Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 18, 2019

Warner Brothers and Best Buy have collaborated on a store exclusive four film, four disc, four SteelBook release for the 'Batman' Anthology (1989-1997). The films were released on UHD in June 2019 in individual packages. This set is very attractive but there's one fatal flaw (and it's not 'Batman & Robin'). See the 'Special Features and Extras' section of the review below for more on the overall presentation and what makes it a major miss.

For full film reviews, please click through the links below. Note that these links point to the original Blu-ray releases.

• Batman
• Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin

Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For full UHD video reviews, please click through the following links:

• Batman
• Batman Returns
• Batman Forever
• Batman & Robin

Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For full UHD audio reviews, please click through the following links:

• Batman
• Batman Returns
• Batman Forever
• Batman & Robin

Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

First, some essential dimensions. The rounded outer box measures approximately 5.75 inches wide, 4.75 inches deep, and 7.5 inches high. It includes a card slip that fits around the box. Three ~2 inch high sides advertise the franchise and the format while the fourth runs the height of the box and includes the UPC, a blurb, franchise villain stills, a photo of the entire set sprawled out, various technical specifications, and a paragraph's worth of legalese. It wraps around the bottom where billing blocks and ratings for each film appear.

The outer box is actually identical in size and construction to that which Best Buy used for the recently released Avengers four-film SteelBook set. What can be described as the "front" features the text "Batman 4-Film Collection 1989-1997" in silver type, slightly above center. A DC comics logo appears above. Much of the periphery is black but a cityscape view of Gotham, with a dark sky and illuminated buildings, appears inside a cutout shape of the Batman logo, which wraps around to two other sides but does not stretch to the edge. The top features a smaller Batman logo with the same text appearing both inside and below. The bottom includes only the obligatory legalese.

On the flip side is an open space where the four SteelBooks are gathered. The entire inside is filled with a black padded and very sturdy foam material. Each SteelBook enjoys its own space, and there's plenty of room in between each cutout, allowing them to breathe, stay out of contact with one another (avoiding unwanted rubbing and possible scratches), and ample room to reach in and pull them out (there is an added finger-sized cutout tab on both ends). The SteelBooks fit just snugly enough to hold securely but not so snug as to require excess force to remove them.

The SteelBooks themselves are very attractive. Each of them is of a flat, grippy texture rather than the more common glossy, slick, fingerprint attracting variety. All share a basic common aesthetic. The front of each one features the Gotham skyline, the buildings filling up the bottom third or so portion (and the cityscape is a little different on each one) and the Gotham night sky above. In the center of each one is the bat signal with each film's title appearing in the middle. A DC logo is on the "head" of the bat signal. Key actor names appear at the top of each SteelBook. Each is of a different primary color: aqua for the first film, purple for the second, green for the third, and red for Batman & Robin. Each rear panel follows the same predominate color scheme and also includes the Gotham skyline at the bottom. Each features a nearly full panel silhouette depicting Batman in the costume from each film. Robin appears with him for the fourth film's back image. The spines are all flat black with the film titles center. UltraHD logos appear up top and DC and WB logos at the bottom. The DC logos match each SteelBook's primary color scheme.

But...oh goodness gracious. Open these up and find not two discs but rather one. Warner Brothers and Best Buy have inexplicably done away with the remastered Blu-ray discs that included all of the supplemental content. That's right, no extras beyond whatever commentaries appear on each UHD disc. It's a massive miss and a major reason to skip out on this set. It's dumbfounding, really, to put out a set as otherwise nice as this and leave out a key component. Each SteelBook does include its own digital copy code. Inner prints are two-panel spreads that each depict the Batmobile in different iterations and from different angles. Each image is tinted to match the SteelBook's specific color scheme.

Batman 4-Film Collection 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wow. What a beautiful set -- aesthetically and in terms of the UHD presentations -- that is absolutely ruined by the failure to include the full compliment of supplements. Only recommended for die-hard packaging collectors and those who don't care about supplements (Warner Brothers also pulled this stunt with some recent SteelBook releases like The Exorcist and It).