WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie Review

A Documentary on a short leash.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 14, 2014

I just feel like I'm back at home.

Batista: The Animal Unleashed is less a Documentary about a wrestler and more a promotional fluff piece touting a wrestler's return to action. The 40-minute feature, flanked by a good number of matches, shapes a basic, albeit entertaining and informative, portrait of Batista, ranging from his in-ring accomplishments to his hobbies outside of the WWE. It's a nice little overview but hardly mustering the same sort of drive and depth found on some of the WWE's other, better wrestler Documentaries focusing on the likes of Steve Austin, The Rock, and CM Punk. Batista fans and general WWE enthusiasts will get enough mileage out of the matches to justify a purchase, but those hoping for a detailed, intimate portrait will leave disappointed with what amounts to a highlight reel of Batista's life over the past decade or so.

The man obviously does his curls.

Batista: The Animal Unleashed follows the wrestler as he returns to Sports Entertainment following several years away to pursue other endeavors -- including an acting career -- as he prepares for 2014's Royal Rumble match and the beginning of the second leg of his professional wrestling career. As the film captures intimate moments behind the scenes -- from Batista reflecting on where he's been and what he's about to do to working with his costumer on last-minute alterations -- it also looks back, briefly, at his life before wrestling and also examines his career and the injuries that dogged him throughout. It also focuses on his automobile hobby and his time mastering Jiu Jitsu.

The film does a good enough job of poking underneath the surface, but even casual fans will be left wanting more. The Documentary exposes the man behind the wrestling persona with just enough detail to distinguish the man from the "animal," revealing a soft-spoken car enthusiast with an eye for fashion and a love for shopping that's more or less the antithesis of the muscular, tattooed figure who patrols the ring. The film touches on a number of areas, including Batista's departure from the WWE, but one cannot help but feel like there's more to the story, left out either because Batista didn't want to tell the story or because the WWE didn't want to put in the effort into creating a more thorough account for the recently returned superstar. Batista attempts to add a few layers by revealing his innermost reactions to fan taunts and jeers; he superficially brushes many of them off but is obviously pained when the criticism transforms from a middle finger and a boo to talk that he doesn't deserve his success. The man obviously works hard and is to be admired for his dedication to his physique, recovery from injury, and ability to find success in a number of fields. There's an interesting man here that deserves a more thorough study than this film provides.

The following matches are included in Batista: The Animal Unleashed:

Disc One:

• Career Match: Leviathan vs. Brock Lesnar. OVW -- July 28, 2001.
• Career Match: Reverend D-Von & Batista vs. Faarooq & Randy Orton. SmackDown -- June 27, 2002.
• World Tag Team Championship Match: Batista & Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam & Booker T. RAW -- March 22, 2004.
• Bull Rope Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield. SmackDown -- September 9, 2005.
• Career Match: Batista, Rey Mysterio & Bobby Lashley vs. King Booker, Finlay & Mark Henry. Saturday Night's Main Event -- July 15, 2006.
• Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. King Booker vs. Finlay. SmackDown -- December 1, 2006.
• Fatal 4-Way No. 1 Contender's Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. Kane vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry. SmackDown -- May 25, 2007.
• Career Match: Batista vs. Edge. SmackDown -- June 7, 2007.
• Last Man Standing Match: Batista vs. Kane. SmackDown -- December 14, 2007.
• Stretcher Match: Batista vs. Shawn Michaels. One Night Stand -- June 1, 2008.
• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Batista vs. CM Punk. The Great American Bash -- July 20, 2008.
• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Batista vs. Chris Jericho. Cyber Sunday -- October 26, 2008.

