On the audio end of the spectrum, Darkman once again says, “Ho-hum” to us all. The disc is encoded with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack; one which has taken the film’s original (and rather lackluster) stereo surround mix (another byproduct of ‘90s filmmaking) and turned it into, well…nothing special, really. The rear channels are used sparingly, while the rest of the movie‘s audio action sounds just as Dolby-deficient as it did in theaters twenty years ago. English (SDH), Spanish, and French subtitles are included.
But the biggest frown Darkman fans will be giving Universal lies in their selection of special features. There are none. No, instead of tacking the film’s direct-to-video sequels (which have been shamelessly re-released on SD-DVD to coincide with this Blu-ray release) onto the 25GB disc, giving us the option to finally see that rare television pilot that was supposedly made, or even throwing in a god-damn theatrical teaser trailer for that matter, Universal has solemnly pledged “No soup for you” to Darkman fans worldwide by once again giving us absolutely nothing.
Someday, I’m going to figure out Dr. Westlake’s formula for synthetic skin, infiltrate the suits at Universal, and turn them against each other. Until that day comes to pass, however, Universal’s Blu-ray release of Darkman is a passable one.
But the movie is still required viewing, all the same.
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