B:TAS "Fire From Olympus" Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

Batman deals with a crazed man who thinks he a god. CN aired this episode yesterday!


http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/episodes/firefromolympus/00r.jpg
Episode #062 - Fire From Olympus
Original Airdate - May 24th, 1993. - First Season Finale

Believing himself to be the reincarnation of the Greek God Zeus, mad shipping magnate Maxie Zeus hijacks an experimental electron cannon. Mounting the weapon atop his penthouse, Maxie plans to rain 'lightning bolts' down on the wicked mortals' of Gotham City.

Comments?

[Maxie Zeus]

Well, I have a real weakness for it, obviously. :D

I love the fact that Maxie is totally delusional, and totally believes in his mythical world, and at the same time is so completely successful. One reason his enemies underestimate him is that they can't believe a guy in a sheet and short skirt could be so successful. It's only when they wake up with a Hydra around their throat and thunderbolt up their ass that they realize what a mistake they've made.

I also love the interplay between Zeus and Clio. It seems plain that he loves her deeply, and she loves him. And I'm tickled by the way that they get on each other's nerves. They can't believe that the other one is really, deep down inside so crazy as to believe what they seem to: She can't believe he really thinks he's Zeus, and he can't believe she really doubts it. So you get these weird, screwball conversations between them.

[CadaverousEyes]

I had forgotten just how frightening Maxie could be. I'm glad this episode succeeded in making him a serious threat, rather than a joke. Seeing Batman fight animals instead of people is another great plus.

[James Harvey]

I wasn't initially sure how BTAS would treat Maxie. As a loon, but in a satirical sense, or a straight forward nutjob. I am glad they went with the ladder. Great animation and a tight story make for a great episode. I also like how they made a cheesey idea (that huge ray) into a very powerful threat. I was stunned when I saw that police blimp go down!

[Calhoun07]

That was the first time I ever seen that episode and I was very impressed with it. I had no idea Maxie Zeus was such a crazy villian, as I had never seen him in the show or in the comic books. Now it makes me wonder all the more why our resident Maxie Zeus felt the need to call himself that....

And was that the "widescreen Maxie" shot there I saw towards the end as he was smiling in that close up?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy all,

When I first saw this on TV back in the day, I remember thinking to myself at the end of the episode, "That was a great episode, but MAN, I'm going to have a REAL hard time explaining this episode when I have kids." =8^) Now that I'm that much closer to having them...I still think I'm going to have a real hard time with this one when I watch it with them.

I have some faults in the execution (mostly the incredibly trivial point of why Batman has to hide in someone's car to sneak into the building), but the episode as a whole was quite impressive, both as an ingenious rework of a DC villain, and in its references to classic Greek mythology (which, for the most part, they got right, impressing me all the more).

I was also INCREDIBLY impressed by Bess Armstrong's voice acting as Clio. Her swings between being tough and corporate with Maxie, and being completely heartbroken over the fact that she's losing him and can't do anything about it was simply brilliant.

The closing shot was completely mind-blowing, too, when Maxie sees the insane of Arkham as his compatriots and delivers his soliloquy about being "home." That bit still hits me like a freight train, with nearly the same impact as the close of "Heart of Ice." Yeah, he's a psycho villain, but he's still a human being and a person deserving of our pity even though he really gives us the creeps. Balancing that knife edge between pity and revulsion for the "bad guys" on the show was what I think BTAS really did best, compared to all that followed afterwards.

-- Ed/Ace

[Karkull]

Maxie Zeus just has to be on Justice League. Just imagine him hitting on Wonder Woman, then having the real Zeus just stomp him at the end.

[The Dark Knight]

Those B: TAS writers could write some amazing dialogue, and this episode is one of the best examples of that fact. Maxie Zeus isn't exactly the easiest character to write for, given the "godly" way he speaks and all the mythological references he includes, but this episode was done so well you almost began to question whether he actually was Zeus, but then you realized he wasn't using a real lightning bolt and you went back to thinking of him as just another crazy guy in Gotham (they really do seem to have a lot of them). In my opinion, this is one of the best episodes in the series.

