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Son of Batman Home Entertainment Release
Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 6th, 2014

Synopsis: Hidden atop a secret mountain stronghold lies the League of Shadows and its fearless leader, Ra’s al Ghul. Together with his equally dangerous daughter Talia, he oversees a trained army of assassins with plans for global domination. But an uprising from within the league now threatens to shift the balance of power and sends Talia and her young son, Damian, fleeing to Gotham City. With assassins on their trail, Talia seeks the protection of Batman, who, unbeknownst to him, is the boy’s father. With his son in tow, Batman wages war against the villain Deathstroke and the League of Shadows, all while teaching his headstrong boy that one can’t fight crime by becoming a criminal. With help from Gotham’s finest, including Commissioner Gordon and Nightwing, Batman will soon discover that his son and most trusted ally are one and the same!

Blu-ray Bonus Features
-Strange Blood Ties: Damian Wayne
-The Fang and the Demon Head: The League of Assassins
-Designing the Characters with Phil Bourassa
-A Sneak Peek at DCU Batman: Assault on Arkham
-Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns Sneak Peek
-4 Bonus Cartoons:
–From the DC Comics Vault: Batman Beyond, “Out of the Past”
–From the DC Comics Vault: Batman: The Brave and the Bold, “The Knights of Tomorrow!”
–From the DC Comics Vault: Batman: The Animated Series, “Showdown”
–From the DC Comics Vault: Batman: The Brave and the Bold, “Sidekicks Assemble!”
-Includes UltraViolet so you can enjoy the film on many different compatible devices.

Two-Disc DVD Special Edition Bonus Features
-The Fang and the Demon Head: The League of Assassins
-A Sneak Peek at DCU Batman: Assault on Arkham
-Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns Sneak Peek
-2 Bonus Cartoons

Single-Disc DVD Bonus Features
-A Sneak Peek at DCU Batman: Assault on Arkham
-Masterpiece: Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns Sneak Peek

Son of Batman Blu-ray Review
by James Harvey

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has given Son of Batman a pretty good Blu-ray Combo release, offering a few extras that explore both the main feature and the source material. As always, the Blu-ray Combo set come with Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultraviolent copies of the movie.

Starting off first with the audio and video presentation, this is another solid albeit flawed release from the studio. It’s not perfect, and falls a bit short of previous releases under the DC Universe Animated Original Movie, but it still looks and sound great. The video is pretty crisp, but there is some color banding and noise that pops in from time to time. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 English track does a fine job of bringing the film's major set pieces to life, but also nicely balances the quieter moments. The sound mix could be a bit more robust, but it's a satisfying effort.

Moving on to the bonus content, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment offers up some cool bonus content, that offer a nice balance between the actual movie and the source material inspiration. It's a bit light, but it touches upon both subjects enough that viewers shouldn't come off feeling disappointed.

The featurettes offer the the most production details for Son of Batman. "The Fan and the Demon Head: The League of Assassins," which runs about ten minutes, looks at Ra's al Ghul's and the fabled League of Assassins. It provides an interesting, quick glimpse of the comic book origins of the major Batman baddie and his ninja followers. "Strange Blood Ties: Damian Wayne" dives into the creation of the popular Batman sidekick, offering a look at why DC Comics gave Batman a son and his surprisingly popularity. For those interested in the film's production, "Designing the Characters with Phil Bourassa" walks us through the design work of all the film's major characters. It's interesting and definitely worth a look.

The disc is wrapped up with four bonus episodes - Batman Beyond "Out of the Past," Batman: The Brave and The Bold "The Knights of Tomorrow!," Batman: The Brave and The Bold "Sidekicks Assemble!," and Batman: The Animated Series "Showdown" - trailers, and a preview of the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie Batman: Assault on Arkham. It's worth noting that on top of the Batman: Assault on Arkham preview, the disc also includes a trailer for the movie.

Wrapping this up, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has given Son of Batman a good Blu-ray release that compliments the main feature. The audio and video quality is good, though not as solid as previous Blu-ray releases in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line, but the overall bonus content package is enjoyable. Even if you're not a fan of the main feature, the disc's look at the comic origins of this storyline should provide a satisfactory backdrop. It looks like Warner Bros. is finally starting to find a good balance between looking into both the comic origins and the production history of the film, providing a nice peek into Son of Batman's background. Here's hoping they bump up the running up the time in future releases. Still, all things considered, a solid piece of work.

[ Continue on to the Son of Batman animated feature review ]

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