Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Home Entertainment Release
Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 5, 2019 – Digital; October 22, 2019 – 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray Combo Pack
Synopsis: Experience an adventure with DC’s most powerful heroine filled with intrigue, mythology and relentless battles on shores near and far in Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, the an entry in the ongoing DC Universe Movies line. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC, the feature-length animated film arrives – accompanied by the DC Showcase animated short Death, inspired by Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Special Features
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital
–DC Showcase: Death (Animated Short) – Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Death is produced & directed by Sam Liu (Justice League vs. The Fatal Five) and written by J.M. DeMatteis (Batman: Bad Blood). In the story, Vincent, an artist with unresolved inner demons, meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with his creative legacy … and eventual death. Leonard Nam (Westworld) provides the voice of Vincent, and Jamie Chung (The Gifted, Big Hero 6) is the voice of Death. The voice cast includes Darin De Paul, Keith Szarabajka and Kari Wahlgren.
-The Cheetah: Ferocious Archenemy (New Featurette) – Ferocious. Clever. Deadly. It’s the thrill of the hunt and the prey is Wonder Woman. This is the story of The Cheetah, Diana’s greatest enemy.
-A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, Superman: Red Son – An advanced look at the next animated film in the popular DC Universe Movies collection.
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray Review
by James Harvey
Coupling a solid 4k transfer and audio mix with a nice batch of bonus content, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings Wonder Woman: Bloodlines to home media in both physical and digital formats. For those who want to watch this movie in its best possible presentation, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release is the best way to go, offering the best overall package for the DC Universe Movie title.
The film’s audio and video transfer offers up no real surprises. but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In terms of video, the colors are especially vibrant thanks to the HDR encoding (Wonder Woman’s armor looks especially colorful). The transfer also appears to be mostly free of macroblocking and color banding, though some appears visible on occasion in some of the darker scenes, though it’s nothing really distracting to the eye. For audio, it’s another nicely-balanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 transfer. Whether it’s one of the film’s many quiet character moments, or a massive set piece, the audio track juggles both well. Nicely balanced, crisp and clear. Between the three releases covered for this review – 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and Digital, the physical 4K release is (of course) the best possible presentation. Still, the regular Blu-ray and Digital editions of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines offer up a perfectly fine audio and video transfers for those not interested in the 4K Ultra HD format.
Much like the movie’s presentation, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment also does a good job with the bonus content for Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. While there’s no commentary for this release, we still get an interesting featurette, some bonus cartoons, a preview for Superman: Red Son and yet another fantastic DC Showcase animated short.
Much like the DC Showcase Sgt. Rock animated short included with Batman: Hush, the 19-minute Death short is a great little surprise. It’s a story we wouldn’t get to see animated anywhere else, no doubt, and you may or may not tear up a little at the end. Inspired by the classic The Sandman Vertigo series (or is that DC Black Label?), Death follows Vincent, an artist struggling with his own demons, who meets a mysterious girl who helps him come to terms with himself. Casting Jamie Chung as Death is an inspired choice and Leonardo Nam holds his own quite well opposite her. The animation for this short is on point and does an admirable job bringing this very different story to life, and the cast and crew clearly put all their all to produce something a both unexpected and intriguing. Famed artist Jae Lee even contributes. Produced & directed by Sam Liu and written by J.M. DeMatteis, this engaging animated short is another fine addition to the DC Showcase series (it is so great to have these shorts back).
For more on Death, click here.
The main featurette, “The Cheetah: Ferocious Archenemy,” nicely covers the history of one of Wonder Woman’s biggest foes, spotlighting how the character has changed over the years, her differing portrayals and motivation, and her role as one of Wonder Woman’s most complicated antagonists. The nearly 11-minute featurette, which includes interviews with assorted animation and comic book pros along with academics, also does an interesting job of putting Cheetah into a mythological context, explaining her assorted character designs, and why she’s perfectly suited to face off against Wonder Woman. Cheetah’s role in the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984 is also discussed here. A solid featurette but it would’ve been nice to see a few other Wonder Woman rogues get the spotlight, too (the featurette does lay out why she gets the focus, though).
The disc is wrapped up with a roughly 11-minute preview of the next DC Universe Movie title, Superman: Red Son (and it looks utterly fantastic), two classic Batman: The Brave and The Bold bonus episodes (“Triumvirate of Terror” and “Scorn of the Star Sapphire”), a selection of trailers (including Batman: Hush, The Death and Return of Superman, Joker, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five, 2009’s Wonder Woman and others) and additional copies of the film in regular Blu-ray and Digital formats. Please note the bonus content for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is on the regular Blu-ray disc.
Once again, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has put together another solid DC Universe Movie home media release. With a nifty featurette that shines the light on The Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman’s top villains, and an absolutely top-notch Death DC Showcase animated short, there’s quality to content once you’re done watching the main feature. Add a strong video and audio transfer for the movie itself and it adds up to a release worth tracking down. For fans looking to watch Wonder Woman: Bloodlines in the best possible format, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release is unquestionably the way to go. Recommended!
Please note Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided The World’s Finest with a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray copy of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines to review, but 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.
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