- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: A (Region-Locked)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Run Time: 78 Mins.
- Studio: Image Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 29, 2013
- List Price: $29.97
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Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
A low budget ($20,000) indie-film about superheroes stripped of their powers, All Superheroes Must Die is an extremely low key crime thriller from writer/director/actor Jason Trost. A film about superheroes seems an unlikely topic for an indie endeavor to begin with given audiences’ thirst for big budget special effects extravaganzas when it comes to the genre, but one where the action and story are so dull and so cliché is just a bit too much to bear.
Our masked and spandex wearing vigilantes Charge (Trost), Cutthroat (Lucas Till), Shadow (Sophie Merkley), and The Wall (Lee Valmassy) are all mysteriously gathered after an apparent battle they have no memory of by their arch nemesis Rickshaw (James Remar). Stripped of their superpowers, Rickshaw forces them to face a series of deadly challenges in order to save the lives of a town full of innocent people he is holding hostage.
With its murky, gritty cinematography, coarse language, and heroes/vigilantes facing a real threat of death, All Superheroes Must Die does have the feel of an Alan Moore universe of sorts, where things are a bit off kilter and the heroes are more anti-heroes and just as vulnerable as the “normal” humans. Unfortunately, this supposed character study from Jason Trost has all the depth of a puddle after a light drizzle. From the villain appearing on a grainy TV screen to the madman with a flamethrower, everything in this film feels like it has been taken from other films. It also unfolds at such a slow pace it might as well be rated ZZZ for Excessive Sleeping Aid. It takes itself so seriously, in other words, it forgot that it’s a low budget superheroe movie with guys (and a gal) running around in tights.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The muted colors, high level of noise, and overall murkiness of the picture in All Superheroes Must Die don’t exactly make for spectacular viewing in this AVC/MPEG-4 1080p transfer from Image Entertainment. The colors of the superheroes costumes don’t ever really “pop” and detail often gets lost in what is a mainly dull and darkly lit film.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The soundtrack, in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) is an odd mixture of a rather dry, front-forward mix and the occasional, unsettling “boom” the fills up the entire soundstage and has a really extended low frequency range. Dialogue is clear, but I wouldn’t consider this a well balanced, reference mix.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
Zilch, nada, nothin’ doin’.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:2.5/5]
All Superheroes Must Die is a good concept on paper that needed to be better fleshed out and, frankly, needed a larger budget and better director to see it through. This screenplay does not hold one’s interest long enough. Fortunately, if you do want to watch it, it only lasts barely 80-minutes.
Additional Screen Captures
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BestBuy.com:
Purchase All Superheroes Must Die on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
–
[amazon-product]B00B7FZFGQ[/amazon-product]
[amazon-product]B009LA1QSU[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase All Superheroes Must Die on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0/5]
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