Death
and Return Of Superman 4K
(2019 set with Toy/DC Comics 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays (incl. Superman:
Doomsday)
w/Blu-ray*)/FCLC:
Progressive (2019/Adult
Swim DVD*)/Kung Fu Monster
(2018/Well Go Blu-ray)/Lost
City Of The Jungle
(1946/Universal/MVD/VCI Blu-ray)/Scooby
Doo!: Return To Zombie Island
(2019/DVD/*all Warner)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/C+/B/B-/C+ Sound: B/B/B/C+/C
Extras: B+/D/C-/C-/C Main Programs: B/B+/C/C+/C
Here's
the new group of child/family fantasy/action releases, including a
big upgrade on on a certain DC Comics saga...
The
Death and Return Of Superman 4K
have all been combined as a new expanded release for the 4K format
and starts with The Death
Of Superman Blu-ray/DVD I
reviewed at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15231/Avengers:+Infinity+War+(**Marvel/Disney+4K+Ul
Then
this new 4K release also adds Reign
Of The Supermen, which we
covered as a Blu-ray/DVD set here...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15413/Creed+II+4K+(2018/MGM/Warner+4K+Ultra+HD+
Then
as a surprise bonus 4K disc, we also get Superman:
Doomsday which we
reviewed on DVD a while ago at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5981/Superman+Doomsday+(Animated+Feature/DVD-Vid
So
now the whole saga without having to wait or put up with shorter
presentations is finally here in one set, one of the best 4K sets to
date and both DC and 4K fans can be very happy. Though this can get
surreal and there are parts I did not buy as much as others (the
young teen Superman is a little odd versus what we got in the comic
book), this is all well done and melds together well. This is easily
now the best way to take it all in.
Extras
include
the Steel figurine, plus (as explained by the press release) Long
Live Superman
- Superman is a symbol for hope across the world. Hear the story of
how the Man of Tomorrow will always be the hero we need today, The
Death of Superman: The Brawl That Topped Them All
- Experience the battle between Superman and Doomsday like never
before as creators of the iconic comic and the new film explore the
nuances of ''The Greatest Fight'' with the help of a martial arts
expert, Lex
Luthor: The Greatest Nemesis
- Evil Genius. Archenemy of Superman. Misunderstood hero? This
documentary will look at one of the most renowned villains in
literature and debate his ethics and motivations throughout his
publication history and as the calculated anti-hero of Reign
of the Supermen.
We'll also explore how Lex Luthor is emblematic of technology
without limit, often demonstrating what effect unbridled power,
resources, and influence can have on humanity. We'll discuss the
affinity for storytellers to associate Lex Luthor and with the field
of science as they challenge our morals and integrity with real world
issues such as cloning and what can happen if science fiction became
science reality and several From the DC Vault: Legion
of Superheroes,
''Dark Victory: Part 1'' and ''Part 2'', Superman:
The Animated Series,
''Heavy Metal'' and Justice
League Unlimited,
''Panic in the Sky''.
FCLC:
Progressive
(2019) is
the sequel to the hit anime FLCL
as Haruka returns in her never ending chase to capture Atomsk the
Pirate King. However, Haruka is no longer alone, along with Jinyu
and the Medical Mechanica corporation they are all after the power of
Atomsk. Hidomi a 14 year old girl and her friends finds themselves
in a battle that could destroy her entire hometown, but can they
trust Haruka or Jinyu?
Hidomi
is a 14 year old girl and she has been dreaming of the end of the
world and she has been transforming into a robot fighting various
doomsday machines, but all she really wants is to confess to her love
to her classmate Ide. Haruka and Jinyu show up out of nowhere and
start targeting Hidomi, placing her life and her friends in danger.
Secret of Atomsk is he manifest only those pure of heart and their
'love' grant them his powers (temporary). Both Haruka and Medical
Mechanica want Atomsk's awesome powers. Jinyu seems oppose to Haruka
and has her own agenda, but like always Haruka will do anything to
possess the power of Atomsk including threaten people Hidomi cares
about, which is also the trigger at the same time to her
transformations.
