Well, it’s about time! The final ending for The Venture Bros. is finally here. It’s been two decades since the original release of the show and things have only gotten stranger since. Not too long ago, Warner Bros. released The Venture Bros. The Complete Series (review here) and as you might guess, it was a prelude to this final movie-length Venture bros. story.
The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is not only a long title, but a uniquely Venture Bros. approach to the ending of a series. While most movies kind of give you a quick recap or work you into the story, it’s not so for The Venture Bros. Instead, it’s time to just jump right back in almost five years after the ending of the last episode of season 7. There’s no preamble of any kind with this 84 minute feature film so hopefully you’ve either got an eidetic memory or you’ve recently refreshed yourself on what’s going on.
Suffice it to say that Hank is missing (shocking, right?), Rusty is managing to screw things up again, Monarch is trying to assert his genetic superiority, and his ex-girlfriend is a new super-villain. It’s a glorious mess that is entirely nonsensical unless you’ve both been watching all the previous seasons and are keenly aware that the entire show is a meta-analysis of the human condition. There’s really no sense in going any further than that with explanations of the movie however. If you’re trying to watch Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart cold with no background, it’ll be completely pointless and if you’re already familiar with The Venture Bros., you’ve probably already watched it or are about to!
It is of course entirely expected that the ending to the series would be both unanticipated and leave a bit of a chance for more time with the Venture Bros. world. That’ a given and let’s hope that someday down the line we get some more! For now however, this is the end, so let’s take a look at what you get with the release of The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart on blu-ray.
While this was a direct to digital release, Warner Bros. saw fit to release the blu-ray simultaneously and it’s an excellent overall package. Naturally, this is a single disc release but it features a creator commentary, a fan Q&A session with Jackson and Doc, and an additional featurette entitled Hodgman and Friends. Of course the audio is in English only, but there are French and Spanish subs for those that need them. That’s about it for the disc, but let’s be honest, you’re here for the movie and the after-service extras and there’s enough to satisfy all but the most rabid of fans.
In addition to the bonus features and the movie, the physical copy of The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart has some nice extras as well. First off, there’s a digital copy of the movie, redeemable on Movies Anywhere or Vudu depending on your preferences. However, it’s only redeemable in the US, so if you’re importing, don’t get your hopes up! Second there’s the outer slipcase which not only looks nice but notes that there’s an exclusive poster inside. Merch! Yay! That poster is a rather large folded poster of the cover of the movie and honestly, it’s pretty awesome. Guess it’s time to figure out how to get the creases out because this is frame-worthy! That’s a pretty solid deal for a $30 blu-ray and a lot nicer than some of the bare-bones releases we see these days.
Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of the blu-ray itself. This is a 1080p release (no 4k Venture Bros. available anytime soon) and it’s in a standard 1.78 aspect ratio. As mentioned before, subs are in Spanish, English, and French for those that need them and the audio is DTS-HD 5.1. If you’ve got a super-fancy Atmos setup that might be a disappointment but be assured the audio sounds great regardless. The visuals are what you’re most worried about anyway and there, The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart delivers. If you’re not aware, the previous blu-ray season releases didn’t look quite as nice as they could have due to compression, but this movie suffers none of those issues. Instead, we’re treated to a crisp and clean version of the later animation style of the series, looking modern and highly detailed. No visual issues, no artifacts, just pure inane fun. Honestly, this is just a beautiful blu-ray that’s going to have you rewatching more than once!
Regardless of whether you watch it digitally or manage to grab a blu-ray of The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, you’re going to not only enjoy the movie but the quality of the movie as well. This is a fitting end (or is it?) to the series and it comes in an absolutely excellent package that is well worth your time and money. Now you just have to go back and watch the series again!
This review was based on a physical copy of The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart on blu-ray provided by the publisher. It was viewed on a 1080p Sony 55” TV using a Sony blu-ray player. The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is available on Amazon Prime, Google Play, Apple TV, and Youtube digitally, and is available on Amazon on blu-ray.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.
