7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
When a spaceship splashes down in Gotham Harbor, Batman and Superman encounter a mysterious Kryptonian with powers as great as Superman’s. When Darkseid gets wind of this, he has the Kryptonian abducted and brought under his control on Apokolips. It’s up to Batman and Superman to retrieve the Kryptonian, forcing them to infiltrate Darkseid’s hostile world where superpowerful threats lurk around every corner.
Starring: Andre Braugher, Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Summer Glau, Edward AsnerComic book | 100% |
Action | 87% |
Sci-Fi | 69% |
Fantasy | 67% |
Animation | 65% |
Adventure | 65% |
Video codec: VC-1
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 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, German SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Developing an animated film featuring the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight may seem like an easy proposition to some -- Superman and Batman are, after all, DC Comics' Big Guns -- but if given the chance, most every backseat fanboy would be in for a harsh wakeup call. Even setting aside the heroes' contrasting skill sets and personalities, countless challenges remain. Pairing an otherwise ordinary man with a superpowered extraterrestrial demigod, staying true to both characters while using their team-up to explore fresh aspects of each one, pitting a breakable human and an unbreakable alien against the same foe, devising moral conundrums worthy of two very different perspectives, finding new ways to tackle the ol' brains-vs-brawn conflict, not to mention... eh, you get the point. Factor in a supporting cast of comic icons, several all-too-necessary sources of exposition and a slew of obscure third-tier characters, and the potential for failure increases exponentially. I don't envy the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse filmmakers in the slightest. Nor do I find it all that surprising that producer Bruce Timm, director Lauren Montgomery and writer Tab Murphy's truncated 78-minute direct-to-video production struggles with almost every hurdle in its path.
This is gonna hurt...
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse takes an omega blast to the chest, and the at-times mangled 1080p/VC-1 encode that crawls out of the rubble is one of the more problematic DC Animated Original Movie presentation to date. Stair-stepped skies and streets occasionally make Montgomery's Gotham look more like Lego Batman: The Videogame. The Dark Knight's underwater search of Kara's crash zone is plagued with rippling artifacts, unnerving noise, bursts of banding and bizarre Breakout-esque rows of stacked blocks. Meanwhile, the fires of Apokolips and the waters of Themyscira suffer at the hands of other oddities. I wish that were all, but the hits keep on coming. Faces, splashes of color and other seemingly random surfaces are sometimes afflicted with intermittent circular bands (which bend and fluctuate when characters or objects are in motion). Fine lines and facial details are frequently undone by aliasing and pixelation; some of it minor, some of it more significant. Moreover, black levels wobble between inky and murky, contrast is a wee bit inconsistent, softness creeps in from time to time and, frankly, few scenes pass by without succumbing to one issue or another. It's a real shame too. Colors are bold and beautiful, several shots are immaculate and the overall clarity of the Blu-ray presentation outclasses its DVD counterpart. But just because a presentation is bright and colorful doesn't mean it's a successful one. Ultimately, I'm not sure why some DC Animation encodes soar while others plummet, but my aging fanboy heart can't take another technical eyesore like this.
At least it all sounds pretty good. Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track proves itself a mighty member of the DC Animation family, despite the fact that the film's sound design is rather two-dimensional (more so than previous DC outings). Dialogue commandeers the center channel to great effect, voices are clean and crisp, and prioritization is spot on. Voices are nestled neatly within the chaos and rarely float above the fray, lending considerable legitimacy to the experience. Granted, the LFE channel favors blunt-force-trauma over nuanced heft, but it gets the job done without making any serious missteps. Explosions are hearty, giant war beasts are appropriately menacing, power blasts split the soundscape, and crumbling buildings leave an impression. Likewise, rear speaker activity is a bit reserved, but packs plenty of heat when action consumes the soundfield. Dynamics deliver, pans are swift and smooth, sound effects are sharp and satisfying, and directionality is relatively precise. If anything, the mix isn't nearly as immersive as it could be, and ambience is quite sparse whenever Superman or Batman aren't priming a punch. But again, blame the film's sound design, not Warner's lossless track. All in all, Apocalypse's video transfer may have left me in a foul mood, but its DTS-HD MA mix kept me sane.
The Blu-ray edition of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse touches down with more than three hours of supplemental material, as well as another strong DC Showcase animated short (this one involving Green Arrow). However, of that three hours, only seventy-two minutes involves actual special features. And of that still respectable seventy-two minutes, an earth-shattering five minutes references the production of the film itself. That's right. No commentary, no production documentary, no Michael Turner tribute, no real glimpse behind the scenes. Don't get me wrong, the remaining material is appreciated and worthwhile -- particularly the Darkseid and Supergirl docs, not to mention the All-Star Superman sneak peek -- but how bout some time with Apocalypse's filmmakers and voice actors? Now that would be a treat.
An extra twenty minutes would have done wonders for Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, and producer Bruce Timm's short runtimes continue to be DC Animation's kryptonite. The story certainly clips along at a fast pace, but character arcs are riddled with holes, plot development lurches too much for my taste and narrative cohesion is sometimes left by the wayside. Ah well. The action is tight and intense, the snippy interactions between DC's Big Three is worth the price of admission alone, and there's enough on tap to justify a rental. Sadly, the same can't be said of Apocalypse's Blu-ray release. Its video encode is hobbled by every manner of digital anomaly in the multiverse (and then some), its supplemental package isn't all its cracked up to be and its DTS-HD Master Audio track, while impressive, can't cloak the disc's shortcomings. Approach with caution.
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