The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

♫ Everybody Knows that the Dice Are Loaded; Everybody Knows the 4K Is a Cheat ♪

The Death of Superman is the fourth DC Animated Universe film that Warner has released on 4K UHD, and if this review sounds like you've read it before, it's because you have. The 4K iteration of this film confirms what we have already seen with Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay: namely, there is no benefit in up-rezzing these line-drawn films to 4K and giving them an HDR "upgrade" that is all but invisible. The trend is continuing, with 4K reissues of several previous DCAU releases already announced (and one new one).

There is no obvious reason for these vanity projects, except that someone in the Warner or DC executive suite seems determined to hop onto the latest technical bandwagon, regardless of benefit to the consumer. (You have to wonder whether they've ever actually watched the product.) Accordingly, the title of this review is adapted from the fatalistic anthem that played over the opening credits of the live-action Justice League, the previous film mourning Superman's death and, despite its many weaknesses, a project whose 4K treatment offered visible improvements. Warner and DC can pump out as many of these faux 4K animation discs as they want, but by now everybody knows the product is a cheat.

The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the standard Blu-ray. Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)

Everything I have said about the DC Animated Universe's previous 4K UHDs applies equally to Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD of The Death of Superman; so please blame the repetition on Warner and DC for continuing to perpetrate the same hoax. Watching this 4K disc, you might be pardoned for thinking that you made a mistake and inserted the standard Blu-ray instead. There is no visible uptick in detail, which is hardly surprising given the minimalist style of the animation. (Contrast the busy style of LEGO Batman, where 4K/HDR adds texture and brings out minutia crammed into the overstuffed frame.) Death of Superman's 4K image is yet another demonstration that increased resolution doesn't automatically improve an image. There has to be something to resolve.

Nor does HDR encoding provide a meaningful benefit. The palette is essentially the same as the standard Blu-ray's, and while colors may be a bit more refined, the HDR grading isn't a revisionist take that adds "pop" where there wasn't any before. The same brighter and more varied palette that provided such a welcome change from recent DCAU releases on the standard Blu-ray are just as enjoyable on the 4K—but no more. Please refer to the Blu-ray review for a more detailed description; there's nothing new to see on the 4K.

Death of Superman on UHD does offer the advantage of an absence of the barely noticeable banding I observed on the standard Blu-ray, which is the only true improvement I have noted in some previous DCAU 4K versions. If a few fleeting seconds of banding offend you, then by all means pay the higher price for the 4K. Otherwise, don't bother.

[System calibrated for UHD using (a) a Klein K-10A Colorimeter with a Custom Profile made in CalMAN using a Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectroradiometer; (b) Murideo Fresco SIX-G UHD signal generator with HDR10 and Dolby Vision capability; and (c) SpectraCal CalMAN Software v. 5.8.2.85. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]

The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The UHD disc has the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack previously reviewed.

The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The UHD disc has no extras. The accompanying standard Blu-ray has the extras previously reviewed here

The Death of Superman 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While studios like Sony, Fox, Paramount and Lionsgate are busily increasing their output of 4K reissues of live-action catalog films that can benefit from the upgrade (though, admittedly, some more than others), Warner is wasting its 4K efforts on the DCAU. Meanwhile, you can count on one hand its live-action UHD remasters currently announced for 2018 (i.e., 2001 and The Matrix Trilogy). If there's a coherent strategy behind all of this, I can't discern it. Skip the latest DCAU 4K charade, and stick with the Blu-ray.