New to Blu: December 19-25

A rival 007 franchise is reborn this week with the Blu-ray bow of The Bourne Legacy and a box set of all four movies.

The spy’s latest mission saw US critics splitting (cross) hairs over its HD specs.

“The Bourne Legacy arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode at 2.40:1, and the result is … good, but not entirely great …

“The good outweighs the bad here, and when this disc is on the mark, it’s truly spectacular; when it’s off, it’s just irritating.”

“The Bourne Legacy‘s 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer doesn’t disappoint … The technical encode is precise and proficient, without any macroblocking, banding, aliasing or other errant distraction to be found.”

“This Blu-ray seems a rewarding replication of the theatrical experience with a dynamic 1080p image – worthy of the grandiose production.”

Key US critics also disagreed over the week’s other major new release.

“Hope Springs features a picture-perfect high definition transfer. The digital image sparkles from the first frame to the last, from the darkest scene to the most brightly lit environment.”

“There’s nothing much to gripe about here, but nothing much to rave about either … Colours are true, but lack vibrancy.”

Also new are The Samaritan (“colours, shadows and darkness generally look good, though there are several scenes where green screen effects are clearly visible”), Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D (“nothing short of amazing, certainly one of the strongest 3D outings I’ve seen recently”),  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (“great on a technical level”) and Frankie Go Boom.