The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 7, 2022

Premiering more than a decade after the game-changing Batman: The Animated Series debuted and soon after the futuristic Batman Beyond, Michael Goguen and Duane Capizzi's The Batman went back to basics during a five- season run that explored Bruce Wayne's early years as The Caped Crusader. Still sticking to a mostly episodic format rather than heavy serialization (no matter what the show's creator's say), The Batman was perhaps best known for its visual design spearheaded by producer Jeff Matsuda, whose brand of artwork gave the series a very stylized appearance that was either a huge draw or a total turn-off. I'm definitely not a fan of his work so I avoided the show during its original broadcast run, eventually getting acquainted via season-by-season DVD releases in the mid to late-2000s.

While I'm still not a fan of the show's visual design by a long shot, it has fundamental strengths that include strong voice work, serviceable music, and interesting treatment of several well-known characters -- mostly Rogues' Gallery villains -- that, if nothing else, attempts something different rather than riding the coattails of previous takes on the material. Each 13-episode season has its own identity: early outings are understandably more episodic, with the first couple dozen featuring a revolving door of well-known villains (The Joker, Catwoman, The Riddler, Bane, Mr. Freeze, and The Penguin), a few B-team members (Killer Croc, Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat) and more obscure foes such as Rag Doll, Spellbinder, and Cluemaster. These separate showdowns are paired nicely with two familiar challenges: Bruce's secret identity and Batman's relationship with the public, which is initially strained due to his vigilante behavior and is shown through the ground-level work of detective Ethan Bennett -- an old classmate of Bruce Wayne -- and his new partner Ellen Yin, as well as Chief of Police Angel Rojas and, soon enough, Commissioner James Gordon.

Later episodes would jettison the two detectives for entirely different reasons, eventually bringing in the likes of Batgirl (via Gordon's noticeably younger daughter Barbara), Robin, and Nightwing, plus a new crop of foes such as Poison Ivy, Toymaker, Clayface, Black Mask, The Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn, and even a sudden heel turn for a friend introduced during earlier times. The show's fifth and final season, which was made without the involvement of departing original producers Jeff Matsuda and Michael Jelenic, understandably took a different approach, often pairing Batman and his young sidekicks with DC notables including Justice League members Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkeye, as well as bringing in appropriate baddies such as Lex Luthor, Sinestor, the Mirror Master, and many more. All the while, it graduated towards slightly more serialized stories, though more in the vein of multi-part storylines and character development than air-tight continuity. Most fans of the series consider seasons 3-5 to be of overall higher quality than the first two and, while none approach the level of Batman's best incarnations (animated or otherwise), these more ambitious years at least elevated the series proper to modest heights.

Behind the microphone, The Batman features a wealth of voice talent including Rino Romano (new to Batman/Bruce Wayne, but a great choice for the dual role), Jerry O'Connell, Mitch Pileggi, Alastair Duncan, and Ming-Na Wen; guest appearances and other a few recurring / minor roles are filled out by the likes of Kevin Michael Richardson, Gwendoline Yeo, Piera Coppola, Ron Perlman, Clancy Brown, Gina Gershon, Brandon Routh, Jason Marsden, Robert Englund, Patton Oswalt, John Larroquette, Diedrich Bader, Tom Kenny, Jeff Bennett, John DiMaggio, Miguel Ferrer, Frank Gorshin, Jim Cummings, Richard Green, Dan Castellaneta, Phil LaMarr, and Mark Hamill as someone who isn't The Joker. The Batman also served as an early launching period for several young crew members including Sam Liu and Brandon Vietti, who would go on to direct quality feature-length Batman direct-to-video fare such as Soul of the Dragon and Under the Red Hood ... but then again, they also directed The Killing Joke and Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery.

All told, The Batman a decent enough series that may have aged better than you remember and plays well on Warner Bros.' welcome new Blu-ray edition: pairing a new 1080p widescreen presentation (which showcases the series in its proper 1.78:1 aspect ratio for the first time) with lossless audio and a nice collection of bonus features, The Batman: The Complete Series makes for a no-nonsense package that should appeal to Batman fans of all ages.

The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My obvious dislike of its visual design aside (seriously, just look at this horrific Elephant Man profile shot and this MS Paint-grade background rendering), The Batman shows objective room for improvement on Warner Home Video's new Blu-ray collection. There is one nice surprise here, though: the series was originally produced in 1.78:1 widescreen but was hastily cropped for broadcast (and DVD) at 1.33:1, and now was been unceremoniously returned to its OAR for the first time here. Although this often translates to little more than a little extra dead space on the sides, the compositions feel more natural than previous versions, which at times were so tight that most scenes felt downright claustrophobic. I know there may be some who might be tied to the "original" 1.33:1 broadcast and DVD framing, but in my opinion this is a welcome improvement. Unfortunately, it's still held back by a few compression-related issues.

