Superman: Unbound appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No problems emerged during this strong presentation.
Across the board, sharpness looked positive. The movie boasted consistently terrific delineation and never suffered from any obvious soft spots.
Issues with jagged edges or moiré effects failed to materialize, and the image lacked edge haloes. In addition, no signs of source defects appeared.
Unbound boasted solid colors. The film used a natural palette that favored primary hues, all of which exhibited excellent vivacity and life.
Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows showed nice clarity. I found nothing about which to complain in this terrific transfer.
When I examined the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Unbound, it created a fine sense of action. The movie packed a lot of battles and involving material, and it used the five channels to impart that information in a lively manner. Explosions and fights filled the channels to create a full spectrum, and quieter elements fleshed out the room as well.
Across the board, the material sounded good. Speech remained distinctive and concise, without edginess, and music seemed vivid and full.
Effects appeared accurate and tight, with clear highs and some powerful lows. All in all, the mix worked nicely.
We find an array of extras, and we open with an audio commentary from director James Tucker, writer Bob Goodman and DC Entertainment Creative Director Mike Carlin. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, the source and its adaptation, animation, cast and performances, and related domains.
This becomes a decent commentary. While it never gets into as much detail as I might like, it provides enough useful material to merit a listen.
Two featurettes follow, and Kandor: History of the Bottle City runs 16 minutes, 54 seconds. It includes notes from Carlin, Goodman, DC comics writer Marv Wolfman, writer Heath Corson, and DC co-publisher Dan DiDio.
As implied, we learn about the comics’ use of Kandor over the year. This becomes a solid summary.
With Technology and Terror, we locate a 24-minute, 42-second piece that includes comments from Goodman, Carlin, Wolfman, Corson, and writer Geoff Johns.
In “Terror”, we look at the origins of Brainiac and his development over the years. Like “Bottle”, “Terror” covers its subject matter well, though I’m surprised no one points out that Original Brainiac looked just like a green Lex Luthor!
Four DC Animated Episodes appear here. All from Superman: The Animated Series, we get “Last Son of Krypton” (21:07), “New Kids In Town” (21:22), “Little Girl Lost, Part 1” (21:16) and “Little Girl Lost, Part 2” (21:30).
“Son” gives another version of the destruction of Krypton, with the twist that Brainiac acts as scientific consultant. It’s a shame we don’t get the second and third chapters of this three-part episode, but since only “Part 1” deals with Brainiac, I get this choice.
During “Kids”, the Legion of Superheroes travels back from the 30th century to visit Smallville. Brainiac attempts to kill a teen Clark and they intervene.
Finally, “Lost” shows how Superman found Supergirl and brought her to Earth. All three offer good entertainment and they add value to the disc.
Next comes a Digital Comic Excerpt. This gives us a teaser for Superman: Brainiac, the source on which Unbound was based. Given how little we find, it’s a waste.
The disc opens with ads for Man of Steel and Lego Batman the Movie: DC Superheroes Unite.
As a superhero adventure, Superman: Unbound scores a few points. However, the movie wobbles too often and lacks consistent impact. The Blu-ray brings excellent visuals as well as good audio and a useful array of bonus materials. This feels like an average comic book adaptation.
