Batman Under The Red Hood offers the typical array of release options plus a few not so typical.

 

There's a single disc, bare-bones DVD that is very cheap. You can also get a 2 disc version and a Blu-ray that are essentially the same release on different formats.

 

In addition to that are a few exclusives. I have the Target one which comes with a couple of extra cartoon episodes (I'll give you details shortly). I haven't found an after-market listing for it yet, but I'll give all the gory details about it anyway since it's the one I have my bat-hands on. I've also seen a listing for an Amazon exclusive with a litho cel on DVD and Blu, but it currently has a status of “unavailable.” Lastly is a special package with a Red Hood figurine which is offered with the DVD and the Blu (that one is too far out of my price range).

The Special Edition Blu has 2 discs. One is the Blu-ray. The other is a regular DVD which contains the Target exclusive content and some of the other extras including some of the same features from the Blu-ray disc. It may appear to have a little more on it than it really does because of the replicated content. Why the repeat? I can only speculate.

 

Video:

1.85 widescreen at 1080p: It looks great on a big screen TV. This is probably one of the highest-quality animated Batman releases I own currently. The image is sharp with nice use of colors.

 

Audio:

5.1 DTS HD: It sounds strong and clear. The surround sound does not create a strong sense of immersion but isn't completely lacking.

 

Packaging:

The packaging is pretty typical: shiny slip case over a standard plastic case.

 

The Blu menu is rather plain, and the design in general doesn't really take advantage of Blu capabilities. You get a static image, a music loop, and a menu bar.

An ad plays before the interface.

 

Chapter breaks are few, and there is no chapter menu. In fact, there's no indication of any kind where the chapter breaks might be. You'll just have to guess and hope you can get close to where you want to be. That is a little annoying. So the tech design in that area is lacking.

 

Extras:

-TV Episodes: Most of the extra content consists of TV episodes. You get 4 episodes of Batman the Animated Series (actually, you only get 2 if you get the regular DVD according to the listing, but I'm not sure which 2). Some of these might actually be during the New Batman Adventures period, but there really isn't much distinction between them. If you get the Target special you get a 5th episode plus one of The Batman. Most of these are a minute or two over 20 minutes.

 

-Jonah Hex: (12 minutes) This is an original animated story. I'll talk more about it in the Episodes section.

 

-Digital Copy: The DVD includes a digital copy (hurry! They've given you less than a year to take advantage of this).

 

-The Story of Dick Grayson: a half hour documentary about Robin with lots of shots of old comic book panels which is cool: why create him, where did the inspiration come from, the relationship between the characters, comparisons to other literary pairings, costume influences, and growing up (which is a rare thing with comic book characters) into Nightwing.

 

-The Tale of Jason Todd: a 20 minute documentary about the replacement Robin: why have a new Robin, similarities to Grayson, changing him during “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” what happened with Jason – reader input and reaction, and the Red Hood story. This one is available only on the Blu-ray release.

 

-Superman Batman Apocalypse Peek: (12 minutes) A look at the upcoming movie revolving around Supergirl. It's a look at the story and where it came from with a look at some of the comic panels and storyboards.

 

-Previews: We get a good set of interesting previews including a Jonah Hex motion comic, and a few different movies. The Gotham Knight preview is 10 minutes long and is more like a behind the scenes feature. The Superman Doomsday preview is also more behind the scenes but only a couple of minutes long.

Other Editions:

The specs appear to be exactly the same across all the releases (with the exception of the Blu offering the high-def quality, of course).

 

The video is 1.85 widescreen: This movie appears to be offered in widescreen only. Sorry, all you “full screen” lovers. I don't understand you guys, anyway. The audio is 5.1 DTS surround sound for all releases.

 

I'm unsure about exactly which cartoon episodes are available in which release, but essentially you get 2 with the DVD, an additional 2 with the Blu, and another 2 more with the Target Blu. Jonah Hex is it's own feature and is included with all versions of the release. Otherwise the DVD extras should be the same as what is listed above except where noted.

Final Thoughts:

If you can't find the Target exclusive release you're really only missing out on those last 2 cartoon episodes which I'm sure are available elsewhere. The downside of this release, no matter which version you get, is that if you're a big enough Batman fan to own the animated series you already own the bulk of the bonus features offered here (though I suppose if you're that big a fan you'll want to own this on its own merits anyway). The Jonah Hex extra is entertaining although it's rather short, and I recommend the Jason Todd documentary if you have Blu capabilities. All in all a decent release to have for comic book fans.

Review

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