Adapted from 1992’s famous graphic novel of the same title, 2018’s The Death of Superman brings an extraterrestrial threat. An asteroid soars toward Earth and eventually lands in the ocean.

With it comes a powerful menace called Doomsday, a force intent on massive destruction. Superman (voiced by Jerry O’Connell) becomes the main opposition to Doomsday’s menace, and the two engage in an enormous battle.

The Death graphic novel came out after I stopped reading comics, so this direct-to-video animated version turns into my first exposure to the material – sort of. 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice borrowed aspects of the story, but it didn’t offer a specific adaptation of it.

As implied by the title, Death provides an epic, dramatic story, and parts of this adaptation work well – the visual parts, that is. As a graphic depiction of the tale, we get a strong take on the material.

This becomes particularly true during the film’s long, climactic battle. The movie manages a dynamic embrace of the action and brings these elements to life in a vivid manner.

Unfortunately, the film’s audio comes up short. For one, Frederik Wiedmann’s score feels too lightweight, as the music seems oddly peppy given the darkness and drama of the story on display.

Similar thoughts greet the generally mediocre voice performances. O’Connell lacks substance as Supes/Clark, and Romijn fails to offer personality as Lois. Given that those two are married in real life, their casting feels like a gimmick more than anything else.

As Lex Luthor, Rainn Wilson goes for an arch and campy tone, and it also doesn’t suit this project. He appears to try to recreate his snarky Gallaxhar from Monsters Vs. Aliens, and it doesn’t suit the part or the project.

All of this leaves Death as a bit of a disappointment. While aspects of it work very well, others falter and make it an inconsistent product.

Death of Superman appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. I felt happy with this image.

Sharpness excelled. The movie always came across as tight and well-defined, so don’t expect any signs of softness.

Jaggies and moiré effects also remained absent, and the image lacked edge haloes or artifacts. In addition, print flaws were a non-factor and didn’t appear at any point.

In terms of colors, Death went with a fairly bright palette that could lean teal, but it also emphasized primary colors. The tones looked solid within those parameters, and the disc’s 4K UHD boasted extra oomph for the hues.

Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity. The HDR added impact to whites and contrast as well. Across the board, the image worked well.

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Death opened up the comic book material well. The forward channels brought out the majority of the material, but the entire package added a lot to the movie. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during bigger action scenes, but they spread out in quieter scenes as well and even featured some directional dialogue. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B+”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both sported the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.

Visuals showed the usual 4K upgrade, as the UHD presentation seemed a bit brighter, tighter and more dynamic. This wasn’t a big jump in quality, but the 4K UHD worked a little better than its Blu-ray counterpart.

All the extras appear on the included Blu-ray Disc, and we start with a featurette called The Brawl That Topped Them All. It lasts 16 minutes, 23 seconds and offers notes from DC Entertainment Creative Director Mike Carlin, artist Jon Bogdanove, co-director Jake Castorena, and martial artist Christian Medina.

“Brawl” examines the creation of Doomsday, story/characters, fight choreography, and visual choices. This doesn’t become a great look at the production, but it mixes enough useful details to deserve a viewing.

Two episodes of Legion of Superheroes pop up as well: “Dark Victory: Part 1” (22:54) and “Dark Victory: Part 2” (22:50). These shows focus on a conflict with Brainiac.

Why do they appear alongside Death? I don’t know. Sure, they involve a post-Death Superman spinoff and an alien threat, but otherwise there’s no major link.

Whatever the reason for their inclusion, the “Dark Victory” episodes offer passable entertainment. They give us a reasonably interesting story but the cartoony depiction doesn’t suit the basic drama at hand.

A Sneak Peek at Reign of the Supermen runs nine minutes, 33 seconds and features info from Carlin, director Sam Liu, screenwriters Tim Sheridan and Jim Krieg, voice director Wes Gleason, Warner Home Video EVP Jeff Brown, and actors Cress Williams, Cameron Monaghan, Rebecca Romijn, Rainn Wilson and Jerry O’Connell. It provides basics about Reign - the sequel to Death - and exists as mainly as an advertisement.

Trailers presents promos for Batman Ninja and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.

In the visual domain, The Death of Superman gives us a dynamic effort. In the auditory realm, though, a weak score and some iffy voice acting damage the end result. The 4K UHD provides very good picture and audio along with a smattering of supplements. Death’s strengths make it worth a look, but it could’ve been better.

To rate this film, visit the Blu-ray review of DEATH OF SUPERMAN