[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition’: Now Available On Blu-ray & DVD From DC Comics & Warner Bros

Wonder Woman (2009) (Commemorative Edition) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Lauren Montgomery

Cast: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina (VOICES)

Release Date: May 16, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a princess of untold beauty, grace and strength – Diana. When U.S. 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 by starting a World War that will last for centuries and wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons. It is up to Diana to save her people and the world – by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!

One of the earlier animated films in the now fairly expansive catalog of original animated movies from DC Comics and initially released in 2009, ‘Wonder Woman’ returns home on Blu-ray in a new ‘Commemorative Edition’ release to celebrate the 75^th birthday of the character as well as the new upcoming live-action film. This animated ‘Wonder Woman’ movie follows the infamous warrior princess Diana as she encounters new opportunities and dangers, not to mention an entirely new world when by a chance of fate a fighter pilot crash lands on the beautiful (and usually invisible) island she calls home. After competing against her sisters in order to claim the honor of guiding this stranger home, Diana and her new friend Steve Trevor embark upon an epic quest, and the beginnings of the legendary Wonder Woman are born. Featuring the voice talents of Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Rosario Dawson, Alfred Molina, and more, this action-packed animated feature still delivers the goods and any DC fan who hasn’t previously had the pleasure will want to make a point of checking it out if possible before (or after) catching the new film in theaters this Summer.

The new ‘Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition’ Blu-ray release certainly offers a great opportunity for fans who don’t already own the animated movie to pick up a new, more accessible release of the film with a DVD and Digital HD copy in tow. For fans who already own the initial Blu-ray release on the other hand and aren’t necessarily interested in adding a DVD and/or Digital code to their collection it may not be worth the double dip. The video presentation seems be identical to the other release, although the audio has been granted a mild upgrade from Dolby TrueHD to DTS-HD MA this time around. This new edition also features one all-new behind the scenes Featurette that will surely interest some (along with a few carried over; more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below), but whether it actually justifies purchasing another copy is the real question. For the fans who don’t already own the animated flick, I would definitely suggest picking up a copy of this Blu-ray when you can, for first time purchases it’s certainly worth looking into and shouldn’t disappoint for the most part.

VIDEO:

This Commemorative Edition Blu-ray release of ‘Wonder Woman’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio, although encoded in VC-1 as opposed to the more common AVC encoding used these days. Therefore, while I can’t confirm it, there is a good likelihood that the video presentation is identical to that of the film’s initial Blu-ray release. That being said, this high definition video presentation still looks pretty solid for the most part and provides a sharp, clean and quite gorgeous presentation throughout, with no notable faults aside from the obvious banding that should come as no surprise to the fellow fans by now. Overall, while seemingly nothing new and utilizing an older encoding method, this high definition video presentation nonetheless looks pretty great for what it is and should largely please the fans picking up the animated movie for the first time.

AUDIO:

The video presentation may likely be identical to the previous Blu-ray release years prior, yet the audio on the other hand is at least somewhat upgraded. While the initial release included a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel soundtrack, this Commemorative Edition Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds fantastic and delivers a crisp, clean and quite aggressive audio presentation throughout. It regularly takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send music, galloping horses, flying weapons and much more whipping throughout the various speakers, and never resulting in any dialogue that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered indiscernible in the process. Overall, this is a wonderful 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that contributes plenty of fun to the overall viewing experience and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Commemorative Edition Blu-ray release of ‘Wonder Woman’ includes some fun and informative extras, although only one brand new extra exclusive to this release. The all-new included extra is a behind the scenes Featurette ‘What Makes A Wonder Woman’ (running approximately 10 minutes in length) which features interviews/comments from various individuals on what indeed does make a Wonder Woman. Also included on the release are three extras carried over from the initial Blu-ray release of the animated film, they include an ‘Audio Commentary by the Film’s Creative Team’, and two behind the scenes Featurettes: ‘Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream’ (running approximately 26 minutes) and ‘Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth’ (approximately 26 minutes). ‘A Sneak Peak at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie: Batman & Harley Quinn’ (9 minutes) is also included.