DC Universe 10th Anniversary Collection Blu-Ray Review
by James Harvey
The DC Universe: 10th Anniversary Collection is a behemoth of a release from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Collecting the Blu-ray releases of all thirty films from the acclaimed DC Universe Original Movie home video line, plus the related DC Showcase shorts and new bonus content, this is the perfect release for DC Comics fans, or those who just enjoy animated features in general, looking to have this entire collection of movies in one tidy box. But, for those who already own all the movies, or even the majority of them (which is possible if some viewers just went after the titles featuring Batman, for example), it just might be a harder sell.
For reviews on the individual movies and their subsequent bonus features, links to those reviews will be provided at the end of the review. This review is going to focus solely on this new collection and its bonus content. Even without touching upon those, there's still a fair enough of new content to cover, which is impressive considering that, save for the odd release, Warner Bros. Entertainment has always been good about making sure each of these titles include a worthwhile amount of bonus content, and that continues here with this mammoth box set.
Jumping right to the extra supplemental material (packaging will be covered later), the exclusive bonus disc starts off with trailers for the big screen Justice League movie and (oddly enough) a trailer for Batman and Harley Quinn. Following that we're dropped into the disc's main menu, which is the standard Warner Bros. Home Entertainment design, featuring the artwork used for the box set (the DC Comics in their "Rebirth" designs) with the opening title music from Batman and Harley Quinn providing the soundtrack. From there, we can dive right into the bonus content.
First up is the roughly 49-minute "The Super Human In Us All," which focuses on how our favorite heroes inspire people from every day life to be heroes themselves and how we can relate to their struggles and successes. It's a great, positive, upbeat look at the influence of super heroes in every day life, as people from all different walks of life discuss how some of DC Comics' biggest icons changed their lives. It's a reaffirming look at why heroes matter, and it's easy to see yourself in many of the stories that unfold during this extended featurette. Following that is the brief "Mark Hamill: Finding the Laugh," which briefly covers the actor's early days in Star Wars and his eventual involvement in Batman: The Animated Series. The roughly 9-minute featurette shows us Hammil's side of being involved with such massive pop culture icons, and runs far too short. It's a nice overview of some of his iconic works, but as a fan of the actor and his work in Star Wars and Batman, I could've watched a feature-length version of this "mini-doc." The last featurette is a six-minute DC All Access featurette on the comic book origins of Justice League Dark. It's looks over the creation of the team during DC Comics' The New 52 initiative and looks into the background of each team member. Informative for those new to the team, but fairly light.
Moving on from the featurettes, Comic-Con panel coverage makes up the next batch of extras. First up is the excellent, excellent, excellent "DC Universe Original Movies 10th Anniversary Panel at 2017 Comic-Con International," which includes Bruce Timm, James Tucker, Alan Burnett and Jim Krieg discussing the creation of these films alongside actors Kevin Conroy, Tara Strong, John DiMaggio, Vanessa Marshall and Christopher Gorham. Running at 45 minutes, it's a hypnotically watchable panel, with fascinating tidbits and stories, some genuine laughs, great questions from the audience, all spearheaded under moderator Gary Miereanu. We get to learn which movies the creative team wished were better (For Timm, Justice League: The New Frontier, as he wish he had a longer run time; For Tucker, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, as there was so much he had to cut out to get it into a movie format; For Burnett, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, as he wished he put in some quieter stories to balance out the action), and how the process to making these films can be mired in complications that viewers might not even consider. For Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Kreig notes that the actual Flashpoint comic series was still being made (he cites receiving script pages and rough pencil artwork) when they were actually working on their adaptation. It's a fantastic extra that offers a look into creating these movies, something that would be great to see more of in the future.
Up next is the "Tribute to Darwyn Cooke" panel, running roughly 33-minutes, which looks into the professional and personal life of Cooke. Headlined by friends of the late cartoonist, it's a sometimes touching look into Cooke's life. Panelists essentially just shoot the breeze about Cooke for the duration, providing a picture of who we was as a private person and as a professional, including stories of his kindness towards kids (who always got a free sketch from the cartoonist) and comical stories (such as the time he was 'all Batman-ed out' in sketch requests). A great watch and a reminder of the impact this talented creator had. Following that, to round off the panel-based extras, is a flashback to a 2008 Comic-Con International panel for the animated Wonder Woman movie. Included on the panel is former DC Publisher Paul Levitz, Bruce Timm, Wonder Woman director Lauren Montgomery, Andrea Romano and Wonder Woman Steve Trevor, Nathan Fillion. It's a nice look back, nearly ten years ago, as it shows us the DC Universe Original Movie line in it's infancy, its goal at the time and where it was hoping to go, along with anecdotes about the then-current Wonder Woman animated movie. It's a neat watch, especially in the context of just how far this line has come since then.
Moving on to the other extras included on disc, the highlight is inclusion of the Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles animated shorts that accompanied the movie upin it's release. All three - "Twisted," "Bomb" and "Big" - are included in their entirety and it's a joy to have them included here for completion's sake. Previously available only online, fans can now actually own these on physical media (it also makes me wish we'd get to see the continuation of this universe).
