Batman: Under the Red Hood [Blu-ray]

If you have an interest in viewing or purchasing this movie, you're likely a fan of Batman, DC Superheroes, or both. Either way, this blu-ray disc will not disappoint.Batman: Under the Red Hood is an amazing disc featuring a superb video and audio presentation of one of the best films released to home video by DC to date, and it comes loaded with special features. The following is my take on this release.THE MOVIE (A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW):This movie is an adaptation of the comic book story that debuted in Batman comics nearly five years ago. Those familiar with the comic who watch this film will notice some changes to the story (this story omits the Infinite Crisis tie-in device featured in the comics, allowing the film to work as a stand-alone piece). Although I'm a fan of the comic, I personally found the film to be superior to the original comic storyline in every way.The film opens with Batman attempting to avert an international threat involving two of his deadliest foes, and the opening sequence ends with Batman suffering the worst tragedy of his crime fighting career. After the opening credits roll, the story jumps ahead about five years. The setting is Gotham City, and a mysterious figure calling himself Red Hood is waging war against Gotham's reigning crime lord: Black Mask. Black Mask is noted to be the first criminal in Gotham to take over the crime/drug trade completely. It is no small feat then when Red Hood cripples Black Mask's operations, taking over Black Mask's territories and eliminating anyone who gets in his way. Red Hood's actions eventually place him in Batman's sights, and the resulting chases and battles between the two prove to be some of the most impressive ever depicted on film, animated or otherwise.The chase scenes through Gotham city rooftops incorporate extensive aerial acrobatics, lightning fast martial arts techniques, death defying use of grappling lines, and bullseye gunslinging by Red Hood. Also keep your eyes open for a very impressive scene where Batman and one of his closest allies employ perfect team work to prevent a falling aircraft from crashing on city streets. I've never seen anything like it before, and I was very impressed. Of course, the film culminates in a showdown between Batman and Red Hood, but between the opening and closing of the film, you'll be treated to one breakneck action sequence after another. Each of those scenes highlight different aspects of Batman's crime fighting skills and his advanced crime fighting technology. You will be treated to extensive shots of the Batcave, and you'll see appearances by the Batmobile and the Batwing. Special mention goes to one of the earliest action scenes where Batman is first reunited with one of his oldest allies. The two employ perfect teamwork in a breathtaking action sequence where they take on and defeat a very powerful enemy. The battle takes them from the ground to the sky in an amazing display of aerial combat, death defying acrobatics, and life-saving grappling gun skills, culminating in Batman's stealthy and perfectly timed use of his utility belt arsenal to defeat the villain.While the film's story is pretty straightforward (mostly serving as the thread tying together the awesome action scenes), the plot is solid, featuring a few interesting twists along the way. These plot turns reveal how cunning and ruthless the Red Hood is, as well as how the Red Hood is connected to Batman's past. Red Hood is a worthy adversary for Batman, and his strategies lead Batman into a situation where the only way out may be to cross a line he has vowed to never cross.Being that this is an animated film, the performances rise and fall on the strength of the dialogue and the talent of the voice actors. In that respect, neither of the two disappoint. The dialogue sounds mostly natural for a story of this nature, and the voice acting is very strong. While long time fans of Bruce Timm's Animated Batman consider Kevin Conroy to be the definitive Batman voice (myself included), Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike from JJ Abrams' Star Trek) does an impressive job as the Dark Knight Detective. His style is different from Conroy's, a bit softer and more gravelly, but a fitting voice for Batman. Greenwood is joined by Jensen Ackles (best known as Dean Winchester from Supernatural) who does excellent voice work as the Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris as a good humored but highly skilled ally of Batman, John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) and Jason Isaacs as two of Batman's oldest foes, Wade Williams as a frothing and violent Black Mask, and, Kelly Hu as the trusted