7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In an age of mystery and superstition, how would the people of Gotham react to a weird creature of the night, a bat-garbed vigilante feared by the guilty and the innocent alike? The very first Elseworlds tale re-imagines the Dark Knight detective in Victorian times and puts him against the infamous murderer Jack the Ripper.
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Jennifer Carpenter, Chris Cox (I), John DiMaggio, David ForsethComic book | 100% |
Action | 81% |
Animation | 64% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish 5.1=Latin; 2.0=Castillian
English SDH, French, German SDH, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is the first entry in the ever-expanding DC Animated Universe since the massive thirty-film 10th Anniversary Collection released last year, and appropriately enough, the latest film represents a departure for the series. The first foray into the so-called "Elseworld" of alternate superhero universes, Gotham by Gaslight breaks new ground both visually and narratively. Fans of the TV series Sherlock may recognize an antecedent in that show's venture into Victorian times with Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, but Gotham by Gaslight actually came first—in a 1991 graphic novel drawn by famed illustrator Mike Mignola. As the film's creative team relates in the disc commentary, transporting the Caped Crusader back in time required a top-to-bottom redesign of Gotham City and its inhabitants, and the results are a breath of fresh air for a series that was starting to exhibit hints of creative weariness.
The creative team says in their commentary that they had to reinvent Gotham City from the
ground up to fit the story's 19th Century setting, but they have retained the same minimalist style
that will be familiar to anyone who has followed the animated DCU. Colors are even more
subdued than in the series' contemporary settings, with a few notable exceptions like the cabaret
show in which Selina Kyle is a featured performer, the strip club performance starring Jack the
Ripper's next victim and especially the opening of the World's Fair, which is set in daylight and
has the colorful and shiny surface of something brand new. But even in these brighter scenes,
colors remain understated without heavy saturation, presumably in order to maintain a consistent
overall style. Several sequences involving raging fires exhibit intense yellows and oranges, but
on the whole Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is a dim affair dominated by nighttime shadows. The
creators confirm that the darkness was a deliberate strategy, especially in scenes where the
Ripper's identity must be concealed. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray capably reproduces
these effects with solid blacks and just a few fleeting instances of banding.
As usual, Warner's animation group has aimed for the lowest possible bitrate, squeezing Gotham
by Gaslight and its large complement of extras onto a BD-25 so that the feature's bitrate is
limited to just a fraction over 15 Mbps.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight's 5.1 soundtrack, encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA, is surprisingly active and immersive for a film that has shed much of the series' technological elements. The rear channels are used extensively, with footsteps horse-drawn vehicles or flying objects shifting frequently between front and back, and these traveling sounds help expand the sense of space in the film's reinvented Gotham. The vocal performances are clearly rendered and appropriately prioritized, and the dynamic range is broad, with solid bass extension in major set pieces like the dirigible disaster and the final showdown between Batman and the Ripper (which, in true comic-book fashion, involves massive destruction of property). The understated score is credited to DCU veteran Frederik Wiedmann.
Longtime DCU animated fans should enjoy Gotham by Gaslight for its reinvention of familiar
characters and its redesign of Batman's landscape. Newcomers would probably be better advised
to familiarize themselves with earlier entries in the series before embarking on this Victorian
detour. The Blu-ray's quality is consistent with that of earlier DCU animated films and is,
accordingly, recommended.
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