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Batman: Assault on Arkham Home Entertainment Release
Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release Date: Digital Media - July 29, 2014; Physical Media - August 12th, 2014
Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment re-released this title on Blu-ray on July 12th, 2016 with new artwork as a tie-in to the "Suicide Squad" theatrical film.

Synopsis: When the government teams up a group of supervillains with the code name Suicide Squad and forces them to break into Arkham Asylum to bring back top secret information the Riddler has stolen, Batman soon becomes involved. But things go from bad to worse when one of the Squad (Harley Quinn) frees the Joker, who has the means to not only blow up the asylum, but most of Gotham City as well.

Blu-ray Bonus Features:
-Arkham Analyzed: The Secrets Behind the Asylum – This is the documentary that traces the strange, demonic history of the location where horror is mixed with the extremities of the criminally insane. A place where Batman must keep his watchful gaze, to insure that what goes in does not come out …. ever.
-The Joker’s Queen: Harley Quinn – If The Joker were to have a girlfriend, what would she be like? This featurette covers the story of the deviancy and often provocative side to The Joker’s greatest ally, Harley Quinn.
-An advance look into the next DC animated feature film with the creators and cast.
-Four episodes from the DC Comics Vault.
-Includes UltraViolet so you can enjoy the film on many different compatible devices.

Single-Disc DVD Bonus Features:
-An advance look into the next DC animated feature film with the creators and cast.


Batman: Assault on Arkham Blu-ray Review
by James Harvey

The Blu-ray release of Batman: Assault on Arkham comes with a handful of extras, but thankfully they're pretty good. Not as thorough as I'd like, but still a nice collection of bonus features.

First up is an insightful commentary from some of the film's cast and crew. Corson, executive producer James Tucker and DC Comics creative director of animation Mike Carlin provide a pretty lively discussion about Batman: Assault on Arkham, and it's worth a listen (especially for some of Tucker's neat anecdotes), though I'd love to hear more of the cast and crew be included for future commentary sessions. Still, it's a solid discussion with some neat tidbits on the film's production sprinkled throughout. From there, the bonus features mainly consist of two big featurettes. The first, running a few minutes shy of 30 minutes, looks at the comic book history of Arkham Asylum and the changes the famed facility has gone through over the years. Arkham has grown in significant importance in recent years, and this mini-documentary covers just that. After that is a nearly 15-minute look which explores the history of Harley Quinn. From her start in Batman: The Animated Series to her current hit title at DC Comics, many big-name comic and animation creators chime in on this incredibly important character. It's an excellent watch and, between the two featurettes included, my favorite.

There are a couple glaring omissions I can't help but note - a lack of featurettes exploring the Batman: Arkham video games and the Suicide Squad's comic book history. It seems odd that two of the film's biggest draws are completely ignored when it comes the usual behind-the-scenes explorations.

After that, the disc includes a host of trailers, a preview of Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, and four bonus episodes. Justice League: Throne of Atlantis is, naturally, the next installment of the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line and spotlights Aquaman's origins. The four bonus episodes includes are Justice League Unlimited "Task Force X," Batman: The Brave and The Bold "Emperor Joker," The Batman "Two of a Kind," and Young Justice "Infiltrator." The audio/video quality for the included episodes isn't as sharp as I'd like, but they all warrant a watch. Extra points for including an episode from the often overlooked The Batman cartoon.

To touch upon it briefly, the audio/video quality falls along with previous releases. The video is pretty crisp, but it suffers from the usual color banding that pops up from time to time. The film's hazy overall look also takes away some of the film's crispness.The DTS-HD MA 5.1 English track does a fine job of bringing the film's major set pieces to life, which is basically the whole movie. It's a loud, rambunctious affair and every big pump, pound, and pulse comes out loud and clear.

The Blu-ray is definitely the way to go if you're looking to add Batman: Assault on Arkham to your collection. Not only is the film an enjoy, dirty, humorous affair, but the bonus content and overall audio/video quality is worth the price. While the bonus content is not as thorough as I'd like, and the lack of a couple Batman: Arkham/Suicide Squad featurettes is puzzling, it all comes together to make a pretty good package. Fans will definitely be split on Batman: Assault on Arkham, but the Blu-ray is the way to go if you're looking to put it on your shelf.

[ Continue on to the Batman: Assault on Arkham animated feature review ]

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