Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along BLog

[Celtic_Kerr]

Well I was skipping through my movies at home when I found this absolute treasure of an item. I'm a big fan of just about everything Joss Whedon has touched (except Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I Still catch myself watching that every now and then), and this great mini-video has always been one of his greatest works, second only to Firefly in my opinion.

Just as a background, Neil Patrick harris Plays Billy/Dr. horrible, a villian who wishes to toplle the status quo, overthrow the government and reign supreme of the masses. His ambition is to impress Bad Horse, the leader of the Evil League of Evil and hold a seat with them. As Billy, he is smitten with a girl at the laundromat named Penny (played by Felicia Day of The Guild). Nathan Fillion (Mal from Firefly & Serenity) plays Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis and the only thing standing his his way from realizing his evil plans.Sure, it IS a musical and a sing-along, there are tunes and at times it can feel cheesy, but all of this was in Joss Whedon's design while filming.

So, who knows of Dr. Horrible and what do you like the most about it?

 

[u4527646]

One beautiful beautiful line:
Captain Hammer (holding up his fists): And these are not the hammer.
(Exit Captain Hammmer)
(Re-enter Captain Hammer):... The hammer is my penis.
(Awkward exit by Captain Hammer)

I laughed so hard... And for so long... Then made it into a T-shirt.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

And apperantly it took him forever to get that scene right. Neil Patrick Harris kept making him laugh.

I think at one point he said somehting like "Show me" and just broke Nathan Fillion

 

[u4527646]

And apperantly it took him forever to get that scene right. Neil Patrick Harris kept making him laugh.

I think at one point he said somehting like "Show me" and just broke Nathan Fillion

Hahahahaha AWESOME!

 

[Kilaknux]

Ah, I frigging love this thing! Introduced me to NPR. The songs are fantastic, the acting is great and the story is surprisingly engaging. I find myself singing Slipping a surprisingly large amount of time, if only for the great mid point. "Everything's slipping away, sooo... GO AHEAD! RUN AWAY!"
Anyone here subscribe to the theory that Billy and Dr. Horrible are split personalities? I don't personally, but I'd like to hear the reasoning.

 

[Emberwolf]

I just think it's a fantastic little series. All the actors did a brilliant job, and I never knew Nathan Fillion was such a good singer. Never fails to cheer me up if I'm in a down mood, and I love how often my iTunes brings up one of the songs on Shuffle.
Was also the first thing I saw Felicia Day in, which lead me on to watch The Guild- and that is DEFINITELY not a bad thing!

 

[stabnex]

"Is this what pain feels like?!"

You have to admit it was funny to see that asshole flipping out over feeling pain for the first time ever.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

I think how incredibly bitter-sweet "Everyone's a hero" is can be one of my favourite parts. Just as he's being incredibly kind, Captain hammer makes one of the biggest dick remarks of all time

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I watched it and... I swear, I really wanted to like it. I tried to hard to like it but I couldn't convince myself it was good. I prefer Repo! over it...

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Ah, I frigging love this thing! Introduced me to NPR. The songs are fantastic, the acting is great and the story is surprisingly engaging. I find myself singing Slipping a surprisingly large amount of time, if only for the great mid point. "Everything's slipping away, sooo... GO AHEAD! RUN AWAY!"
Anyone here subscribe to the theory that Billy and Dr. Horrible are split personalities? I don't personally, but I'd like to hear the reasoning.

unfortunately I don't think so. Dr. Horrible shows too many of Billy's traits and Billy shows alot of evil within him. If Billy only showed love towards Penny and Dr. Horrible only showed contempt for the world then it might be plausable.

What I find interesting is Dr. horrible's refusal to kill .He says it's not creative, but does it run deeper?

 

[CK76]

Did you know a fan made an 8bit version of it?

Say the least I'm a fan of Dr Horrible and the Evil League of Evil.

 

[Dogstile]

The film is so good. I burrowed it off a friend once but i need to find a local place that sells it so i can BUY it.

 

[Kilaknux]

Ah, I frigging love this thing! Introduced me to NPR. The songs are fantastic, the acting is great and the story is surprisingly engaging. I find myself singing Slipping a surprisingly large amount of time, if only for the great mid point. "Everything's slipping away, sooo... GO AHEAD! RUN AWAY!"
Anyone here subscribe to the theory that Billy and Dr. Horrible are split personalities? I don't personally, but I'd like to hear the reasoning.

unfortunately I don't think so. Dr. Horrible shows too many of Billy's traits and Billy shows alot of evil within him. If Billy only showed love towards Penny and Dr. Horrible only showed contempt for the world then it might be plausable.

What I find interesting is Dr. horrible's refusal to kill .He says it's not creative, but does it run deeper?

Almost certainly. Fundamentally, he's a good person whose lost his optimism or faith in the system. He's trying to change things as a supervillain, but has limits. At first, anyway, the end implies otherwise. It's a good take on a bit of a paradox in comics: Heroes always react whilst villains try to change things. Part of the idea was that: What if the villain was in fact far more of a good guy, trying to change a world that desperately needs to change, and is stopped by the tool of the system, Hammer? Or Dick, depending on how you take his famous joke.