Disc Two:

• Career Match: Batista & Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho & John "Bradshaw" Layfield. RAW -- October 27, 2008.
• Career Match: Batista & Shane McMahon vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase. SmackDown -- April 24, 2009.
• Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship: Batista vs. Randy Orton. Extreme Rules -- June 7, 2009.
• Career Match: Batista vs. CM Punk. SmackDown -- October 9, 2009.
• Career Match: Batista vs. Rey Mysterio. Survivor Series -- November 22, 2009.
• Street Fight: Batista vs. Rey Mysterio. SmackDown -- December 11, 2009.
• Triple Threat No. 1 Contender's Match for the WWE Championship: Batista vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton. RAW -- April 26, 2010.
• "I Quit" Match for the WWE Championship: Batista vs. John Cena. Over the Limit -- May 23, 2010.
• 30-Man Royal Rumble Match (Batista Enters at No. 28): Royal Rumble -- January 26, 2014. Note that the entire match is not included; it begins about ten seconds before Batista's entrance at #28.
• Career Match: Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio. Elimination Chamber -- February 23, 2014.

Unfortunately, Batista's Triple threat match from for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship with Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton from WrestleMania XXX is not included.

WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Batista: The Animal Unleashed features the tried-and-true WWE Home Video 1080i presentation. The bulk of the material is presented in native high definition with only scattered older footage up-converted to high definition and, in the main feature, reformatted to 1.78:1 to match the HD aspect ratio. Image definition is excellent in the HD footage. It's sharp and nicely detailed, revealing intimate skin, tattoo, hair, and sweat details in close-up shots. Image clarity is outstanding, and it's sharp and clear even well into the distance, back up into the crowds. Colors are bold and exciting; there's plenty of digital flash, pyro, and fan hand-made signs to give shape to a rich and robust palette. Neither black levels nor skin tones cause too much alarm. The image suffers from a hint of noise and some evident compression issues, particularly up against darker backdrops, but generally speaking this transfer satisfies across all major areas of concern.

WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Batista: The Animal Unleashed features a WWE Home Video-basic Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It's primarily a dialogue-intensive experience, featuring narration, interview clips, and behind-the-scenes chatter with Batista and other wrestlers and assorted people in his life. Intro music and pyrotechnics don't dominate the stage, ever-so-slightly seeming to fall into the background rather than push their way up to the front-and-center spot, but clarity and the sense of immersion satisfy. This is a rather simple track with little else out of place. It handles the material as well as can be expected under the lossy constraints and the film's rather straightforward sonic structure.

WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Batista: The Animal Unleashed contains a deleted scene on disc one and several extra matches on disc two, the latter labeled as "Blu-ray Exclusives."

Disc One:

• A Brotherly Bond (HD, 2:41): A short look at Titus O'Neil's career and relationship with Batista.

Disc Two:

• Career Match: Batista vs. Justin Gabriel. RAW -- November 4, 2002.
• Career Match: Batista vs. Kane. RAW -- November 25, 2002.
• World Tag Team Championship Match: Batista & Ric Flair vs. The Dudley Boyz. Armageddon -- December 14, 2003.
• Career Match: Batista vs. Randy Orton. RAW -- April 4, 2005.
• Career Match: Batista & Eddie Guerrero vs. MNM. SmackDown -- September 23, 2005.
• Punjabi Prison Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. The Great Khali. No Mercy -- October 7, 2007.
• WWE Championship Match: Batista vs. John Cena. Elimination Chamber -- February 21, 2010.
• Career Moment: "The Name & Face of WWE." RAW -- March 1, 2010.
• Career Moment: "I Quit!" RAW -- May 23, 2010.
• Career Moment: "Deal with it." SmackDown -- February 28, 2014.

WWE: Batista: The Animal Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Batista: The Animal Unleashed captures the essence of the classic wrestler profile piece but doesn't dig quite as deeply as it should. The film feels scattershot, barely spending any time, for whatever reason, on Batista's life pre-wrestling career or even his time in the WWE before his departure, instead focusing almost exclusively on his time away and his return at Royal Rumble. The film introduces audiences to a fascinating man who seems nothing at all like the freak of nature -- and that's a compliment -- inside the ring. Batista deserves more than what amounts to a fluff piece. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of Batista: The Animal Unleashed delivers typical WWE HD picture and lossy sound. A nice assortment of matches are included. Despite some reservations about the main feature -- primarily that it's nowhere near as thorough as it should be -- this release earns a recommendation to WWE and Batista fans.