Bat Thumb (2001)
Image Entertainment
Cast:
Extras: Commentary Track, Outtakes, Storyboards, Trailers
Rating:

Fans of Steve Oedekerk’s ’Thumb’ series have been eagerly awaiting the release of this little gem – ’Bat Thumb.’ Mocking the Batman superhero with his 28-minute Thumbation film. You will find all the characters, places and names here, distorted and ridiculed, of course, and whether it’s ’Gaaathumb City’ the villain ’No Face’ or the superhero’s sidekick ’Blue Jay,’ there is plenty of stuff to laugh about in this release.

Image Entertainment presents ’Bat Thumb’ in its fullscreen aspect ratio on the DVD and the presentation is beautiful. Colors are bold and well saturated, making ’Gaaathumb City’ a metropolis of light and shadows tinged in atmospheric blue. Black levels are perfectly balanced for an image with good visual depth and shadows the never lose definition. The compression has been done carefully and no compression artifacts are evident.

The disc contains a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio track – and a ’Dobly Surround’ track – that is also well produced. It is not overly aggressive and surrounds are used sparingly, but the sound stage is wide giving the presentation a solid foundation. Bass extension is good and high ends are clear and without distortion.

The DVD comes with a commentary track featuring director David Bourla, director of photography Mike Deprez, production designer Jorg Dubin, and prop-wrangler Frank Kowal. Sadly the commentary has been recorded at an extremely low volume, but the contents more than make up for this. It is hilarious to no end as the filmmakers joke and mock every shot in the film, telling made-up stories about the actors and incidents on the set that never happened. In the end the commentary is just as funny as the film itself, so do not miss out on this extra. You have t osee it.

Outtakes and ’fake’ behind-the-scenes footage is also included as supplements on this DVD release. They are thoroughly enjoyable and fun, so make sure to check them out. You will also find storyboards and trailers to other ’thumb’ movies on the release.

’Bat Thumb’ is a very entertaining little film that comes as a splendid DVD from Image. If you’re looking for a nice ’opener’ for your next movie night, get yourself a copy of ’Bat Thumb’ and give it a spin. You’ll love it!