[The Penguin]

I thought it was a good episode (of course there are very few that I don't like. :) ) Maxie has totally lost it and it's interesting to see how his friends/employees act around him. They go along to some extent but they reach a point where it is just too much for them. It's surprising he was never featured again.

[The Green Hornet]

i want his lightning bolt weapon =)

[Failure]

Dammit, I can't believe I missed this episode. I've yet to see it, but it sounds so good.

[James Harvey]

It'll be repeated on Saturday night in about 60 weeks. :) I'm sure it'll be run again on the Sunday slot before too long. It's a pretty good episode. No offense to any big Maxie Zeus fans, but I was surprised he got such a high quality premiere episode, while big-time villian Penguin got such a horrid premiere episode.

[Failure]

Yes! Just 420 days and counting. ;) Thanks for the info JH, I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

[The Penguin]

Originally posted by Jim Harvey
No offense to any big Maxie Zeus fans, but I was surprised he got such a high quality premiere episode, while big-time villian Penguin got such a horrid premiere episode.

Yeah! :mad:

;)

[Batman 80]

I gave it 4 stars.

[JohnStewart-GL]

didn't really like it.

[Maxie Zeus]

bumpity bump bump.


Maxie Zeus just has to be on Justice League. Just imagine him hitting on Wonder Woman, then having the real Zeus just stomp him at the end.

Oh, man, yes! JLU's already featured skulduggery among the Olympians, what with Hades and Ares making appearances. And after "This Little Piggy," crazy Maxie would fit right in, wouldn't he? I'm just twitching with frustration. :D

Plus, "Fire from Olympus" had shots like this, that just scream "JLU":

http://anbat.toonzone.net/galleries/ffo/ffo4.jpg



On-topic: Watched it again; loved it again. The story is really pretty dumb, but Maxie is such a fun character--I think Alan Burnett called him their "King Tut"--that he makes it all great.

[thanos28542]

I loved this episode! My favorite part is when Bats 1st confronts Maxie & Maxie calls him his brother "Lord Hades" & Bats rises out of his batjet all scary like!

[Revelator]

And after "This Little Piggy," crazy Maxie would fit right in, wouldn't he? I'm just twitching with frustration. :D
But they'd have to recast him, wouldn't they?
Here's my short list: Sean Connery, Michael Gambon, and Peter Serafinowicz (too bad Olivier's dead--he had experience with the part).
I haven't seen "Fire From Olympus" in over a decade, but I still remember it very fondly. A pity Maxie never returned, and probably never will.

[Paul_Cousins]

Those B: TAS writers could write some amazing dialogue, and this episode is one of the best examples of that fact. Maxie Zeus isn't exactly the easiest character to write for, given the "godly" way he speaks and all the mythological references he includes, but this episode was done so well you almost began to question whether he actually was Zeus, but then you realized he wasn't using a real lightning bolt and you went back to thinking of him as just another crazy guy in Gotham (they really do seem to have a lot of them). In my opinion, this is one of the best episodes in the series.Simple, they pull the reincarnation angle like Marvel Comics did with Thor.

This was a very good episode about a person's desent into madness and Batman's fight scenes were great.

5 out of 5 stars.

Plot, music, characters and action were great in this episode.

But the real thing that really took this episode up a notch in quality was the ending scene at Arkham Asylum, that scene was so creepy. :sweat:

[Maxie Zeus]

But they'd have to recast him, wouldn't they?

I know. :sniff: :wipes away tear:

Well, I'm not sure it'd be hard to find a near sound-alike. Susskind was a really good actor, but his voice wasn't terribly distinctive.

[Joker1238]

Yeah when I first saw it, being a Joker FAN, that Arkham scene made it even more better, because well you see the Joker. Licking the window cell thing they use lol. I do like Villian cameo's like that.

[Harley_Quinn]

I loved the character but the episode just didn't do it for me

[Batman Fan]

This is a really good episode and a nice use of a villan we've never seen before. I mean this guy is really crazy, he sees everything around him as ancient mythology and believing he's a god, he think he can do anything. I was sad we never got to see Maxie again, but he appeared in the comics based off the series.

