Blu-Ray Review:
Batman Begins
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
After the release of Batman and Robin, I thought the Batman franchise was finished. I really liked the Tim Burton versions of Batman and was really disappointed with anything after the first two. Christopher Nolan decided that if he was going to do Batman he would give it more of a realistic approach and thus relaunch the franchise. Batman Begins was the start of bringing comic book movies into the main stream. Batman was being played by Chrisitian Bale, and the also hired Sir Michael Cain as Alfred, plus the amazing Morgan Freeman. That was the first thing they did right, hiring very respected actors to play the parts. This movie tells the story of how Batman stated out. You get to see how he wanted revenge after the death of his parents, you find out he was afraid of bats, and how he trained to be Batman. The other really bold move they made was they totally changed the batmobile. They came up with the Tumbler which is more of a military looking vehicle than all the other Batman vehicles from past movies. At first I wasn't sure if this was going to work. But after actually seeing this thing in action I was more than impressed. The movie is dark and stands on it's own. But what really elevated Batman Begins was how Nolan made the movie about story first and action later. This was a perfect relaunching of the franchise, and it sets up one of the best movies ever: The Dark Knight.
8.5 out of 10
Video
The transfer on Batman Begins is really good. You get a 1080p 2:40:1 widescreen transfer. From what I have read it is identical to the HD-DVD release, but that is not a bad thing because this is an excellent transfer. Black levels are great and really need to be since the predominant colour is black. Everything comes across crisp and when the colours need to be vibrant they are. An example of this is at the beginning where we see young Bruce Wayne at Wayne Manor in the garden. Also the scenes in the Arctic come across really vivid as well. There wasn't very much noticeable grain either. You can see where I am going here, this is a great transfer and there obviously wasn't much need to change it.
8.5 out of 10
Audio
Warner Brothers wasn't content with just a good picture and has provided us with a stellar Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Sonically there is a lot going on and it all comes across clear and crisp. All you have to do is go to scenes which have the tumbler and you will be treated to a bevy of amazing sound. The dialogue comes across very clear and is never overpowered by the score and effects. James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer produce an amazing score which is so different from the Batman movies before this one and it clearly works with this new re-imaging of Batman. Overall this a great disc that you can fire up to impress your friends.
9 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
Featurette: "Genesis of the Bat" (SD)
Featurette: "Batman: The Journey Begins" (SD)
Featurette: "Path to Discovery" (SD)
Featurette: "Saving Gotham City" (SD)
Featurette: "Shaping Mind and Body" (SD)
Featurette: "Gotham City Rises" (SD)
Featurette: "Cape and Cowl" (SD)
Featurette: "Batman: The Tumbler" (SD)
Still Gallery (SD)
Confidential Files (SD)
MTV Special: "Tankman Begins" (SD)
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Picture-in-Picture
The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue
First thing I would like to point out is that all of these extras are the same as the standard definition DVD. I always have a problem when the extras are not in HD. I have said it before and I will say it again, if your buying a HD disc it all has to be in HD. That said I really liked the Tumbler feature. It's such an amazing vehicle it was really cool to see how they built these machines. I also likes Saving Gotham City, this feature highlights how the films action scenes were staged with as little CGI as possible. For me this is what makes Batman Begins such a good movie. Confidential Files is actually a really cool feature. It features animated stills and concept art. It's really well put together and you shouldn't skip over it. Lastly my favorite extra is The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue. Since I am such a huge fan of The Dark Knight it was great to see the beginning of the movie again and it looked awesome in HD. This was a great marketing tool for Warner Brothers. The extras are well done even if they are not in HD.
8 out of 10
Overall
If you're a fan of the movie, there is no excuse not to pick this up. It's got a great transfer, excellent audio and good extras. Plus, it will hold you over until the Dark Knight comes out.
9 out of 10
Highly Recommended
Batman Begins is available now from Amazon.com