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4K Ultra HD Review: BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

Home » 4K Ultra HD Review: BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM

Sep 17, 2023 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

Just as Batman (Kevin Conroy) is putting an end to a money counterfeiting operation, a new dark, masked figure—the Phantasm (Stacy Keach)—shows up in Gotham to perform their own form of vigilante justice on the criminals, leaving dead bodies in their wake, and Batman to take the blame. The Phantasm continues to exact their revenge, targeting and hunting down specific crime bosses, ominously telling them “Your Angel of Death awaits” before descending on the next victim. Councilman Reeves (Hart Bochner) calls for Batman’s head, and enlists the help of Detective Bullock (Robert Costanzo), but Commissioner Gordon (Bob Hastings) insists that this is not the work of the Caped Crusader.

Meanwhile, Bruce learns that his old flame Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany) is back in Gotham, which causes him to flash back to his early days as a masked vigilante—before he even had the idea to don a bat suit. He had made a promise to his parents to get justice for their deaths, and was trying to root out crime in the city, even if just wearing a balaclava. However, when he meets and falls in love with Andrea, he struggles with whether or not to keep that promise to his parents, or just live a happy life with this woman he loves. Back in the present, Bruce and Alfred (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) investigate Gotham’s new vigilante, to figure out who is behind the mask and why they seem to be trying to frame Batman. But this is interrupted when The Joker (Mark Hamill) returns, exacting his own nefarious plans.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is my first introduction to the DC animated universe and Kevin Conroy’s Batman. I had never watched Batman: The Animated Series, or seen any of the other DC animated movies, so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this film, but I was pleasantly surprised. The film is much darker and more cinematic than I expected, not holding back on the death and more adult themes. The film constantly jumps back and forth between Batman’s origin story and the present where he is fighting the Phantasm and The Joker, with each of these timelines informing the other. While Batman’s origin story with his parents being killed, etc. has been done a million times, this film doesn’t go back quite that far. Instead, it picks up with Bruce’s early attempts at vigilante justice, and how he gets inspired to go with a bat as his way to intimidate criminals. It also explores a side of Bruce that we don’t see much, a whirlwind romance that finds Bruce actually happy and thinking of starting a normal life. The film finds a nice balance between this dramatic love story in the past, action-packed vigilante justice of Batman in the present, and some humor also thrown in for good measure.

The movie still holds up really well 30 years later, though the hand-drawn animation style looks quite different from today’s modern 3D computer-animated fare. The voice acting is really well done, and I can see now why Kevin Conroy’s portrayal of Bruce/Batman has been so beloved all these years. He gives a real humanity to these characters, with a distinctive voice for each. Mark Hamill is also deliciously fun as The Joker, constantly chewing up the scenery.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm had previously received a Warner Archive Blu-ray release. That disc included both the widescreen theatrical version of the film as well as the original open-matte 4×3 aspect ratio television version. Warner Bros.’ new 4K release only includes one cut of the film, a newly-remastered 1.85 aspect ratio version. In the original press release for this release Warner Bros. stated that

The 4K HDR/SDR remaster of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was sourced from the 1993 Original Cut Camera Negative and was scanned at 4K resolution. Digital restoration was applied to the 4K scans to remove dirt, scratches and additional anomalies, but special care was given to not touch the film grain or the animation cel dirt that was part of the original artwork. This is the first time since its theatrical release that it is presented in its 1.85 aspect ratio. The original 2.0 mix and the 5.1 tracks were remastered to remove or improve defects such as pops, ticks, dropouts and distortion.

The film doesn’t have that clean, crisp look of a modern 3D-animated feature, but that’s not a bad thing. Instead, it has more of throwback feeling, with the hand-drawn animation, and film grain texture. The colors, shadows and shading are beautiful, and the animation looks excellent. It is definitely the best this film has ever looked. The newly-remastered audio track is also wonderful. Dialogue remains clear throughout, while also providing an incredibly immersive viewing experience. This is especially noticeable as helicopters are flying overhead looking for Batman on the streets below, or when the sound of a storm fills the room. The track always provides a nice general ambiance, but things really come to life during the action sequences, particularly during Batman’s showdown at a carnival with The Joker, which is quite an aural feast.

The previous Blu-ray release only included the film’s trailer for bonus material. While that is not included on this new 4K disc, there is an excellent new 26-minute tribute to star Kevin Conroy. The digital copy also includes the original 4:3 version of the film as well as a bonus episode of Justice League: Unlimited featuring The Phantasm.

The 4K disc comes packed in a standard 4K keepcase, along with a glossy cardboard slipcover and an insert with instructions on how to redeem a 4K Movies Anywhere compatible digital copy.


What’s Included:

Film: (1:16:27)

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