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Blu-Ray : Recommended
Ranking:
Sale Price: $12.69 Last Price: $24.98 Buy now! 3rd Party 11.89 In Stock
Release Date: March 17th, 2020 Movie Release Year: 2019

Superman: Red Son

Overview -

Superman: Red Son is the new DC animated film that tells the story of Superman if he was sent to Russia instead of Kansas and raised under the rule of Stalin. With a 1080p image and a DTS-HD 5.1 audio track, along with some fantastic bonus features, this film comes Recommended!

We also reviewed this film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray.

Based on DC’s famed Elseworlds tale from 2003, Superman: Red Son takes place in an alternate reality where the spaceship bearing the last survivor of Krypton crash lands – not in rural Kansas, but in Stalinist Russia. Can this Cold War-era Earth survive the coming of a Soviet Superman?

OVERALL:
Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Blu-ray + DVD +Digital Copy
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p MPEG-4 AVC
Length:
84
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English SDH, French, German, Spanish
Special Features:
From the DC Comics Vault
Release Date:
March 17th, 2020

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

For a full review, take a look at our coverage for the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray Release.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

Warner Bros. delivers Superman: Red Son to Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy.  The discs are housed in a hard, blue, plastic case with identical cardboard slipcover of some wonderful artwork. There are a couple of inserts for the digital code and survey.

Video Review

Ranking:

Superman: Red Son comes with a 1080p HD transfer on Blu-ray with a colorful palette of primary colors that have some red overtones in certain scenes.

Colors are for the most part bright and vivid with some great sequences that utilize some fantastic reds, blues, and greens. A lot of the time, the color spectrum looks a little anemic and pale, but that's a style choice to showcase the Russian universe Red Son is creating. The result is a more muted palette in certain scenes. That all changes though when Superman wears the tights or when the Green Lantern ring appears on the screen, which illuminates the image very well.

Wider shots of the city look vibrant as well with cooler tones dominating. Black levels are mostly deep, but there was some evidence of crush and some murky dark levels. Shadows look fine though and there was very little in the way of banding or aliasing. Animation lines were smooth and edges were spot on. This was a great looking Blu-ray image, although the 4K presentation is a bit better.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This Blu-ray release features the same amazing DTS-HD 5.1 track as the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc.

Superman: Red Son boasts a very good lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track that delivers on action and some of the quieter moments. Sound effects are robust and constant throughout, flowing through each speaker with a well-balanced sound. Explosions, bullets, punches, and takedowns all pack a good punch with some fantastic directionality. The low end comes into play during the heavier action scenes with vehicle engines roaring and missiles taking off and destroying their targets. All of Superman's alien powers have the necessary reverb and great sounding noises as well.

Ambient sounds in the city of people walking and talking sound off nicely on the rear speakers as well. The score by Wiedmann always adds to the suspense and cold war mentality of the time, which never drowns out any other sound element. Dialogue is presented cleanly and free of any audio problems. This is an English track, however, the lack of a Russian audio mix is sorely missed, given the premise.

Special Features

Ranking:

There are about 114 minutes of bonus material here, including some great behind the scenes footage, interviews, and history lessons on Russia, along with some extended trailers, and old episodes of DC cartoons.

  • Cold Red War (HD, 17 Mins.) - Here is an excellent behind the scenes featurette that focuses on the history of the story, bringing some true-life stories to the comic book, along with some historical footage and interviews with the creators and history professors.
  • Superman: Red Son Motion Comics (HD, 6 Mins.) - This is the motion comic book, which isn't exactly great and is shortened for time.
  • DC Showcase: Phantom Stranger (HD, 15 Mins.) - A new short animated film with some good horror elements.
  • Sneak Peek: Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (HD, 11 Mins.) - An extended look from the upcoming new DC Animated film with some clips, production art, and interviews with the cast and crew.
  • From the DC Comics Vault (HD, 45 Mins.) - A two-part episode of the Justice League cartoon titled "A Better World" is included.
  • Trailers (HD 20 Mins.) - Two short trailers for DC animated films and two extended trailers for a couple of other films.

Final Thoughts

Superman: Red Son is one of the better comic book stories of recent memory. It's original and pits some fan-favorite characters on the other side of the spectrum. The film adaptation is top-notch, despite some glaring differences from the original source material.  The 1080p video and lossless audio mix are great and there are some wonderful bonus features to boot. This comes Recommended!