 

[Captain Pancake]

I've seen it. My favourite gag:

"I want to be like bad horse!"

"The thoroughbred of evil?"

"I meant... Ghandhi..."

 

[SonicWaffle]

One beautiful beautiful line:
Captain Hammer (holding up his fists): And these are not the hammer.
(Exit Captain Hammmer)
(Re-enter Captain Hammer):... The hammer is my penis.
(Awkward exit by Captain Hammer)

I laughed so hard... And for so long... Then made it into a T-shirt.

This is so nice,
I just might sleep with the same girl twice.
They say it's better the second time,
They say you get to do the weird stuff.
(We do the weird stuff!)

unfortunately I don't think so. Dr. Horrible shows too many of Billy's traits and Billy shows alot of evil within him. If Billy only showed love towards Penny and Dr. Horrible only showed contempt for the world then it might be plausable.

I see it more as Dr Horrible being the character Billy adopts in his attempts to change the world. As the show progresses, however, he becomes less and less about saving/improving the world and more about being recognised as a villian. Take the line from Slipping; "All the cash! All the fame!...and social change" with his original (non-Penny) motivation tacked on as an afterthought, or "Anarchy! That I run!" revealing a growing desire for power. He's becoming more obsessed with getting into the ELE and proving himself to be evil, while Billy's idealism slips into the background until, in the final song, it becomes apparent that he has embraced the Dr Horrible persona wholeheartedly as a method for dealing with his grief.

What I find interesting is Dr. horrible's refusal to kill .He says it's not creative, but does it run deeper?

Well, it's more that he doesn't want to kill. He's a pacifist. Like when he tells Johnny Snow they can't battle because "there are kids in that park", or his revulsion when Moist suggests smothering an old lady. He couldn't even kill Captain Hammer - he faltered, and tried to work himself up to it for so long that the freeze ray died.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Two words: Nathan Fillion. He warms my heart in the straightest way imaginable.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

One beautiful beautiful line:
Captain Hammer (holding up his fists): And these are not the hammer.
(Exit Captain Hammmer)
(Re-enter Captain Hammer):... The hammer is my penis.
(Awkward exit by Captain Hammer)

I laughed so hard... And for so long... Then made it into a T-shirt.

This is so nice,
I just might sleep with the same girl twice.
They say it's better the second time,
They say you get to do the weird stuff.
(We do the weird stuff!)

unfortunately I don't think so. Dr. Horrible shows too many of Billy's traits and Billy shows alot of evil within him. If Billy only showed love towards Penny and Dr. Horrible only showed contempt for the world then it might be plausable.

I see it more as Dr Horrible being the character Billy adopts in his attempts to change the world. As the show progresses, however, he becomes less and less about saving/improving the world and more about being recognised as a villian. Take the line from Slipping; "All the cash! All the fame!...and social change" with his original (non-Penny) motivation tacked on as an afterthought, or "Anarchy! That I run!" revealing a growing desire for power. He's becoming more obsessed with getting into the ELE and proving himself to be evil, while Billy's idealism slips into the background until, in the final song, it becomes apparent that he has embraced the Dr Horrible persona wholeheartedly as a method for dealing with his grief.

What I find interesting is Dr. horrible's refusal to kill .He says it's not creative, but does it run deeper?

Well, it's more that he doesn't want to kill. He's a pacifist. Like when he tells Johnny Snow they can't battle because "there are kids in that park", or his revulsion when Moist suggests smothering an old lady. He couldn't even kill Captain Hammer - he faltered, and tried to work himself up to it for so long that the freeze ray died.

Well yes, in the beginning he does say "it's not abotu MAKING money, it's about TAKING money." and even in "Brand New Day", He first swore to eliminate the worst of humanity. Penny represents the good that resides within im, and once that's taken away he no longer wants to simply change society, he wants to become famous, rule, be evil.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Well yes, in the beginning he does say "it's not abotu MAKING money, it's about TAKING money." and even in "Brand New Day", He first swore to eliminate the worst of humanity. Penny represents the good that resides within im, and once that's taken away he no longer wants to simply change society, he wants to become famous, rule, be evil.

Except it isn't an instant shift from good guy to bad, it's a gradual process. From the very beginning of the show his character is slipping inexorably towards becoming a darker personality. Penny's death is merely the culmination of this, and what propels him to villain super-stardom. Think about it; he starts as a naive, idealistic man ("They're probably French kissing or something" in relation to Penny and Hammer's relationship) and gradually becomes more desperate, hurt and angry as time goes on. The failed heist, the rejection from the ELE, Penny and Hammer dating, Hammer telling him that he's going to fuck Penny just to get at him...the weight of all these events are driving the idealism out of him. Why does he decide to kill Hammer? Because Hammer is a stupid, arrogant symbol of all that he wants to change? No. For revenge. Because Hammer is screwing a girl he likes. What changes with Penny's death is that he throws himself completely into villainy to keep himself from thinking about Penny, to distract himself.