Green Lantern: First Flight appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While not a stellar transfer, it satisfied.
For the most part, sharpness looked good. Some shots suffered from moderate softness, but those instances weren’t severe. Instead, most of the film demonstrated positive clarity.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws remained absent.
Flight boasted pretty solid colors. Unsurprisingly, green dominated, and the transfer gave us good emerald tones. A mix of other hues showed up as well, and all seemed full and clear.
Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows showed nice clarity. Really, only the occasional bouts of softness detracted from an otherwise fine presentation.
I thought the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Flight opened up the comic book material well. This wasn’t a particularly ambitious piece, but it added pizzazz to the program.
The forward channels brought out the majority of the material. 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 storms or bigger action scenes. 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 Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? The Blu-ray’s lossless audio added warmth to the DVD’s track.
Visuals boasted a moderate improvement, as the Blu-ray seemed better defined and showed superior colors. This turned into a good upgrade.
The Blu-ray brings a bunch of extras, many of which promote other projects. A First Look at Superman/Batman: Public Enemies for for seven minutes, 49 seconds and provides notes from DC Comics SVP Creative Affairs Gregory Noveck, executive producer Bruce Timm, script writer Stan Berkowitz, director Sam Liu, voice/casting director Andrea Romano, and actors Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, Xander Berkeley, LeVar Burton, John C. McGinley and Clancy Brown.
They tell us a little about the production and performances, but mostly they just tell us about the story and how great it’ll be. Actually, Enemies does sound good, but this program remains nothing more than promotional material.
Another preview comes with the 10-minute, 45-second From Graphic Novel to Original Animated Movie - Justice League: The New Frontier. It features Noveck, Timm, Romano, Berkowitz, DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz, executive producer Sander Schwartz, writer/artist Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics editorial art director and editor Mark Chiarello, producer Mike Goguen, DC Comics Senior VP/Executive Editor Dan Didio, and director David Bullock.
Like the Enemies featurette, this one makes the product look fun. Like the Enemies featurette, this one exists solely to sell product. It may succeed, but it’s still not exactly a stellar bonus piece.
Guess what? We find an additional ad via Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess. It goes for 10 minutes, 26 seconds and includes Levitz, Didio, Noveck, Timm, director Lauren Montgomery, writer Michael Jelenic, and actors Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson and Virginia Madsen.
The show looks at the roots of Wonder Woman and aspects of the movie. It actually has a little more concrete info than its predecessors, but it remains promotional in nature.
Batman: Gotham Knight – An Anime Evolution lasts 10 minutes, 11 seconds and presents remarks from Didio, Levitz, Noveck, Timm, Batman writer/editor Denny O’Neil, and writer Josh Olson.
This one looks at how Gotham Knight will adapt Batman for the Japanese anime feel. Again, it appears here to sell discs, but it proves more introspective than most of its siblings, so it includes some moderately interesting notes.
During the eight-minute, 52-second Blackest Night: Inside the DC Comics Event, we hear from Didio, writers Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi, Golden Apple Comics GM Ryan Liebowitz, and Golden Apple Comics clerk Mike Phlaumer.
Yes, it’s another promo. Like the others, it’s watchable but it doesn’t deliver much more than advertising.
After all that, we find materials actually related to the creation of First Flight - sort of. Behind the Story with Geoff Johns goes for eight minutes, 41 seconds and features Johns as he discusses the Lantern series and his work in comics.
As implied by the prior paragraph, I thought “Story” would offer details about the movie, but it really doesn’t look at Flight. It’s interesting to learn a little more about the Lantern and Johns, but the show is too general to be memorable.
A Lantern spoof shows up with a Duck Dodgers Episode. Called “The Green Loontern”, the 22-minute, 22-second program pairs Daffy Duck’s “Duck Dodgers” character with the suit and ring of the Lantern. It provides decent amusement.
Next we get some “Green Lantern Corps” info under In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night. We find bios for Sinestro (4:01) and the Guardians of the Universe (3:40).
In these, we hear from Johns, Tomasi, and writer Neal Adams. They give us a little background about those characters in these informative clips.
I Am the Ring goes for 22 minutes, 31 seconds. It offers notes from DiDio, Levitz, artist Neal Adams, Our Gods Wear Spandex author Christopher Knowles, Once and Future Myths author Phil Cousineau, The Writer’s Journey author Christopher Vogler, Professor of Anthropology Sabina Magliocco, Superheros and Gods author Don Locicero, and Associate Professor of English Scott Kleinman.
As implied by the title, we look at the concept of the Lantern’s ring, its connections to mythology, and related domains. This becomes a surprisingly literate view of the topic.
Finally, Bruce Timm Presents gives us five animated Green Lantern episodes. From Justice League Unlimited, we get “Once and Future Thing” Parts One and Two (46:02), “Hearts and Minds (46:09) and “The Return” (23:05).
All these episodes offer John Stewart (voiced by Phil LaMarr) as Green Lantern and not Hal Jordan. They provide pretty solid adventures.
I believe a good animated Green Lantern film can be made, but First Flight doesn’t achieve that goal. While it provides a watchable movie, it never turns into anything memorable. The Blu-ray gives us pretty good picture and audio as well as a decent roster of bonus materials – albeit one with a lot of promo pieces. Lantern buffs might enjoy Flight, but I doubt it’ll win over new fans.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT
