Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie Review

Trick... or treat?

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 22, 2022

Arriving more than a year after the staggered Blu-ray release of Part One and Two, Warner Bros' animated production Batman: The Long Halloween now returns as a double-length Deluxe Edition that seamlessly combines both halves to reach nearly three hours in length. (To the studio's credit, this release strategy was advertised before the original Blu-rays' debut.) One lone new featurette has been added, and a separate 4K/Blu-ray combo pack is also available.

Adapted from a 13-issue limited comic series by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, Batman: The Long Halloween is a slowly-unfolding murder mystery that, in many ways, is a spiritual successor to Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's Year One (a personal favorite of yours truly which was also made into an animated movie in 2011). Taking place during Batman's early days in Gotham City, the story also features up-and-coming D.A. Harvey Dent and police Captain James Gordon, who work with Batman to figure out the identity of a serial killer that's been murdering victims once per month on major holidays. Also appearing are Catwoman and other established members of the Rogues Gallery (The Joker, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and The Riddler) and even a few lesser-known villains (Calendar Man, Solomon Grundy), creating a well-rounded and perfectly woven tale that, for many Batman fans, is at or near the level of all-time classics including The Dark Knight Returns, A Death in the Family and, of course, Year One itself.

It's difficult to summarize The Long Halloween without too many spoilers, but here goes: when Johnny Viti, the nephew of mob boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone (Titus Welliver), is murdered on Halloween night, the resulting investigation by police Captain James Gordon (Billy Burke), D.A. Harvey Dent (Josh Duhamel), and Batman (Jensen Ackles) leads to the discovery of a literal warehouse full of laundered money with the help of Catwoman (Naya Rivera, in her final film role). While our heroes struggle to balance the investigation with their personal lives -- Gordon with his young children, Dent with his unhappy wife Gilda (Julie Nathanson), and Bruce Wayne with his sorta-girlfriend Selina Kyle -- the single murder turns into a series of killings, next on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Their search eventually leads them to Arkham Asylum and one of its residents, Calendar Man (David Dastmalchian), who offers cryptic hints about the killer's identity -- who, for now, is nicknamed "Holiday" -- that help establish a long list of suspects including The Joker (Troy Baker), Carmine Falcone, rival crime boss Sal Maroni (Jim Pirri), and a few others... including Harvey Dent himself, whose behavior has become increasingly erratic after a brutal terrorist attack at his own home.

For a fuller synopsis and review of the entire film, please read my separate reviews of Part One and Two on Blu-ray. Please note that this "Deluxe Edition" simply combines both halves of the film seamlessly, with its middle bridged by a post-credits scene from Part One. No new and exclusive content has been added -- except for revised opening credits and some extra blood during several fight scenes, which seems superfluous -- and nothing of consequence has been taken away. (The "missing" four minutes in its combined running time is due to not having two sets of end credits.) Available from Warner Bros. as this stand-alone Blu-ray edition or a separate 4K/Blu-ray combo pack, both versions of The Long Halloween: Deluxe Edition include largely similar A/V presentations and identical bonus features.

Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In almost all respects, this 1080p transfer of The Long Halloween's full-length cut shares an almost identical overall appearance with the Part One and Two Blu-ray editions released last year. As evidenced by those reviews' mediocre video scores (mostly due to rampant banding and artifacts), there was room for improvement and this new Blu-ray does correct those problems to a certain extent. While both of these compression-related issues are still present as seen in this review's screenshots, they're a little less noticeable at key moments. This is still a imperfect presentation, even within the stricter visual boundaries of Blu-ray (and to be fair, the 4K presentation his its own issues)... so if you had similar problems with those earlier Blu-rays, just know that they haven't been fully eliminated.

Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This Deluxe Edition contains the same core DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix as heard on the Part One and Two Blu-rays. Although a new Atmos mix would have been interesting, this is still a serviceable track that gets the job done.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and extras.

Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with new cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Bonus features include one new featurette and material ported over from the Part One and Two Blu-rays.

• The Long Halloween: Evolution of Evil (24:56) - This new mid-length featurette offers a good if not slightly surface-level overview of The Long Halloween's source comics and their adaptation into animated form, as well as a brief look into the mostly WWII-era film noir that inspired them. Several key participants are on hand to share their thoughts including original comic writer Jeph Loeb, the film's writer Tim Sheridan, producers Jim Krieg and Butch Lukic, and more. It's worth a watch, but doesn't justify an upgrade on its own.

• From the Vault - Four excellent vintage episodes of Batman: The Animated Series featuring key characters prominently featured during The Long Halloween. All look and sound more or less identical to the versions seen on WB's comprehensive Batman: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray collection.

• Christmas With The Joker (22:22)
• It's Never Too Late (22:24)
• "Two-Face - Part One" (22:27)
• "Two-Face - Part Two" (22:30)

• A Preview of "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part One" (12:36)

• A Preview of "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part Two" (6:53)

• A Preview of "Batman: Gotham by Gaslight" (8:30)

• A Preview of "Batman: Hush" (9:17)

Missing from the previous Blu-rays is a sneak peek of The Long Halloween: Part Two, as well as a few unrelated DCAU shorts ("The Blue Beetle" and "The Losers") that are also available on Constantine: The House of Mystery.

Batman: The Long Halloween Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no getting around it: if this combined Deluxe Edition of Batman: The Long Halloween arrived last year (rather than the staggered Blu-ray only releases of Part One and Two), it'd be easier to get excited about. While the film itself is one of the DCAU's better productions in recent memory (and, of course, plays more strongly as a unified whole), that may not be a big enough reason for fans to justify its rather steep price. The 1080p presentation is barely better than WB's flawed earlier Blu-rays and we only get one new featurette, which makes this release much less of a true "Deluxe Edition" than most fans may be hoping for. If you're absolutely over the moon for Batman: The Long Halloween, I'd recommended going for 4K/Blu-ray combo pack unless you have no plans to adopt the newer format.