The Movie
Set in the days when Hal Jordan still wore the mask and before Sinestro went rogue, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is The Ringed Wonder's second direct-to-video animated adventure, but unlike 2009's straightforward Green Lantern: First Flight, this is an anthology of different vignettes. It calls to mind Batman: Gotham Knight (both of these Knights were timed around the premiere of big-screen counterparts), but this time one of the six storylines puts all of the others into a single, grander context: Veteran heroes regale a young recruit with tales of comrades who have come before, including the very first Lantern, to help her prepare for a major battle about to unfold.
Most of the installments here are culled from the pages of DC Comics. Among the best is "Mogo Doesn't Socialize," the fan-favorite 1985 Green Lantern (Volume 2) #188 backup story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, about a boorish warrior (voiced perfectly by Roddy Piper) who tries to pick a fight with a particularly fearsome Lantern, but he's ultimately in for a huge surprise. "Tygers" by Mr. Moore is also represented here, although neither is credited to him, likely due to his ongoing feud with DC. This workaround however has enabled the filmmakers to dramatize some of the more obscure but worthy episodes of the Green Lantern Corps.
The Picture
Emerald Knights boasts some crazy-bold, vibrant colors, and the palette changes periodically too, with different chapters displaying different artistic styles. The 16:9 frame is treated like a sprawling canvas, at times fairly crammed with things to see. Some scenes look like graphic novel panels come to life, with fine, sharp lines, but there is some stair-stepping, and a bit of ringing, which is only appropriate for Green Lantern I suppose.
The Sound
The rear channels are quite active, often doing a great job filling out the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundfield, sometimes in subtle ways but also with discrete cues, including a wicked 360-degree phasing of an elusive character's voice. There's also a directional whoosh of heroes in flight, plus the creepy shadow demons. Bass is thunderous, a perfect complement to the big science-fantasy action.
The Extras
The Warner Premiere label is clearly embracing Blu-ray in a big way, loading this two-disc set with terrific bonuses, some available in no other format. "Why Green Lantern Matters: The Talent of Geoff Johns" (18 minutes) celebrates the DC Entertainment chief creative officer and how he more than anyone brought GL back to his core mythology, while also reinventing him for a new generation. He takes part in the audio commentary as well, along with co-publisher Dan DiDio. A Virtual Comic (okay, an eleven-page portion of a comic: sheesh, cheap!), namely the July 2005 Green Lantern #1, gives us an inkling of why Johns has become a star. These are mostly vertical pages on the horizontal screen, an odd fit but quite sharp.
"From Comic Book to Screen" provides remarkably deep three- or four-minute histories of two key figures from Emerald Knights: Hal's predecessor Abin Sur and tragic babe Laira Omoto. In "Only the Bravest: The Tale of the Green Lantern Corps" (32 minutes), a range of experts explores the nature of bravery, as it pertains to Hal et. al.
Producer Bruce Timm's Picks are a bit of a letdown: "Revenge of the Reach" is a fun, relevant episode from the current Batman: the Brave and the Bold series (23 minutes) but seriously, just a two-and-a-half-minute "excerpt" from "The Siege of Starro!, Part 1"? There are also sneak peeks of the previous DC Universe animated movie (All-Star Superman) and the next (Batman: Year One, this could be the best one yet....) All of the video extras are in HD.
Disc Two is a hybrid DVD containing the movie in standard definition plus a Digital Copy for iTunes and Windows Media.
Final Thoughts
The DCU delivers once again, with an entertaining, PG-rated overview of the Green Lantern Corps and their vast roster of heroes, on a terrific-looking/sounding Blu-ray.
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