The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart

The first time the world was introduced to Thaddeus Venture was more than 20 years ago. In the past two decades, The Venture Bros. has had great success on Adult Swim with seven seasons that instantly became a fan favorite all those years ago. Many viewers wanted a more consistent string of new episodes, but the creators would only sporadically release new seasons. With hopes of an eighth season on the horizon, show creator Jackson Publick instead made a feature film that is to be the series finale called The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart.

How could Publick possibly wrap up so many character arcs and stories in the span of under 85 minutes? The filmmaker and writer Doc Hammer does so perfectly by paying attention to those smaller details throughout each season that came before it and tying up loose ends in the funniest and most perfect of ways that are fitting for a family like the Ventures. Everyone is back on board in the voice cast and some wonderful cameos from previous seasons get their time to shine in this excellent animated film that acts as the last hoorah for the iconic Venture Bros.

Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart picks up very shortly after the events of Season 7 and follows the search for Hank Venture that brings up tons of origin stories, history lessons, and information on the entire Venture Family, Monarch, and The Guild. For fans, this will be a delightful and funny way to get all those pestering questions answered for those who have watched the series since the beginning. Those who are new to the entire franchise will be mostly lost, although certain jokes will muster up some big laughs as well.

Just like in each season, there are tons of characters and a lot of narratives to unravel, but with Hammer and Publick's storytelling and the lore behind all of the Venture family, it all seems to fit into a perfect puzzle piece of who the Venture Bros. really is and where they come from. With all of its laughs throughout, there are plenty of emotional and endearing moments as well, and not just because it's the finale of the whole enchilada, but rather from just amazing storytelling and character arcs that have lasted for over twenty years. The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is one excellent animated film and is the ultimate way to end this brilliant sage that so many people loved over the years. Not to mention, the voice cast still delivers comedy gold at each turn.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart clones its way to Blu-ray + Digital Code via Warner Bros. The sole disc is housed inside a hard, blue plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The artwork features the main cast of characters on top of a building with a baboon hand holding up everything. There is a foldable poster inside as well along with the Digital Code.

The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart comes with a 1080p HD transfer and looks gorgeous in its animated state. The color palette for this show has really upgraded over the years and now the full gamut of color is on display. Primary colors are rich and bold while other lighter colors like whites and gray are perfectly balanced. The animated skin tones of the characters are spot on with their own unique colors and the black levels are always inky. The detail in the animation and background designs look excellent and simple. There are no signs of murky black levels or hazy animated lines. This is a bold-looking film and is perhaps the best the franchise has ever looked.

This release comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 audio track that sounds stellar and immersive with some loud booming noises. The sound effects pack a big punch when the numerous explosions and gun blasts go off with an excellent low end of bass that always has a nice rumble to it. There is no rockiness to it. The quieter moments in large rooms or outside proved the necessary reverb and echo as well. The surround speakers are active with ambient noises of their own environments as well. The action sequences provided the biggest bang for the buck though and consistently has a smooth transition from speaker to speaker. The dynamic range is wide and the LFE is fantastic. The score adds to the action-packed sequences and the emotional tone of the film and the dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to follow.

There are two amazing commentary tracks both of which include the series creators. The unfortunate thing is that since this is to be the last Venture Bros. thing ever, there are no moments with the cast or animators reflecting on working on the show. Still, these are some wonderful talks with the creators.

• Audio Commentary #1 - Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer talk about the film, the production process in its animated state, some of the mistakes and great things that came from making the movie, along with the voice cast and answering fans' questions that they always receive. It's a great track to listen to.
• Audio Commentary #2 - Publick and Hammer are back again and rather than commentate on the film, they answer tons of questions that fans wrote in for this release, which is cool.
• Hodgman and Friends (HD, 51 Mins.) - John Hodgman sits down with Publick and Hammer to discuss the entire series, characters, life, animation, and more. It's a great interview.
• Poster - A foldable poster has been included that is the artwork of the Blu-ray case.

The Venture Bros. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is a fitting and wonderful way to end the iconic series of The Venture Bros. The film answers the film's questions and provides an emotional and super funny finale to these beloved characters. The 1080p HD video and the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track are both great and the bonus features are worth watching and listening to even though they don't feature the cast. Highly Recommended!