Releasing Tuesday, August 28, Freedom Fighters: The Ray on Blu-ray Combo, DVD & Digital HD.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Bluray Combo I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.
Here is the official synopsis:
All his life, Ray Terrill has fought injustice, dreaming of making a real difference like his older brother, a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan. One day, he stumbles upon a dying Super Hero from another Earth and is stunned to find that this Super Hero looks just like him—because it is! The dying Ray Terrill of Earth-X transfers photokinetic energy to this Earth’s Ray, making him a Super Hero – The Ray. However, Ray quickly learns being a Super Hero isn’t all hanging muggers from streetlamps and fighting giant robots. As the evil Nazi New Reichsman of Earth-X, led by Overgirl, close in, The Ray must learn to harness his powers by coming to terms with his true self, even if that means also finally coming out of the closet to his parents. The fate of Earth-X depends on it!
Freedom Fighters: The Ray features a stellar voice cast led by Russell Tovey (Quantico) as The Ray/Ray Terrill. He is joined by Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) as Black Condor/John Trujillo, Dilshad Vadsaria (Greek) as Phantom Lady/Jenny Knight, Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) as Overgirl, and Megalyn Echikunwoke (The 4400, 90210) as Vixen. The voice cast also spotlights Arrow actor Echo Kellum (Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific) and The Flash actors Danielle Panabaker (Dr. Caitlin Snow) and Carlos Valdez (Cisco Ramon/Vibe), reprising their live-action series roles in animated form.
The cast also includes Iddo Goldberg (Peaky Blinders) as Red Tornado, Sunil Malhotra (The Legend of Korra) as Jacob, Matthew Mercer (Critical Role) as Dollman/Green Arrow/Black Arrow, Colleen O’Shaughnessy (Sonic Boom) as Mrs. Terrill, Laura Post (Justice League Action) as Resistance Gunner, Christopher Corey Smith (Digimon Fusion) as Donald, Bruce Thomas (Legally Blonde, Army of Darkness) as Mr. Terrill, and Scott Whyte (City Guys) as The Flash/Blitzkrieg.
Ethan Spaulding (Justice League: Throne of Atlantis) directed Freedom Fighters: The Ray from a script written by Emilio Ortega Aldrich (Arrow), Lauren Certo (The Flash), Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Sarah Hernandez (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Elizabeth Kim (Arrow) and Sarah Tarkoff (Arrow, Vixen). Curt Geda (Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants) is the producer, and the executive producers are Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning) and Marc Guggenheim.
We had the opportunity to see the film and here is your spoiler free review. Last year was the four show crossover event on CW, Crisis on Earth-X. This featured the casts from Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. Freedom Fighters: The Ray are the events that led up that crossover. Originally on the CW Seed this animated story was very much inline with the darker DC tone of their live action counterparts.
The DC webseries like Freedom Fighters works great as both and standalone or as a prequel. The animation is crisp and clear and the voice cast is great. It really adds something to this story to have so many of the live action counterparts reprise their voice for this series. When watching this bluray it shows untapped potential and hopefully more follow-up stories in the future. This is bluray that has beautiful animation, story, acting and is enjoyable to watch.
If there is one criticism it is the lack of special features. What you do get is an interview with Russell Tovey, the voice of The Ray. Don’t get us wrong, that’s great but maybe watching a table read, recording studio and/or some of the episodes from Vixen and Constantine would have made this perfect. Even without it, this is a must for your collection and DC fans will enjoy.
With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, Freedom Fighters: The Ray Blu-ray Combo Pack will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. The 1-disc Blu-ray will feature the Blu-ray disc, DVD disc and a Digital copy of the movie.
BASICS
Street Date: August 28, 2018
BD and DVD Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
Running Time: Feature: 72 minutes
DVD
Price: $18.94 SRP
1 DVD
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
BLU-RAY COMBO PACK
Price: $19.98 SRP
1 Blu-ray Disc, 1 DVD and Digital HD Copy
BD Audio -DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English
BD Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Own it on Blu-ray Combo, DVD & Digital HD 8/28
DIGITAL
Freedom Fighters; The Ray is also available to own on Digital. Digital allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital is available from various retailers including Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. A Digital Copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage.
About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc.:
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees.
About DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is one of the largest English-language publishers of comics in the world.
FREEDOM FIGHTERS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. © 2018 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
About Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading producers of animation in the entertainment industry, producing and developing projects for multiple platforms, both domestically and internationally. WBA’s TV series include Justice League Action, Teen Titans Go! and the upcoming DC Super Hero Girls and Unikitty! for Cartoon Network; Be Cool Scooby-Doo!, Bunnicula, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, The Tom and Jerry Show, New Looney Tunes and Wacky Races for Boomerang;Mike Tyson Mysteries for Adult Swim; Green Eggs and Ham for Netflix; Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders for the upcoming DC Universe. As home to the iconic animated characters from the DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries, WBA also produces highly successful animated films — including the DC Universe Movies — for DVD, Blu-ray® and Digital media. One of the most-honored animation studios in history, WBA has won six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).
