Spawn 4K (1997/Image Comics/MVD/Warner/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B Sound: A- Extras: B Film: C+

Todd McFarlane's Spawn (1997) gets the 4K UHD treatment from Arrow Video in a packed edition that includes the director's and theatrical cuts of the film.

Spawn is one of the best drawn comic books of all time and has beautiful and stylistic artwork that came from the mind of Todd McFarlane, who is an incredible artist who also co-created the character of Venom in the Spider-Man universe. McFarlane also has one of the most successful toy companies in America and continues his strong brand that has only risen in popularity since the release of this film. Spawn as a film was very ambitious for its time. Digital effects were in their infancy for a film of this scope and magnitude and it's pretty apparent that the budget ran thin somewhere along the way because a lot of this visually has not aged well. The shots in Hell with the Devil specifically are laughably bad. The Devil's Mouth doesn't even mouth the words that it is speaking.

It is surprising that they didn't get Greg Nicotero and KNB effects, who did a lot of fantastic work on this film, to create an animatronic that they could have just keyed in to the environment, but alas some choices were made here. Other moments you can tell they spent more time and money on the Visual Effects include the scenes where Spawn fights the Violator and Spawn's cape look pretty solid even by today's standards. Due to how dark the stories of Spawn get and the dealings with Hell, it isn't surprising that the character took a heavy hiatus from the big screen as Marvel and DC films have risen in popularity. In terms of box office the film wasn't a complete failure, but essentially broke even at the time.

The film stars Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen, Melinda Clarke, Therese Randle, and John Leguizamo to name a few and directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe.

In terms of the story, Spawn is your typical revenge thriller that borrows elements from stronger genre films such as Robocop, Darkman, and The Crow. Caught in a war between Heaven and Hell, Spawn tells the story of an expert solider who gets screwed over by a Clown from Hell and ends up a demonic super soldier with an adaptable suit that can become anything he imagines. After five years in torment, Spawn returns to Earth only to find out that his best friend has married his wife and that the world has forgotten him. As Spawn learns the new powers that are bestowed on him whilst also dealing with homelessness and his horrid appearance that is charred and ghastly. Spawn is a oddball superhero who is not one to admire like Iron Man. Another highlight of the film is the Clown played by John Leguizamo who wore a convincing fat suit and eats up every frame of film that he is in and clearly had a lot of fun as this bizarre and grotesque character.

Spawn 4K is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image, an HEVC / H.265 codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and audio tracks in English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) and LPCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes. The digital print is from the original camera negative and has been restored in 4K. The film on the whole looks great with deep colors and textures and lifted with HDR (high dynamic range.) This works against the age and quality of some of the VFX shots, but the live action moments shine. This is a noticeable improvement over previous home video releases. There is also a 1080p Blu-ray version of the film which is still a color improvement over the prior releases, but isn't as defined as the 4K UHD, but also issued as its own Limited Edition with the almost same bunch of extras.

This film has always been known for its popular soundtrack that features a lot of notable heavy metal artists such as Marilyn Manson, Korn, Slayer, and others and that comes across nicely here as well.

Extras include:

Brand new audio commentary with comic book expert and podcast host Dave Baxter

Audio commentary with Todd McFarlane, Mark A.Z. Dippe, Clint Goldman, and Steve Williams (1998)

Hell's Perfect Son, a brand new interview with actor Michael Jai White

Spawn Support, a brand new interview with actors Melinda Clarke and D.B. Sweeney

The Devil's in the Details, a brand new interview with animatronic creature and special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero

The Devil's Music, a brand new interview with music supervisor Happy Walters

Order Out of Chaos, a brand new interview with editor Michael Knue

Todd McFarlane: Chapter & Verse, an archival featurette from 1998 in which Spawn creator Todd McFarlane reflects on how the film adaptation stacks up against his original comic book vision

The Making of Spawn, archival behind-the-scenes featurette

Preview: Todd McFarlane's Spawn - The Animated Movie

Original Theatrical trailer

Scene-to-storyboard comparisons

Original Todd McFarlane sketches

and a Spawn concept and sketch gallery.

Spawn has a lot of cool characters and the film does a good job of adapting the source material to the screen. The project was ambitious and limited to the technology of the time. That being said there is a lot to like about the film and it remains an interesting look back to an era of superhero filmmaking prior to the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

- James Lockhart

https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/