Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Movie Review

Batman Begins...With a Broken Heart.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 7, 2018

In the world of superhero-dom, it’s not usually the actual act of fighting crime that connects the character with the audience but rather the humanity behind the mask or under the cape. The personal stories that give rise to the crimefighters, that define their daily lives, that shape their relationships with their friends, colleagues, lovers, and the world-at-large are what truly drive their actions in superhero guise. Comics have never been shy about hitting the heroes hard in figurative, not just literal, attacks on their hearts and souls, not just their physical well-beings. It's almost always the face beyond the costume that tends to matter most, and arguably no Superhero film has so deeply explored and carefully unmasked a hero as well and as thoroughly as Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, a 1993 animated feature film that followed hot-on-the-heels of the first season of the extraordinarily well done and lovingly received animated series (which was recently released on Blu-ray and includes a copy of this disc). It tells not just Batman's origins story but Bruce Wayne's most intimate romance that sees him at his most radiantly in love and at his most heartbroken that propels him to take on the identity of the Caped Crusader, an identity that would come to define his life.

Batman Before.

Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) foils a money counterfeiting scheme, but one of the criminals is accosted by another masked vigilante, a frightening entity that looks and moves like Death itself. The story is told non-linearly and spends much of its time in the past exploring Bruce Wayne’s burgeoning romantic relationship with Andrea Beaumont (voiced by Dana Delany), the only woman who has ever captured the billionaire playboy’s heart. But as Wayne dons a mask and sets out fighting crime -- well before the time he would create the Batman persona -- he begins to realize that he cannot follow the desires of his heart and exercise the dangerous and demanding actions of a crimefighter. As he recalls wrestling with the choice of love or taking on the long battle against Gotham city’s evildoers, he is blamed for a string of brutal murders of the city’s most vile gangsters while The Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) is hired to reel him in.

In Mask of the Phantasm, audiences are treated to a prolonged examination of an early incarnation of Batman, with Bruce Wayne essentially donning little more than dark clothes and a ski mask to fight crime. But he quickly realizes that simply dressing like the common criminals he pursues is not at all intimidating; the criminals don’t respect his presence, even if he’s fairly successful in stopping their endeavor. While the action scene itself delivers precious few thrills, the concept behind it does, and the access to Wayne's first moves as the character that would become Batman are a welcome sight.

But it’s the journey through Bruce Wayne’s heart that is at the center of the film. Wayne uncharacteristically falls in love, not because his heart is cold but because most women want only what he has, not who he is, a concept the film reinforces when a trio of women throw themselves at him at a party but clearly desire only his bank account, not his heart and soul. As his relationship with Andrea develops, he wrestles with the untenable position of fulfilling his desire to fight crime and how and why that clashes with his burgeoning love life, leaving him fearing for her well being if he cannot promise he’ll be able to be home with her, to provide the loving arms she will need, day or night, if duty happens to call. The film’s emotional center is embodied in a beautiful, single shot when rain falls on Batman following a flashback to a graveside scene with Andrea. It’s impossible to separate rain from tears, allowing the audience to see Batman at his most vulnerable without truly seeing the stalwart hero wear his deepest emotions and most heartbreaking regrets on his sleeve.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm unveils itself via a fairly good and sturdy 1080p presentation. For the 1.78:1-framed theatrical presentation, opening title wobble is apparent, and the white title lettering appears a little dim. Beyond the open, select shots appear a little soft and a little overly processed, but for the most part the presentation is quite good and very pleasing to the eye. Light grain is visible for the duration, which is occasionally accompanied by a small assortment speckles and splotches. Lines are fairly crisp and clarity is quite good. Character and environmental definition both are quite firm, whether considering moving objects or static backgrounds. Colors are handled well, particularly variations of black, gray, and blue that define so many of the film's darker scenes and its general tonal presentation. The film offers some brighter and more colorful scenes, too, which reveal an impressive array of punchy and prominent hues, particularly women's clothes and makeup or Joker's apparel. Black levels present with impressive depth and accuracy. The transfer is imperfect but the good largely outweighs the bad.

The 4x3 aspect ratio television version is introduced by the following text:

'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' was originally intended to be made-for-video and viewed on the 4x3 televisions that were still standard in 1993. During production, it was decided to release the film theatrically, where it would be exhibited on wide screens with the top and bottom of the full aperture frames masked off in projection. While this became the version of record in theaters, the following is an alternative presentation of the film in its 4x3 'open-matte' form, which reveals all of the frame as originally animated.'

This alternative version is a welcome addition to the release given the film's history as-animated and its intended home video market release. There are certainly some differences to be seen, with changes of scale and depth-of-field apparent. The screenshots situated directly above and directly below this paragraph give a good idea of the differences between the two formatting presentations. The 4x3 version does appear to be sourced from the same master as the above-reviewed 1.78:1 presentation; there's not a shift in clarity or color to be seen.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm's two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is certainly sufficient, but the inability to more fully and seamlessly immerse the listener in the movie's action and environments is a little disappointing. That said, the track certainly does its best with what it has at its disposal. Musical width is very impressive. Notes stretch effortlessly across the front, pushing the stage's horizontal length perhaps not to an extreme but definitely to a satisfying level of stretch. The same goes for action; crashes, slams, punches, screams, moans, all variety of action related sound elements find an agreeable level of room-extending breadth across there front end, to the point that, at its peak, the track succeeds enough to almost make the listener forget that there are only two channels in play, particularly as elemental separation and clarity are both very strong attributes. Lighter din is handled equally well, such as a gathering at Wayne Manor in chapter four where festive sounds of gathered humanity saturate the stage fairly well from the front end. The track opens up with some decently reverberating dialogue depth when the masked figure speaks in chapter seven in a cemetery at night. Basic dialogue images well towards the center and never feels lost somewhere between middle and edge. It's clearly delivered and well prioritized for the duration.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm contains only one extra, the film's trailer (1080p, 1.78:1, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, 1:05). For such a terrific and widely well-regarded film, the absence of supplemental content is disheartening.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm explores how the dimming light of love played a significant role in the rise of the Dark Knight. The film tells a substantial, often moving, story of love and loss and the intersections of the heart and the hateful realities of the world. It's a compelling film, extraordinarily well written, animated, and performed and is a must-see for Batman and comic fans. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is disappointingly free of any meaningful extra content, but video and audio presentations are generally very good. Highly recommended, but newcomers should skip this standalone release and be sure to acquire it as part of that fantastic animated series set linked in the opening paragraph above.