Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Flash 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Better than Ezra.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III August 27, 2023

Andy Muschietti's The Flash may have been yet another punchline in a mostly disastrous box office year for Warner Bros. (Barbie notwithstanding, obviously) but, like Shazam: Fury of the Gods, it's not really deserving of all the harsh criticism. A bit annoyingly goofy in spots? Yep. Ambitious to a fault? Sure. But it's still a largely enjoyable ride with solid performances, plenty of inspired detours, and enough good sense to keep things moving during its sleek running time... by superhero movie standards, at least. Unfortunately, what most critics and fans focused on during its theatrical run were the wonky special effects (guilty), star Ezra Miller's personal issues (guilty), and hyperbolic accusations of being the worst DC movie ever made (not guilty), which left any real chances of box office success in ruins.

Taking its tonal cues mostly from Shazam, The Flash attempts to balance heartfelt drama, goofy comedy, and over-the-top action with occasionally mixed results. Our story follows the title character (real name Barry Allen, a meek forensic investigator) after he helps to thwart a Gotham City robbery with the help of Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). Waxing nostalgic upon visiting his childhood home -- including remembering the death of his mother Nora (Maribel Verdú) and the wrongful imprisonment of his dad Henry (Ron Livingston) -- Barry is overcome with regret and, using the Speed Force, inadvertently travels back in time a couple of hours. Ignoring Bruce Wayne's warnings, he later decides to change history by returning to the day of his mother's death but ends up in an alternate timeline where Nora never died. There's also a second (younger) Barry with no powers, a different Batman, a new Marty McFly, and even a mysterious figure who's taken the place of Superman in a Siberian prison camp. That person will come in handy when battling General Zod, who shows up on a television broadcast to announce his upcoming invasion of Earth.

Needless to say, The Flash juggles a lot of balls in the air but actually does a pretty impressive job of keeping things smooth, only hitting a handful of speed bumps in the form of a few troublesome tonal shifts and that aforementioned rough-looking CGI, which is really just a byproduct of several scenes (the opening robbery, which leads to a ginormous explosion and daring anti-gravity rescue attempt, as well as the "multiverse" bubble inside the Speed Force) being too complicated for the SFX team(s) to pull off convincingly. This is often the Achilles' Heel of most superhero movies -- an embrace of excess, which also includes running times -- but The Flash doesn't fall fully into this trap, retaining a mostly light and fittingly energetic atmosphere that makes it more watchable than most in the genre. A tighter sequel would be fun to see but we damn sure won't get one (what with the justified Miller backlash and, of course, poor ticket sales), and that's a shame. I'd rather see a new Flash than Justice League Whatever or another bloated Wonder Woman... so for now, this one stands on its own as a film that's unquestionably not as bad as its reputation suggests.

For a more detailed synopsis and a slightly colder perspective, please see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

On the bright side, we at least get a terrific home video package from Warner Bros. whose only fault is that a combo pack isn't available -- just separate 4K and Blu-ray editions with identical audio and a slightly different slate of extras (the 4K has a few exclusive extras, all listed below). The other difference is of course in the visuals, with this UHD boasting a clean and precise 2160p/HDR transfer that will look great on medium to large-sized displays.

The Flash 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: The screenshots for this review were sourced from the separate Blu-ray edition.

The Flash looks inarguably great on 4K UHD, with a suitably crisp and detailed 2160p/HDR transfer which, during my initial screening, I watched with Dolby Vision enabled. As expected it hit almost all of the right visual notes, boasting razor-sharp image detail, strong textures, and extremely bold color saturation that's further enhanced by high dynamic range. (The same goes for black levels, shadow details, and bright whites, all of which should hold up nicely though are dependent on your display's local dimming capabilities.) There's a bit of an unavoidably patchy appearance where some of that dodgy CGI is concerned; in some respects, the Blu-ray actually might do a slightly better job of hiding some of those visual seams. But it's absolutely a fair trade for the tangible boosts in overall image detail and color, with bolder primaries and creative color pairings leaping far beyond what 1080p/SDR is capable of. Disc compression is also tighter overall with a suitably higher bit rate. I was initially concerned since all of the accompanying extras are squeezed onto the movie disc -- unalike most previous WB combo packs, which typically relegated them to the Blu-ray -- but it turns out that a triple-layer UHD is more than enough real estate for everything to breathe at a comfortable bit rate, even with its taller-than-expected 1.90:1 aspect ratio and Dolby Atmos audio, which is covered below.

