Batman: Soul of the Dragon emulates the best aspects of 70s action/kung-fu to create one of the most unique Batman stories I've seen. Pick this one up, with the wealth of extras and insanely enjoyable re-watch value, it's worth adding to your collection!
“Disciplined, Honorable, and Deadly! Set in the midst of the swinging 1970s, this Elseworlds adventure finds Bruce Wayne training under a master sensei. It is here that Bruce, along with other elite students, is forged in the fire of the martial arts discipline. The lifelong bonds they form will be put to the test when a deadly menace arises from their past. It will take the combined efforts of Batman and world-renowned martial artists Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva to battle the monsters of this world and beyond!”
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided us with a free copy of this Blu-ray/DVD that we reviewed in this blog post. The opinions we share are our own.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon isn’t necessarily a story about Batman, but I’d say more a story about Bruce Wayne and his history, along with the friendships he forged while training in martial arts in his younger years. This isn’t your traditional DC superhero story. In fact, it’s more of a 70s-action kung-fu story with DC characters, and I for one am perfectly fine with that, as it’s wildly entertaining.
Despite the title, the majority of the screen time, as well as the action-packed opening belong to Richard Dragon, who has been a bit revamped in this animated film to closer resemble characteristics of Bruce Lee. The opening sequence follows Richard Dragon infiltrating a criminal organization with all the gadgets and skills of a spy, who breaks into a safe discovering a photo of something from his past: a mystical gate that his sensei guarded with his life. Richard travels to Gotham to recruit Bruce Wayne for help, and interspersed throughout the film we see flashbacks from Nanda Parbat, a secret monastery in which Richard Dragon, Bruce Wayne, Lady Shiva and Ben Turner all trained. Now, a secret organization named Kobra is obsessed with the opening of this gate that will unleash the serpent god Naga onto the Earth, and the only ones who can stop it are these four people whose lives have taken vastly different courses.
Despite my love for the character of Batman, I’ve never delved into the comics or the wide array of different stories that has been created for him, so I’m not sure the true background of his origins or training, aside from what I’ve seen in the films. How he is portrayed in this story, finding a secret monastery in the Himalayan Mountains and training with a group of similarly troubled individuals seems a bit out of character from my perspective, but still provides an interesting look at his younger years and how he deals with the pain of losing his parents. Honestly, this story could’ve been made without the character of Batman and it would have been just as entertaining, but the fact that it does have Batman, and that Batman isn’t the focus of the story but merely a sidenote in the overall plot makes it that much better. The setting of the story taking place in the 70s era leaves the film open to try all kinds of unique things to make Batman stand out, number one example being his car, which isn’t the traditional sleek Batmobile but more like a Steve McQueen muscle-car that you’d expect to see in an action-flick of this time period. Everything about the film, the music, the style gives us the best of both worlds when it comes to this type of action and comic-book hero storytelling.
The film comes in at a running time of 83 minutes, which I found to be quite short given all the backstory we go through to learn about the different characters and their relationships. It does an excellent job at pacing and knowing when to show a flashback, but I had such a good time exploring these, as well as seeing them all together teaming up, I wish it could’ve been longer. While these animated DC films are usually a one and done story, I could have seen this as a mini-series and would have tuned in for every second of 70s Batman, Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva and Ben Turner. This would have also given the story more opportunity to flesh out the villains of Kobra, because as it stands, this is the weakest part of the film. Of course, this follows the basic structure of comics and the style of action this story is emulating, where the villain is rather over-the-top and one-dimensional.
Video
Batman: Soul of the Dragon is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High Definition Widescreen 1.78:1. The animation is excellent, with the 4k providing excellent deep blacks, with the animation lines looking particularly good on the 4k set. Keeping in with the 70s feel, colors are a little muted and dark, especially in Gotham, but in some of the scenes in Nanda Parbat, they can be very vibrant. What I really love about these DC Animated features is that they stay consistent in their animation, that keeps the look and feel of that which is very reminiscent of Batman: The Animated Series. This is one division of DC that has done well, and I hope continues.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The track is well balanced, with the dialogue clear and concise coming from the center channels, with some nice action-related audio coming from the surrounds. The absolutely best thing about this film is the soundtrack, that sounds exactly like you’d expect from a 70s action/kung-fu film.
Special Features
I was very surprised in diving into the extras at just how much material there was to explore. With the film itself seeming rather short, these extras more than make up for my thirst for more from the DC Animated Universe.
These extras are located on the Blu-ray disc and include:
- Batman: Raw Groove
- Producer Jim Krieg’s Far-Out Highlights
- A Sneak Peek at the Next Animated DC Universe Movie, Justice Society: World War II
- A Preview of Superman: Red Son
- A Preview of Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
- From the DC Vault: The Animated Series, “Day of the Samurai”, and “Night of the Ninja”
- Trailers
The DC Animated Universe has done some amazing things, with Batman: Soul of the Dragon being one of the most unique and most entertaining. If you’re a fan of Batman, kung-fu, 70s action, any or all of the above, pick this one up, because it’s such an amazing thrill-ride from start to finish, it will leave you hungry for more stories like this.
