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RELEASES - THE BATMAN VS. DRACULA
The Batman vs. Dracula
Format: DVD
Announce Date: 7/4/05
Street Date: 10/18/05
Closed Captioning: Yes
MSRP: $24.98
MPAA: NR
Packaging Type: Amaray Case
Media Quantity: 1
Run Time: 84 minutes
Sound Track Language: English
Subtitles: English, Francais, Espanol
Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33, Standard [4:3
Transfer]
Other Formats: Gift Set (11/22/05) |
Synopsis: Gotham City is
terrorized not only by recent escapees Joker and Penguin, but by the
original creature of the night, Dracula! Can Batman stop the ruthless
vampire before he turns everyone in the city, including the aforementioned
super villains into his mindless minions?
DVD Features:
Featurette
• "Science vs. Superstition": Batman's computer gives light to the legend of
Dracula and all its rumors.
Other
• 1) "City of Knight": Click on a map of Gotham and discover behind the
scenes and hidden buttons with short video clips of the making of.
• 2) "Voices in Close Up": Multi-window montage with pop-up trivia boxes and
interview footage give intimate interview looks at the voices behind Batman
vs. Dracula.
The Batman vs. Dracula Review by Zach Demeter
On October 18th, Warner Home Video will release the first
Direct-To-Video feature for the popular The Batman animated
series. Skeptics wondered how it would stand up both against the show
itself as well as the rich history of the Dracula legend. You don’t need
to be skeptical anymore.
The Movie: I won’t deny that I laughed at the idea of this movie
when it was first revealed. Vampires in The Batman? I like my
Batman to come with a bit of reality to it all—it’s what makes him the
most relatable of all superheroes. I must say, however, that the film
handles the Dracula lore superbly. We get the usual Vampire myths in it,
but the way it’s all wrapped up in the end makes it seem less ludicrous
than the idea originally sounded.
The movie was an awesome addition to the The Batman show and to
Batman animation in general; it’s a fine piece of work and I heartily
recommend it to anyone who might be even the slightest bit curious.
For a more in-depth review, refer to
The Batman vs. Dracula movie
review.
Video and Audio: What’s a movie without the proper technical
specifications to show it off?
The Batman vs. Dracula comes with a gorgeous transfer; very, very
little interlacing (literally only seen if you go frame-by-frame and
look closely; even in those cases its rare), the transfer is just
beautiful. The compression level can vary depending on the scene;
luckily most of the film is in pitch-black settings, so the there’s
never much compression to be seen. The only bit of strange compression
to be seen is during close-ups of characters; the coloring and
compression is an odd mixture of regular artifacting to what resembles
GIF compression. It’s not at all distracting, however; you really have
to pay attention to see it.
The audio is strong as well; there’s never too much bass, so your room
won’t be thudding with this one. With Dolby 5.1 Surround on it, however,
there’s plenty to be heard around the room; this is definitely another
strong point in this DVD release.
The Extras: Here is quite possibly the only negative part of the
DVD.
First up is a “Science vs. Superstition” featurette, narrated by The
Batman. In it he discusses the history of Dracula and Vampires and
actually throws around a few neat facts and discoveries along the way.
It’s both entertaining and informative and should interest both the
kids, any older siblings or parents that sit down to watch this DVD.
Next up is some interviews with the production crew and staff on the
show and on this DTV. I do hand it to WB for providing a few more
behind-the-scenes looks than what we got on the last Batman DTV (Mystery
of the Batwoman), but with those extra minutes we get an aggravating
menu system. In order to see these interviews with the production staff
and crew, we hit the “City of the Knight” menu, where we get to choose
the Batcave, Arkham Asylum or the Cemetery. Inside those are interviews
specific to those areas; sound good? It does until you see how it’s set
up.
In order to see each of the featurettes, you have to use your control to
“navigate” through those areas and once you highlight a character or
object, you hit “Enter” (or “Play”, depending on your remote) and you
get to view the interview. This wouldn’t be all that bad if the menus
were easier to navigate; in addition to that, you have to look out for
the “Lost Ones” as they’ll “attack you” if you click a highlighted area
that you’re not supposed to be on. Once that happens, you’re sent back
to the navigation menu. I’m sure kids may find the “hunt” fun, but what
the kids find inside all of this really wouldn’t be interesting to them.
A simple navigation would’ve been better suited. If at all possible, I
recommend viewing these features on your PC’s DVD drive; it’s easier to
navigate with the mouse.
“Voices in Close-Up” is another enjoyable featurette for all, albeit
short. We see interviews with Rino Romano (The Batman), Kevin Michael
Richardson (The Joker) and Tom Kenny (The Penguin). It’s a lot of fun to
see the characters do the voices and the motions they do during them;
you also get to hear what the actors sound like in their “normal”
voices. I must say it was a bit jarring to hear Rino Romano talk as his
Bruce Wayne is his real voice.
In all we’re looking at twenty-to-thirty minutes of special features,
plus eleven (yes, eleven) trailers for already-out or upcoming
WHV releases and Kids WB! premieres. Not bad for a “children’s” DVD, but
still not quite up to snuff.
Overall the movie is incredibly entertaining and the DVD is worth that
alone. Video and audio are undeniably strong, but if you're searching
for special features, don't look here. There’s really not much to see
and what small bit of it exists is set up inside an annoying menu
system.
Addendum (10-17-05): After receiving the final retail version of
The Batman vs. Dracula, there doesn't appear to be any additions
compared to what I was sent earlier to review. There is only one audio
track (Dolby English 5.1 Surround) and there are no subtitles.
There are fifteen chapters on the DVD in all but they are not selectable
from the main menu. You have to use your DVD remote to skip through
them, one by one.
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