{"id":40752,"date":"2023-08-28T00:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T04:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=40752"},"modified":"2023-08-25T23:16:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T03:16:18","slug":"the-flash-2023-blu-ray-digital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/28\/the-flash-2023-blu-ray-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"The Flash (2023) [Blu-Ray\/Digital]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe Flash\u201d could have and should have been this sleek, exciting, action adventure science fiction film that chronicled what is still a very appealing superhero for the modern age. Instead, with Warner Bros. help, \u201cThe Flash\u201d is transformed in to a silly, campy, overlong chore that spends much more time on fan service than it does building an interesting character. Although The Flash is still a popular character with comic book fans, \u201cThe Flash\u201d should have had broader appeal and a better grasp of its subject matter. Instead Andy Muschietti\u2019s adaptation of the scarlet speedster feels like a goofy riff on \u201cBack to the Future\u201d time and time again.<\/p>\n

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Worlds collide when the Flash uses his superpowers to travel back in time to change the events of the past. However, when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, he becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation. With no other superheroes to turn to, the Flash looks to coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian \u2014 albeit not the one he\u2019s looking for.<\/p>\n

At this point Warner and DC Studios don\u2019t really have too much to lose, and \u201cThe Flash\u201d enters and leaves us with that exact mind set. Too often the writers seem to be throwing things at a wall to see what sticks, and stuff that doesn\u2019t is sadly there on film. Whether it\u2019s badly animated falling babies, poorly done CGI featuring alternate world versions of Superman, that ridiculous final scene, and the inherent lack of a super villain, it\u2019s so much more a miss than a hit. You could argue that Zod is the villain of the film, but he\u2019s so much more of a victim of circumstance who also feels like a riff, but on \u201cAvengers: Endgame.\u201d Zod is back as a glorified plot device, and Supergirl is nothing but an under cooked side character.<\/p>\n

Batman, despite his accumulated run time of what feels like fifteen minutes total, completely steals the movie away from everyone during what also feels like cheap fan service. When all is said and done, this isn\u2019t Tim Burton\u2019s Batman as we know him from 1989 but an alternate version of Batman that\u2019s\u2014kind of Tim Burton\u2019s Batman–? I don\u2019t know and frankly I didn\u2019t care enough to dig in to it too much. Again, all of it seems to be throwing in what ever they think might work with no real attention paid to much of anything. The script doesn\u2019t even work toward making The Flash and Barry Allen likable characters, which is sad.<\/p>\n

Too often Barry is obnoxious, loud, kind of stupid, just impossible to root for. Even when \u201cThe Flash\u201d stops to get serious for a moment, the movie is too obsessed with being quippy and clever to help us soak in the emotional turmoil Barry should be enduring. No matter what argument you can make for \u201cThe Flash\u201d crashing and burning critically and commercially, I imagine it will be a movie analyzed for years as a disasterpiece. The Flash deserved better. Superman deserved better. Batman deserved better. Michael Keaton, and Michael Shannon deserved better.<\/p>\n

Christopher Reeve certainly deserved a hell of a lot better.<\/p>\n

Sadly, none of the alternate and original endings for \u201cThe Flash\u201d are included in the Blu-Ray or 4K Blu-Ray editions, so fans of the film are plumb out of luck. As well, the Blu-Ray garners significantly less features for fans than the 4K Blu-Ray does. So the fans that are very engrossed in the development process and the filming difficulties will want to opt for the 4K Blu-Ray. The “Target Exclusive” that\u2019s always sought after also lacks the 4K Blu-Ray and only comes in Blu-Ray with a Digital Code.<\/p>\n

Included on the Blu-Ray\/Digital combo<\/strong>, there\u2019s \u201cMaking the Flash: Worlds Collide,\u201d<\/strong> a thirty five minutes segment showing the challenges of making the film especially during the COVID lock down. \u201cLet\u2019s Get Nuts: Batman Returns, Again\u201d<\/strong> is a featurette about Michael Keaton\u2019s triumphant return to the mantle of Batman, something pretty much everyone knew, \u201cSupergirl: Last Daughter of Krypton\u201d<\/strong> is a segment about the history of the Supergirl character, her origins rooted in the multi verse, et al. \u201cFlashpoint: Introducing the Multiverse\u201d<\/strong> is a six minutes look in to the \u201celseworlds\u201d alternate universe concept that has become popular in the DC universe since the eighties, as well as a refresher on the DCEU.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s \u201cThe Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus\u201d<\/strong> podcast, a six-part original scripted audio series featuring Max Greenfield as The Flash; episodes include \u201cBlackout,\u201d \u201cFully Torqued,\u201d \u201cCyclotron Don,\u201d et al. Finally we\u2019re given a Behind the Scenes<\/strong> look at the making of \u201cThe Flash: Escape from the Midnight Circus\u201d podcast as well as the trailer for the podcast<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Consumers also get a redeemable Digital Code for \u201cThe Flash.\u201d<\/p>\n