Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Jeff Wamester

Cast: Anson Mount, Michael Mando, Pablo Schreiber (VOICES)

Release Date: September 8, 2026

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

When the mysterious behemoth known only as Bane frees Batman’s entire Rogue’s Gallery from Arkham Asylum, the Caped Crusader is pushed to his mental and physical breaking point.

‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ sees Batman pushed beyond his limits when a dangerous new villain called Bane arrives in Gotham and destroys Arkham Asylum, sending the entire incarcerated rogues gallery of villains free to wreak havoc on the streets of Gotham City. Desperate to try and set his city back on a better path, Batman pushes for days without rest, refusing to relent until they’re all back behind bars. But what he never expected was the threat the newcomer Bane presents, and just how powerful he is.

Directed by Jeff Wamester from a screenplay written by Jeremy Adams, Wamester does a solid job at the helm of ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ guiding along the dark and thrilling adventure with style, heart and brutality. The film’s voice cast includes Anson Mount, Michael Mando and Pablo Schreiber, along with Jack Griffo, Bruce Boxleitner, David Dastmalchian, Simon Templeman and more, with the majority offering capable and generally solid voice performances in their roles.

‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ is a tense, brutal and notably bloody adaptation of the iconic storyline that shook up the DC Comics world when initially released. It does a fantastic job of establishing the character of Bane and allowing some insight into his psyche through his suffering and trials locked up for his entire youth and into adulthood. After being the unwilling participant of a drug trial within the corrupt prison, Bane becomes a nearly unstoppable force and his size and dominance is repeatedly showcased throughout, as is the struggle our heroic Dark Knight is facing once things in Gotham become out of control.

Struggling to continue fighting despite days without sleep and starting to show cracks as criminals repeatedly land blows and cuts that they typically wouldn’t, it’s very clear that this Batman is suffering and not going to be able to retain this level of fight for much longer, and taking on the new baddie Bane will prove to be the fight of his life. It does a nice job of delivering a bloody brutality not often seen even in the animated Batman films that really helps the viewer to appreciate the level of danger and deadliness that’s occurring in the city, not to mention how bleak the fight looks as things progressively get worse. While it’s been a minute since I visited the comic book storyline that serves as its basis, I feel like much of this adaptation is quite faithful to the source material, although as always there will be omitted storylines and sequences due to time constraints and film plotting, but it never detracts from the tone or overall impact of the tale.

Overall, ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ delivers a dark, thrilling and very bloody adaptation of one of Batman’s most iconic comic events that’s packed with exciting action, character depth and a largely faithful take on the source material that never pulls its punches and starts the trilogy on a very promising note. This is one of the darker Batman movies in recent memory, but one that fans of the storyline as well as those less familiar should be easily pulled into just as I was, and I can’t wait to see what the second installment of the trilogy has in store. For Batman and DC fans that don’t mind their comic fare notably dark and brutal and fans of the Knightfall storyline itself, ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ is highly recommended and definitely worth going out of your way to check out.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10, presented in its original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty great for the most part and is very much in line with what we’ve typically come to expect from the DC Animated Movies on 4K disc, yet much like most recent WBDHE titles it includes Dolby Vision this time around which was never previously included on these releases and is certainly a nice treat in itself. The presentation is largely clean, sharp and colorful, with the Dolby Vision HDR offering a richer color palette that’s showcased on character outfits, backgrounds and more, with deep and decent black levels for the most part. Overall, this is a very nice Ultra High Definition presentation that holds up well throughout and should please the fans.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a clean, crisp and consistently aggressive audio presentation throughout. It utilizes all five available channels to send music, gunshots, explosions and other action and vehicle related effects, plus more zipping throughout the various speakers and never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or negatively impacted in the process. Overall, this is a great 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that contributes plenty of extra tension and excitement to the experience and shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ features a couple Featurettes exploring the making of the adaptation including ‘Batman Needs a Robin’ (running approximately 7 minutes in length) and ‘Breaking the Bat: Adapting Knightfall’ (running approximately 10 minutes).

*Please note: The above images are taken from the film’s Trailer and are not reflective of the actual 4K Ultra HD release or its quality. A standard Blu-ray copy of the film was not included in the release that could be used for screenshots therefore the above images were utilized. All content and images from the film are the property of DC, Warner Bros. Discovery and any other respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ Arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & DVD September 8, 2026 & is Now Available on Digital from DC Comics & Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall’ on 4K UHD at Amazon HERE!

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