This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Until now, DC’s Justice League has been a loose association of super-powered individuals. But when they are swept away to Warworld, a place of unending brutal gladiatorial combat, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the others must somehow unite to form an unbeatable resistance able to lead an entire planet to freedom.

For thoughts on Justice League: Warworld, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/_GZkJ0C44NA?t=1444]

Video Quality

Justice League: Warworld comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a 2160p transfer that is impressive on a number of fronts. This disc provides some welcome improvements over the Blu-Ray in areas including the elimination of any digital artifacting and banding along with more depth to the colors. While this is not exactly a film absent of color (outside of the black and white segment), the hues on display for most of these segments lean more earthy brown and orange until we reach the end. This universe is less candy colored than films from other DCAU characters, but it remains visually dynamic throughout.

This presentation handles the gradients of the artwork in a way that accentuates the talent on display. This disc showcases robust line detail and more nuanced shading, which gives the characters greater definition within this two dimensional space. The use of HDR yields some fantastic enhancements to the dynamic colors on display such as in the landscapes and production design, and the disc provides deeper black levels for a problem free viewing experience avoiding all crush and artifacts. The Blu-Ray disc is no slouch, but the 4K UHD Blu-Ray is the way to go for this one.

Audio Quality

This release boasts a great DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that handles every segment exceedingly well. The track utilizes all of the channels with creative panning effects and sounds of weapons-based and hand-to-hand combat, not to mention a few supernatural flourishes that ground you in the action. Dialogue comes through crisp and clear alongside the powerful score from Michael Gatt or all manner of busy sound effects. There are no obvious sync issues or other audio anomalies present. There is a seat-shaking amount of activity in the low-end which puts your subwoofer through its paces. Warner Bros. has delivered a really good track for fans. There are optional English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

Illusions On Warworld: An eight-minute featurette in which the creative team discusses the desire to explore different areas of the DC universe with this film, the structuring of these stories, the voice performances, the designs and more. This is not quite as substantial as usual, but it is still worth a watch for fans.

The Heroic, The Horrible and The Hideous: An eight-minute piece in which the same participants discuss the history of “Warworld” and how it is tackled in this iteration, the characters they get to play with and more.

Final Thoughts

Justice League: Warworld is a series of stories which showcase interesting moments and ideas, but ultimately fails to come together as a satisfying whole – even when you finally understand where it is going. The film goes on for too long before providing you with anything tangible to get invested in these characters beyond what seems like a one-off showcase of creative hubris and style. The beginning and end of the film holds up the best upon reflection, but as it stands this is one of the weaker animated DC efforts we have seen. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a great A/V presentation and a couple of special features. If you are a fan of DC animation, you will enjoy this in a way that probably will not translate to casual audience members.

Justice League: Warworld is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, 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.