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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.
For more about Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and the Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray release, see Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on November 7, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.
In the world of superhero-dom, it's not usually the actual act of fighting crime that connects the character with the audience
but rather the humanity
behind the mask or under the cape. The personal stories that give rise to the crimefighters, that define their daily lives, that
shape their relationships
with their
friends, colleagues, lovers, and the world-at-large are what truly drive their actions in superhero guise. Comics have never
been shy about
hitting the heroes hard in figurative, not just literal, attacks on their hearts and souls, not just their physical well-beings. It's
almost always the
face beyond the costume that tends to matter most, and arguably no Superhero film has so deeply explored and carefully
unmasked a hero as well
and as thoroughly as
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, a 1993 animated feature film that followed hot-on-the-heels of the first season of the
extraordinarily well
done and lovingly received animated series (which was recently released on Blu-ray
and includes a copy of
this disc). It tells not just Batman's origins story but Bruce Wayne's most intimate romance that sees him at his most radiantly
in love and at his most
heartbroken that propels him to take on the identity of the Caped Crusader, an identity that would come to define his life.
Batman Before.
Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) foils a money counterfeiting scheme, but one of the criminals is accosted by another masked
vigilante, a frightening
entity that looks and moves like Death itself. The story is told non-linearly and spends much of its time in the past exploring
Bruce Wayne's
burgeoning romantic
relationship with Andrea Beaumont (voiced by Dana Delany), the only woman who has ever captured the billionaire playboy's
heart. But as Wayne
dons a mask and sets out fighting crime -- well before the time he would create the Batman persona -- he begins to realize
that he cannot follow the
desires of his heart and exercise the dangerous and demanding actions of a crimefighter. As he recalls wrestling with the
choice of love or taking on
the long battle against Gotham city's evildoers, he is blamed for a string of brutal murders of the city's most vile gangsters
while The Joker (voiced by
Mark Hamill) is hired to reel him in.
In Mask of the Phantasm, audiences are treated to a prolonged examination of an early incarnation of Batman, with
Bruce Wayne essentially
donning little more than dark clothes and a ski mask to fight crime. But he quickly realizes that simply dressing like the
common criminals he pursues
is not at all intimidating; the criminals don't respect his presence, even if he's fairly successful in stopping their endeavor.
While the action scene itself
delivers precious few thrills, the concept behind it does, and the access to Wayne's first moves as the character that would
become Batman are a
welcome sight.
But it's the journey through Bruce Wayne's heart that is at the center of the film. Wayne uncharacteristically falls in love, not
because his heart is cold
but because most women want only what he has, not who he is, a concept the film reinforces when a trio of women throw
themselves at him at a
party but clearly desire only his bank account, not his heart and soul. As his relationship with Andrea develops, he wrestles
with the untenable
position of fulfilling his desire to fight crime and how and why that clashes with his burgeoning love life, leaving him fearing for
her well being if he
cannot promise he'll be able to be home with her, to provide the loving arms she will need, day or night, if duty happens to
call. The film's emotional
center is embodied in a beautiful, single shot when rain falls on Batman following a flashback to a graveside scene with
Andrea. It's impossible to
separate rain from tears, allowing the audience to see Batman at his most vulnerable without truly seeing the stalwart hero
wear his deepest
emotions and most heartbreaking regrets on his sleeve.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm unveils itself via a fairly good and sturdy 1080p presentation. For the 1.78:1-framed
theatrical presentation,
opening title wobble is apparent, and the white title lettering appears a little dim. Beyond the open, select shots appear a little
soft and a little overly
processed, but for the most part the presentation is quite good and very pleasing to the eye. Light grain is visible for the
duration, which is occasionally
accompanied by a small assortment speckles and splotches. Lines are fairly crisp and clarity is quite good. Character and
environmental definition both
are quite firm, whether considering moving objects or static backgrounds. Colors are handled well, particularly variations of
black, gray, and blue that
define so many of the film's darker scenes and its general tonal presentation. The film offers some brighter and more colorful
scenes, too, which reveal
an impressive array of punchy and prominent hues, particularly women's clothes and makeup or Joker's apparel. Black levels
present with impressive
depth and accuracy. The transfer is imperfect but the good largely outweighs the bad.
The 4x3 aspect ratio television version is introduced by the following text:
'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' was originally intended to be made-for-video and viewed on the 4x3 televisions
that were still standard
in 1993. During production, it was decided to release the film theatrically, where it would be exhibited on wide screens with the
top and bottom of the
full aperture frames masked off in projection. While this became the version of record in theaters, the following is an alternative
presentation of the
film in its 4x3 'open-matte' form, which reveals all of the frame as originally animated.'
This alternative version is a welcome addition to the release given the film's history as-animated and its intended home video
market release. There
are certainly some differences to be seen, with changes of scale and depth-of-field apparent. The screenshots situated directly
above and
directly below this paragraph give a good idea of the differences between the two formatting presentations. The 4x3 version
does appear to be sourced
from the same master as the above-reviewed 1.78:1 presentation; there's not a shift in clarity or color to be seen.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm's two-channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is certainly sufficient, but the inability
to more fully and
seamlessly immerse the listener in the movie's action and environments is a little disappointing. That said, the track certainly
does its best with what it
has at its disposal. Musical width is very impressive. Notes stretch effortlessly across the front, pushing the stage's horizontal
length perhaps not to an
extreme but definitely to a satisfying level of stretch. The same goes for action; crashes, slams, punches, screams, moans, all
variety of action related
sound elements find an agreeable level of room-extending breadth across there front end, to the point that, at its peak, the
track succeeds enough to
almost make the listener forget that there are only two channels in play, particularly as elemental separation and
clarity are both very strong
attributes. Lighter din is handled equally well, such as a gathering at Wayne Manor in chapter four where festive sounds of
gathered humanity saturate
the stage fairly well from the front end. The track opens up with some decently reverberating dialogue depth when the masked
figure speaks in chapter
seven in a cemetery at night. Basic dialogue images well towards the center and never feels lost somewhere between middle
and edge. It's clearly
delivered and well prioritized for the duration.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm contains only one extra, the film's trailer (1080p, 1.78:1, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0,
1:05). For such a terrific
and widely well-regarded film, the absence of supplemental content is disheartening.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm explores how the dimming light of love played a significant role in the rise of the Dark
Knight. The film tells a
substantial, often moving, story of love and loss and the intersections of the heart and the hateful realities of the world. It's a
compelling film,
extraordinarily well written, animated, and performed and is a must-see for Batman and comic fans. Warner Archive's Blu-ray is
disappointingly free of
any meaningful extra content, but video and audio presentations are generally very good. Highly recommended, but newcomers
should skip this
standalone release and be sure to acquire it as part of that fantastic animated series set linked in the opening paragraph above.
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