Maxie's "Olympus" has got to be the coolest hideout ever and that discharge cannon was a really cool weapon as well as his lightning staff, and statued harpies. I love the part where Batman must go up against the twelve challenges, of course we only got to see two, but there were some cool scenes with the hydra and boar.

I love the part where he's just meeting Maxie for the first time and he's refrencing Batman as Hades and talking about mere mortals, Batman's facial expressions were priceless. And the fight scene at the end was good, a small one between Batman and Maxie and the Harpies. The animation and feel of the episode was really good, especially the mood, very dark. Also, Maxie's music was good as well. Did anyone think Maxie fell on his head a little hard, trying to retrieve his lightning staff and getting shock, he fell a long way down and it was a pretty hard bam.

The very end with Maxie in Arkham and him comparing the rouges to gods was funny and refrencing Arkham as Olympus was a nice ending. 4 1/2stars

[Maxie Zeus]

The music really is amazing. Music in BTAS is always good, but this is one of the few times I can think of when the composer (Shirley Walker, in this case) stands up and shouts her presence.

I noticed some really ear-catching sound work, too. The clippity-clop of the boar's hooves on the marble floor is really good--sharp and echoey.

[Peter Paltridge]

Maxie Zeus just has to be on Justice League. Just imagine him hitting on Wonder Woman, then having the real Zeus just stomp him at the end.Ha!

How are they going to do Maxie on The Batman? It's been confirmed he'll show up in season 3. If they try to take him seriously and give him a threatening voice like what Freeze sounds like now, it'd look awful.

[The Penguin]

Tonight at 12 midnight ET, Boomerang airs the Batman: The Animated Series episode, Fire From Olympus. If you do not have Boomerang, you are encouraged to follow along on disc 2 of your Batman: The Animated Series, Vol. 3 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=141827) DVD set.


http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/episodes/firefromolympus/00r.jpg
Episode #062 - Fire From Olympus
Original Airdate - May 24th, 1993. - First Season Finale

Believing himself to be the reincarnation of the Greek God Zeus, mad shipping magnate Maxie Zeus hijacks an experimental electron cannon. Mounting the weapon atop his penthouse, Maxie plans to rain 'lightning bolts' down on the wicked mortals' of Gotham City.

Comments?

[Cortez2301]

Guys it really bothers me to see a blimp explode and then someone says "You could have killed someone".Don't you guys agree?

[Wonderwall]

Are you asking if were bothered the fact that a blimp blew up or that no one was killed?

[Cortez2301]

Are you asking if were bothered the fact that a blimp blew up or that no one was killed?In a way both.You see if they didn't want to kill anyone they should have let them jump off with parachutes.otherwise if they wanted to kill them,cleo shouldn't have said that.

[Cortez2301]

Tonight at 12 midnight ET, Boomerang airs the Batman: The Animated Series episode, Fire From Olympus. If you do not have Boomerang, you are encouraged to follow along on disc 2 of your Batman: The Animated Series, Vol. 3 (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=141827) DVD set.


http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/btas/episodes/firefromolympus/00r.jpg
Episode #062 - Fire From Olympus
Original Airdate - May 24th, 1993. - First Season Finale

Believing himself to be the reincarnation of the Greek God Zeus, mad shipping magnate Maxie Zeus hijacks an experimental electron cannon. Mounting the weapon atop his penthouse, Maxie plans to rain 'lightning bolts' down on the wicked mortals' of Gotham City.

Comments?Sorry but you meant disc 1 right ?

[The Penguin]

Sorry but you meant disc 1 right ?I suppose I did, I reformatted that post and forgot to change the number for this thread. But seeing as how that post is from August of last year and anyone sharp enough to operate a DVD player could figure it out, I find I don't much care. Not sure why you do.

