Review by Gary Tooze

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Description: On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength Princess Diana. When an Army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor, crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares (the god of War) has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazonians and has decided to exact his revenge - intending to start a world war that will not only last for centuries but will wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons! It is up to Princess Diana to save her people and the world by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!

Embark on a journey of untold beauty, grace and strength as Princess Diana uses her remarkable gifts and evolves into Wonder Woman, the world's most renowned female super hero. Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation are set to release the all-new animated original movie Wonder Woman on March 3, 2009, distributed by Warner Home Video.

 

 

"There is so much enthusiasm and passion from the fans for Wonder Woman, that it was an obvious next step in the DC character pantheon for Warner Premiere to bring to the screen," says Matt Bierman, Senior Vice President Production, Warner Premiere. "In re-telling this origin story and putting a new spin on it, we think that we have all of the action and emotion that existing fans crave, and the ability to bring in a whole new set of fans with great super hero storytelling."

"Woman Wonder is one of most iconic figures in pop culture. This movie succeeds in reinforcing her image as a female role model while firmly planting her flag as an epic action adventure heroine," says Gregory Noveck, Senior VP ­ Creative Affairs, DC Comics, "I think audiences will love this modern take on a classic character."

"Wonder Woman is an exciting representation of the talent within Warner Bros. Animation, combining Lauren Montgomery's dramatic, intense direction and Michael Jelenic's action-packed, funny script to produce another impressive addition to this division's growing slate of films," explains Sam Register, Executive Vice President, Warner Bros. Animation.

"Warner Home Video is thrilled to be releasing this fantastic animated feature film," said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation and Sports Marketing. "Wonder Woman has been an inspiration to women for generations and her physical and mental prowess is sure to impress an entirely new crop of fans in this action-packed original movie."
 

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

This animated Blu-ray offers a very satisfying visual appearance. If you are a fan of this style this Blu-ray will result in an impressive image. There is hardly a pixel out of place and aside from, what I can judge as, some very minor 'jaggies' I'd say it is perfect. Colors are vibrant and pure - being digital animation - noise is non-existent and overall the image shows a tightness and pure visage that one can sometimes swoon. Ex. contrast and colors balance aggressively producing beautiful background as well as expectantly competent foregrounds. This really does look fabulous - if you are an aficionado. Hopefully the, clickable, full resolution captures will bear this out. I have no complaints whatsoever and can't imagine dual-layering it or increasing the bitrate beyond the mid 20's would do extravagantly more in terms of the image quality. It probably excels over the SD-DVD in terms of color brilliance but I don't own to compare.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blu-ray offers TrueHD in and standard 5.1. The mix captures some of the aggressive moments - and there is a lot of battles in this movie. While Christopher Drake is a fairly young score composer his previous works project the right tempo and emotion. Wonder Woman is no exception. While this will give your rear speakers some action - it won't blow the windows out - there is a restraint in the bass - but I found it perfectly fitting. It's quite a potent track and I liked the way the TrueHD presented it. There are optional French or English subtitles available and we believe this is a region FREE release. 

Stacked - starting with an audio commentary featuring senior VP Gregory Noveck, Producer Bruce Timm, director Lauren Montgomery and writer Michael Jelenic. This is not as geeky as some I've heard with some reasonable glad handing - but overall informative and worthwhile for fans. There are some documentaries; “Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream” explores the rich history of Wonder Woman and her inspiration on American culture. “Wonder Woman: The Daughters of Myth” defines the meaning of the Amazons and how this links in with the evolution of the Wonder Woman character from comics to the screen. There is 10 minutes worth of upcoming DCU Sneak Peaks. Bruce Timm's Top 4 Bonus Episodes of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon (To Another Shore, Hawk and Dove - and exclusive to Blu-ray - Paradise Lost Parts 1 & 2). Finally there is a second disc with access to the Digital Copy for playing on portable devices.

BOTTOM LINE:
Well I'm sold. My only complaint would be, akin to the other DC animation movies I've reviewed recently, too much violence with decapitations and excessive/intense battle scenes - not for the very young! The Wonder Woman origin tale is revisited here in a wonderful modern presentation - adult enough to seem real but only bordering on stepping over the line - "Your daughter (Diana) has a great rack." - "Maybe you should take in some sights before you return to chastity-belt island." This Blu-ray has some spectacularly bright colorful images and is smooth and graceful in motion. I think I enjoyed it more than the other three DC/Warner full length features I've seen - meaning very entertaining and thumbs up!

Gary Tooze

February 25th, 2009