Spawn (1997) Arrow 4K Blu-ray Review

Plot: From the producers of Blade and The Crow comes Spawn, a dark, action-packed supernatural thriller that redefined the comic book movie with cutting-edge visual effects and a haunting origin story of vengeance, damnation, and redemption.

Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is a top-tier Black Ops agent, ruthlessly efficient and fiercely loyal-until he’s doublecrossed and executed by his commanding officer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). But Simmons is resurrected by the devil Malebolgia and becomes Spawn, a demonic antihero with terrifying powers. Caught between Earth and the Underworld, Spawn is determined to exact bloody revenge on Wynn, and must choose to serve his new infernal masters or fight for the salvation of his immortal soul.

Based on Todd McFarlane’s groundbreaking comic, Spawn is a visually explosive cult classic that blends horror, action, and gothic fantasy, available for the first time in a fiery new 4K restoration that breathes new life into Hell’s most iconic warrior.

Review: It’s been a few years since I last watched Spawn; now that Arrow have released a spectacular new 4K of the movie I picked it up the other day and rewatched the film.

The biggest flaw with Spawn was always the visuals; this was the early days of CGI and frankly they are some of the worst visual effects of all time. Even when Spawn was released the visuals were terrible however, the ideas behind them were ambitious. We just didn’t have the technology at the time to bring Malebolgia and the domain of Hell to convincing life.

The practical effects are where the movie shines with John Leguizamo unrecognizable as the repulsive Clown and Spawn’s suit with the glowing green eyes looking awesome.

The make-up in general is impressive with Michael Jai White’s burnt flesh looking painfully real. Speaking of MJW, he was great as Al Simmons; a man who literally makes a deal with the Devil in order to see his wife Wanda again. He’s believable (although not all that sympathetic) as an assassin who is betrayed by his boss Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen); we probably could have had a few more moments with Al and Wanda to make their relationship matter a bit more as I felt no real emotional connection to anyone.

John Leguizamo seems to be having fun as Clown, but he’s such a disgusting character that it’s hard to even listen to him at times; he is more annoying than anything and I have to be in the mood for him. Martin Sheen does his best evil voice making for a nasty if not spectacular villain.

The music is very much of the 90’s and lacked any kind of tune, so there isn’t anything memorable there, but it worked in creating the atmosphere.

On the action front we get some shoot-outs and explosions as well as brief fights, but I would have liked to see more of Michael Jai White’s martial arts skills put to better use.

The movie is fast paced and is never boring clocking it at just over 90 minutes, but if anything it could have been a little longer as it all wraps up rather quickly by the end.

The new 4K release looks and sounds great with HDR and Dolby Atmos although if anything it just exacerbates how awful the effects are.

The Director’s Cut is only 2 minutes longer but it adds more violence to the action and a few extra crude moments courtesy of Clown.

Special features include:

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• 4K restorations of both the Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut of the film from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
• Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by John Torrani
• Double-sided foldout poster featuring two original artwork options

DISC 1 – DIRECTOR’S CUT

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio and lossless stereo audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with comic book expert and podcast host Dave Baxter
• Audio commentary with Todd McFarlane, Mark A.Z. Dippé, Clint Goldman, and Steve Williams (1998)
• Hell’s Perfect Son, a brand new interview with actor Michael Jai White
• Spawn Support, a brand new interview with actors Melinda Clarke and D.B. Sweeney
• The Devil’s in the Details, a brand new interview with animatronic creature and special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero
• The Devil’s Music, a brand new interview with music supervisor Happy Walters
• Order Out of Chaos, a brand new interview with editor Michael Knue
• Todd McFarlane: Chapter & Verse, an archival featurette from 1998 in which Spawn creator Todd McFarlane reflects on how the film adaptation stacks up against his original comic book vision
• The Making of Spawn, archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• Preview: Todd McFarlane’s Spawn – The Animated Movie
• Theatrical trailer
• Scene-to-storyboard comparisons
• Original Todd McFarlane sketches
• Spawn concept and sketch gallery

DISC 2 – THEATRICAL CUT

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio and lossless stereo audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

The all new interview with Michael Jai White is about 16 minutes long and he talks about how uncomfortable the make-up was and how hot it was in the suit. I also enjoyed the interview with Happy Walters who talks about the music of the film. There are plentiful other features too which makes this set worth picking up.

Overall, Spawn is hardly an amazing movie let down by woeful visual effects, but it’s still enjoyable for what it is and it made Michael Jai White a star. This 4K set is a must have if you’re a fan of the film as there are hours’ worth of features and two different versions of the film to keep you entertained.