[Cortez2301]

I suppose I did, I reformatted that post and forgot to change the number for this thread. But seeing as how that post is from August of last year and anyone sharp enough to operate a DVD player could figure it out, I find I don't much care. Not sure why you do.No just wondering.Anyway regarding this series in general,I don't live in the u.s. so I just want to know how come they these episodes air very late at night?

[Cortez2301]

Great episode.Maxie is a cool villain.He really is crazy though seeing as he could not reason with his own men as he killed one of them.The top of his towers was great and it was near the clouds in a way.I loved the police blimp attack but it was ruined when Cleo screamed "you could have killed someone!".They are already dead honey.But I really loved the episode.I gave it 4 stars.

[JerryvonKramer]

Saw this for the first time tonight.

Great episode - one of those where the title doesn't give you much and you go in with low expectations but it turns out to be quite amazing. The Kyodi Ken episodes were a bit like that too.

The clever dialogue and sheer completeness of Maxie's delusion ensure this episode is a keeper. I also thought the animators did a great job on the bit where Batman first encounters Maxie - his reactions to being called 'Hades' really get across the total WTFness of what is happening.

Disc 1 of Volume 3 is arguably the best single disc in the entire B:TAS DVD collection.

[dark_knight]

A very solid episode dealing with a villain who is generally treated as a joke in the comics (his appearance in knightfall amounts to him running out the walls of arkham and knocking himself out against a tree).......the cameos by all the other loons at arkham was icing on the cake for this episode.

[Donomark]

Very cool, very underrated episode. What I remember most from it was Maxie being electrocuted and falling off of the laser. I always thought as a kid that he hit the ground when he fell.

[The Spirit]

I think this was a beautifully animated episode, I loved all the dark shadows and mood, this to me seems like a period right before the episodes got a little brighter. The Cool Machinery, Maxie's penthouse layout, the traps set for Batman, and the characterization Of Maxie were all very creepy and surreal.

This is one I've watched several times, it has the same mood to me as "Second Chance" I love not being able to see everything that's going on, the Citizen Kane aspect that there's a big scary dark world hidden in the shadows.

The musical score was also complementry and moody.

[Pyro]

I've loved this episode since the first time I saw it. I just think it's a lot of fun. Highlights of the episode are Maxie calling Batman Hades and the ending.

[MartianManhunter]

I stumbled upon the VHS tape Fire & Ice featuring this and another episode at a garage sale for .50$ so I picked it up as I am just starting to grab the BTAS seasons on DVD (only got the first) and watched this while distracted by my laptop, (need to rewatch) maybe it's the lacking AQ but Conroy seemed to sound sick like he had the snuffles or something in this episode, anyone else notice? I know the tape was LP recorded BTW, and I watched it on a SDTV.

[Callonme]

I stumbled upon the VHS tape Fire & Ice featuring this and another episode at a garage sale for .50$ so I picked it up as I am just starting to grab the BTAS seasons on DVD (only got the first) and watched this while distracted by my laptop, (need to rewatch) maybe it's the lacking AQ but Conroy seemed to sound sick like he had the snuffles or something in this episode, anyone else notice? I know the tape was LP recorded BTW, and I watched it on a SDTV.

I have those same old tapes. The episodes are in PAL/25 fps rather than NTSC/24 fps for some reason. Since the show was made at 24 fps, re-encoding it at 25 fps results in another frame being squeezed into every second thus speeding up the whole show. This causes everything to be a bit higher pitched than usual--so they sound like a less intense version of Alvin and the Chipmunks. It definitely sounds weird.

[Jordacar]

I'm surprised this episode gets so much love. I just can't stand this Zeus guy, even as a supervillain. Never read a comic with him before or since I first watched this ep.

I mean, look at Mad Hatter, Clayface, Clock King, Two-Face, lots of bad guys got properly fleshed out backstories. We got a good sense of who they were before they went all supervillain. Granted, plenty of bad guys were fully decked out the first time we saw them (Scarecrow, Joker and others), but it would've been nice to have that with Maxie Zeus here. We don't get to see who he was before (except for one all too brief glimpse). We have to be told about him. We have to be told about how he lost his grip with reality and yet is still running his company.