The on-disc bonus content is wrapped up with the Lookbook, a gallery of character moels, background art and anamatic images from a selection of DC Universe Original Movie titles, including Batman and Harley, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, among others. It's a neat but all-too-brief peek into the production artwork from these titles (something which would make for a great book down the line).
With the on-disc bonus content covered, what about the rest of the collection? Suffice it to say, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has put together an impressive package to house all the discs and the packed-in bonus items. Inside the cardboard box case is a heavy stock cardboard book which houses all the discs, along with a mini-coloring book - featuring cover artwork from all the DC Universe Original Movie home video releases - and three coins. The coloring book is nice to flip through, even if translating some of the pained artwork to solid line work isn't entirely successful in every instance. The coins are a cool little trinket to have but nothing more, really. The heavy cardboard movie book, along with the coloring book and coins, are nicely snug and secure in the box itself.
The heavy cardboard movie book holding all the Blu-ray discs is incredibly impressive. The artwork featured throughout the book is gorgeous, and the paper stock in super tough and durable. The only real issue is that the cardboard sleeves housing the discs are sometimes a little too snug, but aside from that, the presentation is truly amazing. I personally found myself flipping through the movie book over and over, just admiring the amazing artwork that has been produced for these films over the years. One minor quibble is that the artwork doesn't really line-up with the movie slots (Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox artwork is used on the sleeve/page housing Superman Doomsday and Batman: Gotham Knight, for example), but that's nitpicking. Discs included are the original Blu-ray releases of each movie in the DC Universe Original Movie line, with the exception of Wonder Woman and Justice League: The New Frontier. The "Commemorative Edition" releases of both of those movies here are included, not their original Blu-rays from 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Also to note, some Blu-ray discs here are repressed with the current DC Comics logo, and are mixed in with the original releases, which others appear to be original pressings with the subsequent DC Comics logo at that time (there's been three in total since the DC Universe Original Movie line started in 2007).
It's also worth noting that this collection does not include DVD or Digital HD copies of any of the titles found within. Blu-ray only.
At the end of it, the DC Universe 10th Anniversary Collection comes with a wealth of new material, almost all of it entertaining. The new bonus content clocks in between three-four hours of new-to-disc material, nearly all of it engrossing to watch. The panels are fun and informative, the featurettes interesting (even if a couple are a a little too short) and the inclusion of the Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles animated short is the icing on the cake. Save for the fluffly DC All Access: Justice League Dark featurette, all the on-disc bonus content feels substantive and in-depth. And this is all housed in a sturdy, nicely designed cardboard package. The movie book, which contains all the Blu-ray discs, could easy double as an art book. It all looks so stunning. Discs are securely housed (though sometimes they can be a shade difficult to remove) but easily accessible. All in all, inside and out, this is a great collection and an awesome collectible.
However, does all of this justify picking up this release? To compare, this collection could basically be considered a deluxe "Commemorative Edition" release of the DC Universe Original Movie line, similar to the recent Wonder Woman and Justice League: The New Frontier re-releases. You get nearly all of the bonus content from the original Blu-rays, plus some new content added in to the mix. This collection seems to be a release similar to those titles, but on a much larger scale.
With the $200 price point, it is a purchase that one should really think about before making. Personally, I pre-ordered this right away, as it's a great collectible and to have all these movies, on Blu-ray, in a nice package, is very attractive. The new content is also pretty worthwhile, even if it doesn't go as in-depth as I'd personally like. Some additional retrospective pieces to include would've been nice, though the panel coverage does help fill that gap. Plus, it's a great summation of what the DC Universe Original Movie line has been up to this point, and it's very, very impressive. It's almost hard to believe this line is still going, ten years later, and a lot of the material it has churned out is some of the best of the last decade. As Chris Gorham (the voice of The Flash in a few of the DC Universe Original Movie titles) points out in the 10th anniversary San Diego Comic-Con panel, the quality of these movies easily exceed a lot of the live-action comic book films, hands down.
For consumers who have yet to pick up these movies, or have perhaps only picked up a few, the price point for this collection is impossible to pass up. It's a great bargain. For collectors, the price tag is definitely justified and worth it. It's an attractive package and it looks fantastic on a shelf. Personally, as a fan who owns every single DC Comics animated movie, from both this line and every other release that has come out, this is a collection I'd Recommend picking up. Plus, with the holiday season here, there's no doubt consumers will be able to pick this collection up at a discounted price. And, if you're looking to free up shelf space, this could be a fine solution (though to note again, this collection does not include DVD or Digital copies of these films, nor are the original Blu-ray releases of Wonder Woman and Justice League: The New Frontier included, just the recent "Commemorative Edition" releases). For fans looking to own the entire line in one gorgeous package - either for the first time or to get the complete set - or completists and collectors looking to add to their personal library, the DC Universe: 10th Anniversary Collection is a fine addition to anyone's collection.
The DC Universe Original Movies: 10th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray set is available starting November 7, 2017 at all retail and digital outlets.
Please note Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided The World's Finest with a copy of this release to review, but that had no bearing in the final outcome of the review.