Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 4, 2025

Spawn was released on 1080 Blu-ray way back in 2012 courtesy of Warner Brothers (which had acquired New Line Cinema), when we arguably may not have quite yet reached the market saturation for so-called comic book adaptations that seems to be part and parcel of the contemporary zeitgeist. Even that perceived "uniqueness" (debatable as it may be) wasn't enough to "save" Spawn from a pretty savage critical beatdown when it was first released theatrically and then later on home video. Arrow is nonetheless offering another nicely packaged release (in both separate 1080 and 4K UHD standalone formats) that offers two cuts of the film and a glut of bonus material.

As mentioned above, Spawn had a long ago 1080 release by Warner Brothers, and Ken Brown's Spawn Blu-ray review provides a plot summary, list of supplements and Ken's reaction to the technical presentation. I'm perhaps marginally more favorably inclined toward the film than Ken was, and my overall score reflects that difference of opinion.

Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: While this is a standalone 4K release without a 1080 disc, I am offering screenshots from Arrow's Spawn standalone 1080 release as I think it actually provides a better representation of the look of the palette in particular, rather than offering screenshots from the 4K disc which are by necessity downscaled to 1080 and in SDR. Because this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Spawn is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentation:

Spawn has been restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and stereo audio.

The Director's Cut and Theatrical Cut of the film are presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K / 16 bit resoltuion at Warner Bros. / Motion Picture Imaging.

The film was restored in 4K resolution and colour graded at Duplitech.

All materials sourced for this new mater were made available by Warner Bros.

QC review was completed by Pixelogic.

Considering the issues he details in his review, Ken's score of 3.5 for the now ancient Warner Brothers 1080 release might seem commendably generous, but all of the anomalies like noise, banding and other problems Ken mentions are absent from this great looking 4K presentation, one which takes the strengths of Arrow's 1080 presentation and at the very least adds new nuance to a rather impressive palette courtesy of the HDR / Dolby Vision grades. Ken's review gets into some of the "baked in" variances due to the surplus of special effects sequences. Ken wasn't especially enthused about the CGI in the film in particular, but I'm kind of an old school fan who still thrills to the likes of Georges Méliès or later masters like A. Arnold "Buddy" Gillespie (The Wizard of Oz), so while not immune to how much technologies have improved since 1997, I may be more of a fan of the "look" of this film than Ken was, including the VFX. While the increased resolution may show some figurative (or maybe even literal) "seams", the hellscapes offered in the film are especially "resplendent" (if that's the right word) due to the increased highlights in the orange to red ranges that the 4K UHD presentation offers, even if animated detail levels are substantially improved in this version. Any number of other areas of the spectrum get a polishing with HDR, including (maybe a bit comically, or at least comic book-ly) the greens that recur. The HDR / Dolby Vision grades can also significantly improve shadow detail (you can actually see a bit of the clown's face in the first office interchange with Martin Sheen in this version, to cite just one minor example). This is another shot on film effort where the at times very heavy grain field may be intermittently bothersome for some. It's especially noticeable against even slightly brighter backgrounds.

Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Spawn features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. Ken was probably marginally more impressed with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on the old Warner Brothers 1080 disc than he was with regard to the video side of the equation, and I share Ken's appreciation and perhaps enjoy the surround version even more than Ken did. Yes, as Ken mentions, this track is almost relentlessly aggressive and often very loud and "busy", but the surround engagement is near constant from the get go, and tends to remain surprisingly consistent even in some of the "normal" earthbound material. The effects sequences, especially some of the hellscape material, offer some spooky engagement of the side and rear channels. "Era specific" scoring also resides quite noticeably in the side and rear channels throughout the film. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: This two disc set contains the Director's Cut (1:38:34) and the following bonus items on Disc One. Disc Two presents the theatrical cut (1:36:26) with no on disc supplements.

• Commentaries

Critic's Commentary is newly recorded and features Dave Baxter.




Filmmakers' Commentary is an archival piece from 1998 featuring Todd McFalrane, Mark A.Z. Dippé, Clint Goldman and Steve Williams.

• Hell's Perfect Son (HD; 16:20) is a new interview with actor Michael Jai White.


• Spawn Support (HD; 16:48) features new interviews with Melinda Clarke and D.B. Sweeney.


• The Devil's in the Details (HD; 20:14) is a new interview with animatronic creature and special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero. An "uncredited" Melinda Clarke is also featured.


• The Devil's Music (HD; 10:24) is a new interview with music supervisor Happy Walters.


• Order Out of Chaos (HD; 16:42) is a new interview with editor Michael Knue.


• Todd McFarlane: Chapter & Verse (HD; 19:37) is an archival featurette from 1998.


• The Making of Spawn (HD; 21:58) is an archival behind the scenes featurette.


• Spawn: The Animated Movie Preview (HD; 1:44)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:47)


• Scene to Storyboard Comparisons are image galleries with brief embedded videos:

Clown to Violator (HD)




Violator to Clown (HD)




Cape (HD)




Mask (HD)




Violator from Bookcase (HD)

• Original Todd McFarlane Sketches (HD)


• Spawn Concept / Sketch Gallery

Spawn (HD)




Clown and Violator (HD)




Malebolgia (HD)




Jessica Priest (HD)




Costume Design (HD)




Set Decoration (HD)




Special Effects (HD)

This Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and a boule sided foldout poster with the same two artwork options. An illustrated collector's booklet has new writing by John Torrani, along with the usual technical and cast / crew information. Packaging features a slipcover.

Spawn 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Spawn may be derided by many, even jokingly (?) by its own director, but for fans of the film, Arrow is providing another nice release with solid technical merits and appealing supplements.