Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and inspired by the iconic mid-1990s DC story from Jeph Loeb and the late Tim Sale, Batman: The Long Halloween – Deluxe Edition begins as atrocious serial killings on holidays in Gotham City send The World’s Greatest Detective into action – confronting both organized crime and a unified front of classic DC Super-Villains – while attempting to stop the mysterious murderer.
For in-depth thoughts on Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review of the film here. For my Blu-Ray assessment, check out my article here.
For in-depth thoughts on Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two, please see my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review of the film here. For my Blu-Ray assessment, check out my article here.
Video Quality
Batman: The Long Halloween – Deluxe Edition comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a 2160p transfer after being released previously on Blu-Ray only in two separate parts last year. This disc provides some notable improvements over the Blu-Ray in almost all areas including more vivid, natural colors, deeper black levels and a reduction of digital anomalies. We say reduction because, although much of the banding and compression issues have been improved substantially, the sheer length of this movie compared with the size of the disc keeps things from being perfect as some of these elements remain. Outside of this, though, the disc comes close to perfection when it comes to line detail and more distinct shading, which gives these characters greater resonance.
The use of HDR yields some gorgeous enhancements to the dynamic colors on display such as a few of the costumes or explosions, and the disc provides much deeper black levels for a cleaner viewing experience mostly free of black crush. While this does have splashes of color when appropriate, this is a Batman film which does lend itself to a darker, morose color palette. This universe is less wondrous than films from other DCAU characters, but it is not without its moments. The Blu-Ray had some problems that we were hoping could be fine-tuned, and the good folks at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment have mostly delivered. The improvement of 4K UHD is too strong to watch this one any other way.
Audio Quality
This release boasts the same DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track as the previous Blu-Ray releases. The assessment from The Long Halloween, Part One is provided below:
This release boasts a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that really shines in this film that serves as the calm before the storm. There is a pleasing amount of activity in the low-end even though this is not a film that has the big action set pieces that come with other stories in this line. Dialogue is often accompanied by a moody score from Michael Gatt or all manner of sound effects, but all of the information comes through clearly without getting muddied. The track engages all of the channels with panning effects and the sounds of more than one explosion that really keeps you engaged. One of the more effective moments is a visit to Arkham where the echoing hallways provide a nice sense of space. One cannot find fault in some of the chaos Joker brings about near the end of this feature, as well. Warner Bros. almost always knocks it out of the park with their audio track, so those with a good surround sound setup will be more than pleased.
Special Features
- Batman: The Long Halloween – Evolution Of Evil: A new 25-minute featurette in which The Long Halloween graphic novel writer Jeph Loeb and many other creative figures delve into the the source material in terms of its exploration of villainy, its ties to classic Warner Bros. films, the themes that are explored, the disturbing imagery and more. This is a fun new piece which rounds out the package quite nicely.
- From The Vault: Four classic episodes from Batman: The Animated Series are provided in full here. These are in HD and provide a nice sample of what you will get if you spring for the Complete Series set on Blu-Ray that no Batman fan should be without.
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- Two-Face Part 1
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- Two-Face Part 2
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- Christmas with the Joker
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- It’s Never Too Late
- Preview of Batman – The Dark Knight Returns, Part One: A nearly 13-minute featurette which explores the feature that was released in 2012. Nothing substantial to add if you have already seen what it is promoting.
- Preview of Batman – The Dark Knight Returns, Part Two: A nearly seven-minute featurette which explores the feature that was released in 2013. Nothing substantial to add if you have already seen what it is promoting.
- Preview of Batman – Gotham By Gaslight: A nearly 9-minute featurette that does the same for the 2018 feature.
- Preview of Batman – Hush: A nine-minute featurette that does the same for the 2019 feature.
Final Thoughts
Batman: The Long Halloween – Deluxe Edition is not a fundamentally different experience from watching the two previously-released parts back to back, but watching this story flow together and be afforded a few welcome additions makes this the ideal viewing experience. This adaptation is one of the most deftly executed from DC in some time, as it explores the complexity of the text without rushing through to get to the end. This film both honors what came before while bringing something new to the table. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has newly released this on 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a pretty great A/V presentation and a fine assortment of special features. If you are a fan of this version of this story, this is an improvement on the previous discs in nearly every respect and you owe it to yourself to own it on the best format possible. Highly Recommended
Batman: The Long Halloween – Deluxe Edition is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.