FLCL
blew away the anime community when it first debut, but after watching
the second season it felt like they lost some of it cool, the
'robots' weren't as cool as season one, it was just more silly. Also
in order to understand Season 2, you had to had watch season
1. The series reuses a lot of the soundtracks and songs from Season
1. Extras include trailers, but should have offered more.
Andrew
Lau's Kung
Fu Monster
(2018) wants to be some kind of family film with a little character
that crosses E.T. with a Gremlin, but it is a little more violent and
even sadistic early on and its sense of a bit of anger and
mean-spiritedness just keeps surfacing for no reason throughout
(starting with the title character being whipped with a chain that
leaves deep cuts on his body, through his hair!) and this is dubbed
'not rated' so I was watching thinking who this was really meant for.
The
title character exists in a far past and is one of a few that has
been captured and imprisoned, but he escapes with the help of an
officer who sees him as kind and gentle, but he turns out to have
superpowers that include martial arts and some other humans would
prefer to control or kill him. This is not for children and probably
not for pre-teens, though I was no fan at any age and thought it was
too derivative of everything we've seen before. Now you can judge
for yourself.
A
trailer, teaser and two brief interview clips are the only extras.
Lewis
D. Collins and Ray Taylor's Lost
City Of The Jungle (1946)
is another unintentionally funny Universal Saturday Morning Serial,
but also one of their last as TV killed these productions. It is
about good guys & gals racing against bad guys to find an element
that can stop nuclear radiation from spreading, the only way to fight
an atom bomb. Too bad the villains are scheming the good teams
deaths at least several times a chapter.
At
this point, the studio was recycling all kinds of footage from past
productions and that was common to begin with, but here it is a sign
that these productions were starting to take their low budget course
and unless TV did not exist yet and the studios making them (also
Columbia and Republic) started to come up with something new and a
little more money, they were on their way out.
Of
course it also has politically incorrect moments, but the unknown
actors are helped out by turns from Lionel Atwill and Keye Luke, so
its all worth a look when you have the time. Jane Adams and Russell
Hayden lead the cast.
A
trailer, Photo Gallery and essay inside the paper Blu-ray sleeve with
a Patrick McCabe essay are the only extras.
Finally
we have Scooby Doo!:
Return To Zombie Island
(2019) which is the worst release in the ongoing franchise since the
gang met the WWE, mocking the original show again
(which becomes tiresome, insulting and kills watching this to begin
with) then trikes to move onto a zombie story (they were at this
island before?) and this one just drones on for 80 long minutes. I'd
like to say this was fun or worked, but it did not and unless you are
a super-serious fan, skip this one.
A
few trailers and episodes of newer Scooby series are the only extras.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition images on both Superman discs look fine, with
rich color, some good detail and warmth that all previous editions
lacked. We'd see that these animated films received very limited
release in theaters and the 4K shows us that even going back to
Doomsday, these presentations must have been impressive. The
regular 1080p Blu-ray of Return looks good, but no match for
the 4K overall.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Monster
is an HD shoot that has its share of motion blur and the CGI work is
included in this, but some of the color is good and might look better
in 4K.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfers on Jungle can show their age, but that is typical of
just about all the serials we've covered in all formats over the
years, with age of the materials used a factor. This is still the
best you'll see any of these chapters outside of a good 16mm or 35mm
print.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both FLCL and Scooby
look about as good as they can in the older DVD format, but I could
only see FLCL getting Blu-ray or 4K treatment and they both
offer lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes that are as good as they
can be for the older, compressed format. FLCL fares better.
The
Superman
and Monster
discs all offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, so
DC/Warner saw no reason to upgrade the sound on any of the animation
and it works out fine, but Monster
was Dolby Atmos 11.1 in theaters, so this is a mixdown and Well Go
must be saving the 12-track for a potential 4K release.
That
leaves
Jungle
with PCM 2.0 Mono sound that shows the age of the serial's audio
fidelity, but despite some flaws here and there, it is not bad
throughout.
-
Nicholas Sheffo and Ricky Chiang (FLCL)
