Batman: Gotham By Gaslight (DVD) : Review

Film

In an alternative Victorian Age Gotham City, Batman (Bruce Greenwood – The Post, Kingsman: The Golden Circle) begins his war on crime while he investigates a new series of murders by Jack the Ripper. As the films taglines says, “It’s The Bat against The Butcher”.

A mystery, set in the world of Batman, and the city of Gotham, filled with intrigue at every turn, suspense, and a good dose of action. This is Batman animated, for the adult audiences.

Gotham itself has a retro feel to it, with a hint of steampunk, as the alternate version being somewhat in the past compared to Gotham we all know.

Adding to the excellent story, are the talented voices of Jennifer Carpenter as Selina Kyle, Anthony Head as Alfred Pennyworth, Tara Strong (Gnome Alone, The Emoji Movie) as Marlene Mahone, to name but a few.

Whilst this is an animated film, it is directed at fans, and older audiences, not holding back on the mature subject matter, nor catering to kids, whisking one along for an adrenaline packed ride, with the caped crusader.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is one of the best Batman stories available, and a great animated movie. A must see for any fans of the DC Universe or The Bat.

Disc

Overall, the disc is of a decent technical quality, despite the higher compression of the video. The main feature is an enjoyable film.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight is available now, to purchase on disc, in South Africa.

Video

Video is encoded at a fair average bitrate. While this is lower than what one would expect, there are no visible artefacts on-screen, nor any colour bleed. The higher compression is likely to save on manufacturing costs by keeping the entire film on a single layer disc. Details in darker scenes is good.

Viewers withe relevant hardware or software could scale up to a larger or higher resolution screen, should they wish, however, given the lower bitrate, this may lead to a softer image. Tests on a full HD screen still looked good though.

Audio

Audio is encoded at a high average bitrate, and presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Dialogue is clear via the centre speaker, with a fair amount of usage of the surround channels, for both effects and music.

Navigation

Navigation is simple, and easy to follow. The main menu is static, having a poster background, and accompanying music.

There are labelled menu items to play the main feature, select languages, and special features. The icons do look as if they come from a standard icon pack, but this makes little difference, with them being labelled.

The languages sub-menu has text lists of the available audio and subtitle languages.

The special features contain a text list of links to three sneak peaks for upcoming films.

There is no chapter selection sub-menu, so access to the nine chapters would be handled by the viewers hardware or software player.

Bonus Features

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay – A video giving a sneak to the new Suicide Squad animated movie, featuring interviews with the filmmakers. Specifically spoiler free, this is a brief, yet interesting introduction to the film.

Justice League Dark – Another introduction to an upcoming DC animation, again with interviews with the filmmakers.

Batman: Bad Blood – The third sneak peak, and introduction featurette.

The three sneak peaks each include interviews, behind the scenes images in the form of concept art and storyboards, and spoiler free footage from the actual films themselves.

A nice addition, with each featurette, where the cast and crew expand on the character backgrounds, and settings of the films, where they fit into the DC world.

Packaging

The DVD packaging is pretty standard, with a title and poster on the front of the casing. The back has a short synopsis, and the usual technical information and logos.

There are no package inserts such as chapter titles, etc.

 

By Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB | Actor | Armourer | Tech Enthusiast With over two decades in the film industry, I'm a seasoned actor and skilled armourer. I hold numerous certifications in acting and filmmaking, complemented by degrees and diplomas in IT and technology, giving me a unique blend of creative and technical expertise. When I'm not on set or in the workshop, you'll find me immersed in the world of gaming and VR, fuelling my passion for cutting-edge technology. Connect with me: X / Twitter Facebook Instagram Mastodon Threads Explore my work on SAMDB IMDb