New to Blu: April 18 – 24

Welcome to a textbook Jungle transfer on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and 4K-UHD.

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was captured at 3.4k resolution on Arri Alexa Mini cameras and completed as a 2k digital intermediate with Dolby Vision high dynamic range,” Home Theater Forum reports.

Sony’s upscaled 2160p transfer has also been graded with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range. My equipment is only capable of HDR10, and the transfer is stunning. Colours are more natural and vivid, with heightened textures and deeper blacks that contains strong shadow details.

While not exactly night and day compared to the still excellent 1080p Blu-ray, it is the jungle scenes, particularly the torch-lit night time battle near the end of the film, that really shines on the UHD version.

Concurred High-Def Digest: “Presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the 2160p video also comes with an extraordinarily bright contrast that still feels comfortable and natural, making the many exterior jungle shots really pop, sure to have a few viewers squinting at the screen. In fact, there are several demo-worthy moments.”

“Sony’s Blu-ray certainly presents the film as efficiently as the format allow,” Blu-ray.com said of the “world-class” 1080p transfer.

It’s clean … and source noise is kept to a minimum, generally only seen in lower-light shots. Bright, sun-drenched game world exteriors dazzle with full, effortless, diverse colour that jumps out of the screen, often as characters, clothes, explosions, and other hues contrast against the often green vegetative backgrounds …

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle‘s Blu-ray does not have the UHD’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack on offer, instead presenting the film’s soundtrack via a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 configuration. But even with fewer channels at its disposal, the 5.1 track never sounds hamstrung.

“All the Money in the World apparently buys a high-yield transfer,” quipped Blu-ray.com of Ridley Scott’s latest.

The movie opens at night with amazingly rich and detailed black levels, which are a constant throughout the film. Textural qualities are fantastic. Though digitally photographed, there’s a satisfyingly crisp, detailed cinematic texturing to essentially everything.

“It’s too bad there isn’t – as of yet – a UHD release of All the Money in the World,” High-Def Digest lamented.

Because this strikingly crisp 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer would look even more beautiful in that format. This superior Blu-ray rendering, however, will certainly suffice until a 4K edition comes along, thanks to its dazzling clarity, pitch-perfect contrast, and slick yet organic look.

“This may not be a reference-quality disc,” DVD Talk said of The Monster.

But Lionsgate’s 2.40:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image does well with some tricky elements. Much of the film takes place at night and in the rain, which could have easily led to intense black crush and smearing. Fortunately, the image remains sharp and detailed throughout, and shadows are not overly oppressive.

Also new are The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, Beauty & the Beast Deluxe Gift Set and re-issues of Fear, Vertical Limit, 21 and Hanover Street.