Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham
Studio: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Runtime: 90 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 4K UltraHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Digital – March 28, 2023
Synopsis: Batman’s rational mind and unparalleled fighting skills are put to the ultimate test when an ancient force threatens his world and everyone he holds dear in Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham, available to purchase Digitally and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.
Special Features
4K, Blu-ray and Digital
–Batman: Shadows of Gotham (New Featurette) – An examination of themes of existential dread in a world drenched in gothic overtones that combine to create one of Batman’s most unique adventures.
-Audio Commentary – Filmmakers and storytellers, including producer/co-director Sam Liu and screenwriter Jase Ricci, take in all the gothic horror and intrigue of Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham.
-Bonus Episodes: Batman: The Animated Series “The Demon’s Quest, Part One,” Batman: The Animated Series “The Demon’s Quest, Part Two”
-Sneak Peaks: Batman: Gotham By Gaslight and Superman: Red Son
Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
By James Harvey
Releasing Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham on both physical and digital media, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment does fantastic work with the film’s overall presentation, and features some enjoyable, albeit sorta light, bonus content. The featurette and commentary end up being pretty informative on the production and inspirations behind the animated Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham!
Taking a look first at the audio and visual quality here on Warner’s Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release and, unsurprisingly, it’s another terrific piece of work by the studio. The 4K 2160p transfer is especially striking, with everything down the smallest detail popping out crystal. While the movie primarily has a dark, grimey visual style to it, there are frequent flashes of vibrant and bright colors to go with it’s creatively bizarre imagery, and the transfer handles it all without issue, blacks are as deep as can be, and those flashes of color leave quite the impression.
Continuing, roughly the same can be said for the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, which offers up the same level of high-quality. Dialogue is centered and pushed to the front, as usual, action beats sound heavy and hard, and the mix’s atmospheric work nicely adds to the film’s overall creep factor.
To note, both the Blu-ray and iTunes editions of Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham offer fine presentations in terms of video and audio, though below the quality of what the 4K presentation. If you’re not picky about presentation, or are budget conscious, these two make for perfectly solid alternatives to pick up. With the exception of bonus episodes, found only on disc, the extra features between the physical and digital formats are the same. And really, we get a nice collection of extras with a very enjoyable commentary and a nice, light featurette.
The sole featurette, “Batman: Shadows of Gotham” (13:12), takes a quick look at the film’s assorted themes, Lovecraftian influences and how, essentially, Batman has found himself in a horror movie. Creators Liu, Ricci, Krieg (who once again hilariously goes all out for his portion of the EPK) – along with Dr. Drea Letamendi, Clinical Psychologist and Consultant – discuss their approach to amp up the horror, lean into the weirdness, and ‘dial up’ the grotesque aspects. It’s a light, breezy overview of the movie with some nice quick bits of insight.
This carries over to the commentary with Liu, Ricci, Krieg and DC Creative Director Mike Carlin, who basically kick back and have a very fun, friendly chit-chat while taking in Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham. They discuss various aspects of the film’s production and how the final product looks, dig a little into the world of Lovecraft and it’s effective and influential take on horror, occasionally breaking conversation to quickly (and usually joyfully) comment on what’s happening on screen. The creators also discuss the overlap between the Batman and Lovecraft mythos, specific scenes from the movie and changes made from the source material and during production, assorted homages, easter eggs, the original comic and Elseworld’s comic line and much, much more. It’s a fun, relaxed listen well worth giving a listen (and includes a humorous, quick back-and-forth on the proper pronunciation of Ra’s Al Ghul).
From there, the disc wraps up with two episodes from Batman: The Animated Series – “The Demon’s Quest, Part One” and “The Demon’s Quest, Part Two” – along with previews for two other recent animated DC Elseworlds titles, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight and Superman: Red Son. The release is absent of any “sneak peek” for the next DC Animated Movie or DC Universe Movie title.
Helped by a hefty and super fun commentary, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has put together a home media package for Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham. While the new featurette and commentary could be considered a little light, what we get here is actually pretty informative and lively, and worth checking out. Toss in fantastic audio and video, and it ends up being a pretty satisfying release. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray iteration easily offers up the best overall presentation and is the best of the bunch. With a fantastic presentation and an entertaining batch of bonus content, Batman: The Doom That Came To Gothamcomes Recommended!
Please note that while Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment provided The World’s Finest with a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray copy of Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham to review, that had no bearing on the product’s final assessment. The author did purchase a copy of the film on iTunes for completion and comparison purposes.
Hold up, the review isn’t done just yet! Click the link below to read the Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham animated feature review!
[ Continue on to the Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham Feature review ]