assistant of Black Mask.As for the animation, the style is similar to Bruce Timm's previous animated work, but with a smoother, more realistic look to the characters. The animation quality runs somewhere between the more recent Bruce Timm Justice League animated series and a really great anime. This isn't quite Disney caliber animation (which features generous frames of animation per second that give the appearance of life-like fluidity of movement), but for direct to video, it is truly great work. I'd say it's on par with good Japanese Anime such as Naruto.All in all, I was so impressed with this film that after it ended, I watched it once more just to digest the awesome action scenes. I've let the movie run while doing other things, but I always stop what I'm doing to admire the action scenes; they're more inventive and impressive than anything I've ever seen.Conclusion: this film is very highly recommended.Now for the BLU-RAY REVIEW:PICTURE QUALITY: Picture quality is a flawless 1080P. Although most of the scenes in this film take place at night or in otherwise dark settings (the movie is about Batman, after all), the image never falters. Characters are animated with amazing clarity, while backgrounds pop with near three-dimensionality. Colors are sharp and vibrant without bleeding, as evidenced by night time scenes involving explosions and electrical/energy weapons. There is also no artifacting or aliasing that I could see. Perfect video here.AUDIO QUALITY: Audio is very crisp and balanced. Flying batarangs, gunfire, explosions, dialogue and everything in between comes across solidly and clearly. I did not have to constantly adjust the volume up and down to hear dialogue and to avoid overly loud jumps in volume levels when gunfire and explosions rolled around.SPECIAL FEATURES (SPOILER ALERT: TWO OF THE FEATURETTES MAY BE SPOILERS TO THE PLOT OF THE FILM, SO BE FOREWARNED)ANIMATED SHORT FILM: The best special feature is a short film starring Jonah Hex (he is a gunslinging cowboy character set in the wild west time period of the DC Universe; his most notable physical characteristic being horrific burns/scars on one side of his face). Thomas Jane does great voice work as Hex, and his fine effort is complemented by that of other well known actors, including Michelle Trachtenberg, Linda Hamilton, Jason Marsden and Michael Rooker. This short ten minute film sees Hex tracking a a wanted criminal to a saloon/hotel where some of the clients check in and don't check out. When Hex comes up against the murdering criminals who run the joint, you'll see him employe fast thinking and even faster shooting to stay alive. The ending sees the villains getting what they deserve, and I for one, was very pleased with the film. I've seen a review saying this film was in standard def, but it looked hi-def to me, so you will have to decide for yourself when you see it.FEATURETTES: The first one features Dick Grayson, the first Robin; the second features the second Robin, Jason Todd; the third is called "Robin's Requiem" - a feature about the comic story from the late 1980s called "A Death In the Family" which involves a death in Batman's family; and the fourth is a sneak peek at the upcoming Batman/Superman Animated Movie featuring Supergirl's reintroduction to the DC Universe called "Apocalypse." These features are in hi-def.FURTHER BONUS FEATURES: Included on this blu-ray disc are four original episodes of the Bruce Timm Batman Animated Series hand picked by creator Bruce Timm. The episodes are: "Robin's Reckoning" Parts 1 & 2 (featuring the origin of Robin as told in the Batman Animated Series); "The Laughing Fish" (Joker is the main villain, with his scheme being to use his chemical gas to create fish that share his Joker's smile - the story is actually more entertaining than it sounds, plus Joker is voiced by the definitive Joker voice actor, Mark Hamill); and "Mad Love" (a Joker story featuring Harley Quinn, Joker's main squeeze, who hopes to get rid of Batman permanently so that she can be the focus of Joker's attention). These episodes are in standard def.DIGITAL COPY:You also get a free digital copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood. But don't get too excited. It is exclusive to Windows Media Player, so all you itunes/ipod/iphone users out there are out of luck.FINAL WORD:If you are a fan of Superherores, Batman or the Bruce Timm animated DC Universe, you owe it to yourself to either buy or rent a copy today. The film is by far the best direct to home video feature ever produced to date. With great voice acting, solid animation and a story that is equally dark and exciting, fans of Batman and superheroes in general will not be disappointed. Very highly recommended!