If you squint hard enough, The Batman doesn't look half bad; the show's ultra-flat and very simple aesthetic (to put it kindly) translates well enough to high definition, with an overall smooth and readable appearance that will look pretty damn good on most small or mid-sized displays. But closer examination reveals plenty of problems, mostly in the areas of compression artifacts, jagged edges (although some may be baked into the source material, as the show did often feature scruffy linework), and especially banding. Gradient skies and shadowy interiors are absolutely slathered with banding at times, and it can be awfully distracting once you notice the problem. (Later episodes traded in flat skies for weird swirly backgrounds, which hide some of these problems but are distracting in a completely different way.) Along with those compression and encoding-related issues also come mild amounts of black crush and posterization, although "blacks" are actually more of a soft, medium gray in most cases so it's not always as noticeable. What we're left with is a passable* presentation that could have been further improved with more careful treatment. Either way, the included 40 screenshots (which briefly touch on all five seasons) at least offer a largely faithful representation of how these Blu-rays look, although some of those compression-related problems aren't quite as noticeable in motion.

* While both my score and comments paint an obviously less-than- perfect picture, this Blu-ray collection does look quite a bit stronger than the included 1.33:1 DVD-era clips featured on several vintage behind-the-scenes featurettes included as bonus features. The mid to late 2000-era DVD releases, while likely good enough for their time, likely don't hold a candle to this Blu-ray collection in any major category and the visuals will not be revisited anytime soon.

The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Thankfully there are no issues with the sound, which is pretty damn surprising for a Warner Bros. catalog release: not only does The Batman retain its original two-channel stereo mix, but it's been bumped up to DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio. Dialogue and sound effects are crystal clear with good placement and occasional channel separation / panning effects, and there's plenty of room left over for the original score which includes both opening songs (The Edge's spooky track during Seasons 1-2 and Andy Sturmer's less impressive surf-rock song during Seasons 3-5, which doubles as the main menu music) and regular episode cues by Thomas Chase. No distortion, drop-outs, or sync issues round out this basic but very serviceable TV-on-Blu-ray presentation, which does its job perfectly and nothing more.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during all episodes and bonus features.

The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This six-disc set ships in a multi-hubbed keepcase barely wider than the traditional size. Sleek cover art, a matching slipcover, and two inserts are included: a folded episode list (remember those?) and a Digital Copy redemption slip. Extras are spread over four discs and in almost random order; most are ported from the older DVDs (including the first season's two "volume" releases, which were later replaced by a full season set), but one new featurette is here.

DISC ONE

• NEW! The Dark Dynasty Continues (15:56) - This all-new retrospective featurette takes a look back at The Batman's development and legacy, including the studio-mandated limitations put on it in the considerable wake of Batman: The Animated Series and Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman Begins, as well as the challenges of portraying the character's early years from a new perspective. Key participants include producer / head writer Duane Capizzi, voice director Andrea Romano, director Brandon Vietti, voice actor Rino Romano (Batman), director Sam Liu, writer Steven Melching, and voice actor Alastair Duncan (Alfred).

DISC THREE

• Season 3 Unmasked (8:05) - Several key contributors, including voice actors and other members of creative team such as producer / head writer Duane Capizzi, offer a brief overview of the third season from a production and story standpoint, with Batgirl understandably dominating the discussion.

• Joining Forces: The Batman's Legendary Team-Ups (25:21) - Members of the creative team speak about later-season episodes featuring the Justice League, many of which were inspired by the comics.

DISC FOUR

• Season 4 Unmasked (9:22) - This second installment of "Unmasked" goes into slightly more detail than the Season 3 piece, likely due to the higher quality of episodes, and features similar contributors.

• The Batman Junior Detective Challenge (5:28) - A kid-friendly trivia game -- self-playing, not interactive -- that's nonetheless almost punishing in its quick speed if you don't have the pause button handy.

• The Batman Junior Detective Exam - Level 2 (4:44) - As the name implies, it's another trivia game... this time narrated by The Batman himself rather than Alfred, although the DVD-ROM "reward" isn't carried over.

• Building The Batman (6:43) - Half toy commercial and half featurette, this short piece -- winkingly "hosted" by Detective Yin -- includes video shot at Mattel Toys and jokey interviews with the show's creative team.

DISC SIX

• Gotham PD Case Files (6:24) - A brief primer of the Rogue's Gallery villains accomplished by re-used (and very jerky) animation from the show. Not exactly valuable stuff, but it's here.

• New Look, New Direction, New Knight (5:45) - Duane Capizzi, Jeff Matsuda, and others speak about The Batman's bold visual approach, character designs, and other production tidbits.

The Batman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Goguen and Duane Capizzi's The Batman can't help but fall short of lofty expectations set by Batman: The Animated Series, but it's a decent show that actually got a little better as the seasons progressed. Its visual design may be a turn-off for some (myself included), but it carves out some interesting new territory for well-established characters -- mostly the Rogues' Gallery villains -- and the voice work and music are both great too. Warner Bros.' new Blu-ray set serves up the whole series (minus the 2005 DTV movie Batman vs. Dracula) in one handy package, which includes the series' first OAR widescreen presentation to date and lossless audio. Throw in a light mixture of bonus features and you've got a solid package for established fans, although newcomers may want to try before they buy.