[7] It has been shown on television in the UK (Channel 5),[8] Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV (Channel 4), Thailand (Cinemax), Brazil (SBT), Uruguay, Poland (TVN, TVN 7, TV4), Mexico (TV Azteca), South Africa (e.tv), Germany, India and Israel.[9] Bootleg copies have been distributed through conventions, websites and file sharing networks.[10][11]

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See also

References
  1. "Rogue Cinema - Justice League of America (1997) - By Jonathon Pernisek". www.roguecinema.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  2. ": RevolutionSF - Justice League of America: The Unaired Pilot : Review". www.revolutionsf.com. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  3. Jared von Hindman. "Man, I just can't understand why CBS didn't want to put this in Prime Time....Oh wait. It Sucks". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  4. Joe Crowe. "Justice League of America: The Unaired Pilot". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  5. "The Austin Chronicle: Screens: Review - Justice League of America". www.austinchronicle.com. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  6. Stefan Robak. "JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  7. {{cite web|url=http://www.tvmaze.com/shows/7360/justice-league-of-america%7Ctitle=Justice Leage of America|work=TVMAZE|accessdate=2019-01-26>
  8. NTK. "GEEK MEDIA". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  9. IMDB. "Release dates for Justice League of America". Retrieved 2008-01-06.
  10. "Justice League of America: Pilot (1997) TV Review". BeyondHollywood.com. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  11. Antimatter Multiverse. "Justice League of America [1997 TV Pilot] (DVD)". Archived from the original on 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
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