Batman
Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4K
(2019/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/The
Man Who Laughs
(1928/Universal/Flicker Alley Blu-ray w/DVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B & C+ Sound: B/B- &
C+ Extras: C+ Films: B-
As
the 80th
Anniversary of Batman continues, an unlikely meeting and a key film
older than the character that had a huge influence on his history
have arrived and are both releases you should know about...
When
I first saw the announcement of Batman
Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(2019) as a special event release, I wondered what that could amount
to. No Turtles fan, the various animated versions have been comical
and live-action films unwatchable to me, but the characters continue
to be popular and new shows remain in production. The early comic
books are supposed to be darker, but I did not expect that version of
the quartet. Things begin when Barbara Gordon is interrupted by
masked invaders, then a smoke bomb is unleashed, the shadows of four
'mysterious figures' show up and when the smoke clears, all are
suddenly gone.
Reporting
the event to Batman, he calculates that the four later fighters are
the Turtles and is wondering why on earth they would be in Gotham
City. He decides they may be a problem and intends to get rid of the
ASAP, with the help of Batgirl and Robin. Of course, it is them and
they are not there for hostile reasons, but because there is trouble.
At first they clash, but eventually various threats are revealed and
the tale takes a few turns...
Two
things to say up front: I thought this worked much better than I
could have expected and the makers really cared to do right by big
fans of both sets of characters and in that, the production is more
violent than usual (rightly PG-13) and easily the most violent
version of the Turtles I have ever seen, so this might not be for
younger children. Otherwise, an unexpectedly pleasant surprise with
some good comedy that manages not to go overboard, so cheers to the
makers who pulled it off. Be sure to see the fun end credits too.
Extras
include Digital Copy, featurettes Cowabunga
Batman: When Comic Book Worlds Collide,
Fight
Night In Gotham
and sneak peak at Batman
Hush,
the next straight-to-video feature animated release.
Then
we have a film many have been wanting to see and it is finally
available, Paul Leni's The
Man Who Laughs
(1928) is not a horror film or superhero precursor, but a drama about
a young boy named Gwynplaine (played as an adult by the legendary
Conrad Veidt) has his face cut to look like its smiling all the time
and is part of the theme of disposable children the Victor Hugo book
deals with as the film does and very well, As an adult, he becomes
part of a circus and has to deal with ignorance all the time, but can
he find true love with a young blind woman?
A
classic from Universal Studios towards the end of the silent era, the
title character inspired Bob Kane to create The Joker and his
capturing of Veidt here is uncanny and now classic for the ages, but
it all started in this well-made and decently long 100 minutes for a
silent film. Highly influenced by German Expressionism, Universal
had worked out their absorption of that great moment in silent cinema
and it helped build the foundation for the studio, Horror films in
the U.S. and so much more. Mary Philbin leads the rest of the solid
cast in a film that has to be seen to be believed, highly influenced
Tim Burton as well (to say the least) and is definitely worth going
out of your way for. Flicker Alley has issued this as a Blu-ray/DVD
with Universal.
Extras
include another nicely illustrated booklet on the film (Flicker Alley
does some of the best booklets) including informative text and yet
another excellent essay, this time by the great scholar Kevin
Brownlow on the film and you also get great stills and other tech
info, while the discs add John Soister's visual essay Paul Leni and
The Man Who Laughs (just over 13 minutes), Rare Image Gallery and
Notes On A New Score essay by composer Sonia Coronado featurette.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1 HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image on Batman
is very nice, nothing with any particular demo shots, but very
consistent and much more vivid than the still-decent 1080p 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image transfer on the regular Blu-ray, but
the color, detail and depth are just better in 4K.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Laughs
is from a 4K master restored of the original film, but the film
materials have a few flaws and this is not a 4K disc. Still, most
shots look amazing and even remarkable for a film so old, so bravo to
the restoration efforts here. The 1.33 X 1 DVD is passable, but
misses so much the Blu-ray delivers. There are two soundtracks, a
newly recorded track in DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix and the original 1928
Movietone score in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless sound
that has background noise, but I actually preferred it and think it
has more impact, but try both when you get it. The DVD has lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and Mono respectively for each track that is
not as good, but not awful either.
Batman
has DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on both versions and
it is one of the better such surround mixes for a DC animated release
of late, so no complaints there either.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