...I just HAVE to write a review about this movie as it is one of the best I have seen in a long time...heck, one of the best movies I've seen, ever.BACKGROUND--Major Spoilers aheadI have always enjoyed comic books, the toys that come with them, posters, etc. However, I have never been too big a fan of the cartoons...just never really got into them as I thought (for example) the old 'Superfriends' were silly with the Wonder Twins and their pet monkey, Gleek, ridiculous plot lines, and such like.'Red Hood,' however, caught my attention as many friends recommended it to me...but mainly that I know 'Red Hood' is the original alias of the Joker.The name of the movie just sounded ...cool...so I gave it a look.I. Was. Blown. Away. I had hopes, somewhat high ones, going into this that I would enjoy this cartoon, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen, period.There were no pet monkeys in this cartoon, by the way.WHERE TO BEGIN?Let's start with the voice cast: I understand most Batman fans were disappointed that the long-time voices of The Batman and The Joker: Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, respectively, were absent from this film, but I thought their replacements: Bruce Greenwood and John DiMaggio, did a great job. I've always liked Greenwood since seeing his portrayal of President Kennedy in 'Thirteen Days,' and I thought his Batman was spot-on, at least in my mind, of what the character should sound like.DiMaggio was a good Joker...more Jack Nicholson than Heath Ledger, but Mr. Ledger's performance will never be duplicated so why even bother to try?Neil Patrick Harris is great as Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the original Robin) as he brought humor to an otherwise very dark movie. However, he didn't have a lot of on-screen time, which is one of the few complaints I have with this film.Wade Williams is Black Mask, the gang leader who is at war with The Red Hood. Over-the-top and quite funny (think the 1960s TV show), I enjoyed his performance.Jason Isaacs is Ra's al Ghul. Isaacs gives the character a quiet dignity of a sort, mixed together with an authorative, self-righteous tone. Plus, Isaacs can do creepy quite well. Check out 'The Patriot' or 'Event Horizon' for further proof, if you need it.Finally, Jensen Ackles is Red Hood/Jason Todd. I felt Ackles stole the show as he brought a dramatic intensity to his character that completely swept me into the story. The raw emotion he conveyed, particularly in a scene with Batman near the end of the movie...I cannot describe it, it was great. No, beyond great.ANIMATIONI am not qualified to give technical aspects, but I thought this movie looked great. Gotham City visually looks like a mix of the Gotham City(s) from the Christian Bale and Michael Keaton movies--with a little 'Blade Runner' thrown in for good measure. The animation has an elegant flow to it...the heroes glide across the screen...and the only negatives I noticed were a couple of scenes in which characters are running and it (the running) looks kind of 'stop-motion choppy.' However, the visuals are quite stunning.STORYThe movie opens with the Joker brutally killing Jason Todd, the second 'Robin,' as Batman arrives just seconds late to save him. The violence depicted is brutal, despite being shown off-camera, and definitely not for children.The movie then jumps ahead five years and there is a new villain/vigilante in Gotham, killing any and all rivals who dare get in his way. He bargains with the Gotham drug dealers, telling them he'll protect them (mainly from himself) as long as he gets a huge cut--and they don't deal to children. This new villain is the Red Hood.Of course, it is only a matter of time before he crosses paths with Batman, and if not for Nightwing showing up to help out, the Red Hood may very well have defeated Batman in their first encounter...as Red Hood departs, he yells something that causes Batman to take pause...playing and sound-editing back a tape of their encounter later, Batman realizes Red Hood called him, 'Bruce.'Meanwhile, Black Mask is so frustrated with Red Hood's assault on his crime empire, he breaks the Joker out of Arkham Asylum hoping to enlist his help...which, of course, backfires. And, Batman discovers through detective work of his own that Red Hood and Jason Todd are the one and same...he then travels to Ra's al Ghul's lair and gets the details filled in.Finally, the Joker is now on the loose spreading chaos throughout Gotham City, only to be captured by Batman, but 'stolen,' if you will, from Batman by the Red Hood. All of this leads to the film's climax where Batman and Red Hood debate their different perspectives of morality: Red Hood stating he "is the better Batman" because he *kills* criminals, thus ridding the streets of them for good. Batman's response is that, as much as he would enjoy killing the Joker, he realizes that if he ever crosses that line..."there is no going back." At this point, Red Hood has brutually beaten the Joker and is going to kill him. He tells Batman (GREAT performance here by Jensen Ackles) he needs to make a decision on......well, get the movie and *watch* it to see how it plays out!COMPLAINTSThey are minor, but...a short run-time, AND DEFINITELY not enough Nightwing/Neil Patrick Harris. As stated, his humor was much-needed in this gritty, violent film. True, Black Mask/Wade Williams was funny as well, but his humor comes while he is beating people up.FINALLYI give this movie a 10 out of 10. I really, REALLY enjoyed it. Just hurry up, DC, and release a Red Hood action figure!BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOODDirected by Brandon Vietti. Produced by Bruce Timm. Written by Judd Winick.Batman's creators are Bob Kane and Bill Finger.Run-time is 75 minutes; released on July 27, 2010, by Warner Home Video.MPAA Rating is PG-13; SPECIAL (blu-ray) FEATURES include: a 'Jonah Hex' short; a look at upcoming Warner Home Video/DCU releases, including interviews with the creators; widescreen format; a 'Robin Origin' featurette; 'Robin episodes' from the 'Batman' animated television series; subtitles.Epinions.com link: [...]