The Flash 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Equally unsurprising is The Flash's consistently active and robust Dolby Atmos audio mix, which pairs front-forward conversations with no shortage of discrete action, panning effects, rear channel activity, and plenty of heavy subwoofer hits that'll give you plenty of good reasons to annoy your neighbors, Highlights abound, from the early robbery and a subsequent mid-air rescue to Flash's perpetual use of the Speed Force and more than a few nicely-paced action scenes, not to mention the occasional trips through time and all the creative sonic touches that come with them. The Atmos-exclusive height channel also gets some love in almost all cases, creating not only some convincing overhead effects but also forming a satisfying "sonic bubble" that makes it such an enjoyable option. (Speaking of options, WB has also seen fit to include a superfluous Dolby Digital 5.1 option, which at least isn't the default like it used to be.)

Several sets of dubs and subtitles, including English (SDH), are offered during the main feature and/or extras.

The Flash 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed artwork and a matching slipcover; a Digital Copy redemption code is tucked inside. The included bonus features aren't all in-depth but are collectively much more numerous than expected and that might help win over a few potential buyers stuck on the fence.

NOTE: As mentioned earlier, a few extras are exclusive to this 4K release and are marked with an asterisk.

• Making The Flash: Worlds Collide (36:55) - Director Andy Muschietti, producer Barbara Muschietti, and a few others host this run-through of the filmmaking process from pre-production on March 12, 2021 to the last day of shooting on October 8, covering such topics as story development, assembling a crew, tweaking the script, set design, special effects, and a bunch of other things that (hopefully) come together in the end.

• Flashpoint: Introducing the DC Multiverse* (6:21) - Writer Sterling Gates and several others (including comics veteran Mark Waid) speak briefly about how The Flash kick-started the popularity of the multiverse concept, how it naturally became a core part of the film's plot, and representing it visually.

• Let's Get Nuts: Batman Returns, Again! (8:31) - There's some great behind-the-scenes footage during this brief featurette about -- yep, you guessed it -- with comments from key cast and crew members about Keaton's portrayal of Batman, his history with the character, and updating his costume (but not too much).

• The Bat Chase* (6:50) - A quick breakdown of Scene 007E, AKA Batman's race through Gotham.

• Saving Supergirl* (6:47) - Another scene breakdown, this one covers the Siberian rescue sequence.

• Battling Zod* (5:36) - This third of four breakdowns talks about the desert battle and COVID complications.

• Fighting Dark Flash* (7:14) - The final breakdown looks at the climactic fight and its visual effects.

• The Flash: The Saga of the Scarlet Speedster* (38:26) - A fun and entertaining look at the Flash character, from his long history in comics (dating back to 1940) to different portrayals in various media including animated series, other films, and this main feature, complete with lots of interviews with cast and crew members (many of which are industry veterans and/or long-time fans), comic panels, and supportive media clips.

• Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton (16:00) - Supergirl gets her own little historical featurette here, presented similarly to the previous one with a handful of interviews, clips, comic panels, and more.

• Deleted Scenes* (10 clips, 14:13 total) - A collection of short, numbered deleted scenes, all presented in various (mostly finished) stages of completion with contextual bits and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

• The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus Trailer (1:03) - A promotional piece for the scripted podcast story starring Max Greenfield... most of which is just visual soundwaves, LOL.

• The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus (6 clips, 93:43 total) - All six episodes of the podcast presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. I'm not really a fan of podcasts in general, but this is a pretty nice inclusion.

• The Flash in Session: Escape the Midnight Circus (1:58) - A few behind-the-scenes clips from the podcast along with brief interviews with writer/director Henry Loevner and voice actor Max Greenfield.

The Flash 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Andy Muschietti's The Flash was DC's latest critical whipping boy and box office misfire, following in the footsteps of Shazam: Fury of the Gods despite, you know, actually being pretty good. (Black Adam, on the other hand, deserved all the hate.) Anyway, I liked this one just fine, a few speed bumps notwithstanding, and its reputation might even grow on subsequent viewings. Yet while even a warmer home video reception unfortunately won't lead to a sequel, it'll at least help salvage The Flash's undeservingly bad reputation. WB's 4K supports it nicely with a terrific A/V presentation and plenty of bonus features (some of which are exclusive), which clearly makes this the version to get.