New to Blu: March 13 – 19

Schindler’s List: 25th Anniversary Edition

➢ “The 4K Blu-ray is the closest by far this film has looked to when I saw it at the cinema. Except that to some extent it looks even better – thanks to HDR. Universal/Spielberg haven’t gone overboard with their expansion of the film’s luminance range. Highlights – most notably reflections in eyes and on metal, medals, glasses and so on – look stronger, and black levels plunge a little deeper. There’s greater starkness to the photography, too, that enhances rather than overstates the cinematography and often exquisite lighting.” — Forbes.

➢ “Schindler’s List may be the first film shot in black and white to be released on 4K UHD Blu-ray, and just may make a good argument for more classic black and white films to be released in the format … The high level of contrast adds to the heightened detail, where some backgrounds during daytime scenes on the Blu-ray appeared slightly washed out yet on the UHD disc one can easily make out the textures in the plastered walls … In comparing the UHD to the Blu-ray, I also found the Blu-ray to appear as if it had a very subtle sepia tone, while the UHD was more silver in appearance.” — Home Theater Forum.

➢ “Schindler’s List serves as a prime example of what the HDR format is truly capable of when giving Hollywood classics the 4K makeover. Reportedly, the original 35mm camera negatives were remastered and restored for a brand-new 4K digital intermediate, which was supervised and approved by Steven Spielberg. Compared to its 2013 Blu-ray release, this freshly-minted transfer reveals a bit more detailing, making every grain in the wood, stretch of barbwire and bolts in the press machines crystal-clear.” — High-Def Digest.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

➢ “Presented in its approximate original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, The Crimes of Grindelwald looks extremely impressive in 4K. This is a finely textured and razor-sharp 2160p transfer that easily outpaces the already great Blu-ray transfer in almost every department and showcases a tremendous amount of depth, detail, and colour.” — Blu-ray.com.

➢ “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald debuts on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format in native 4K, being shot at 6.5K and finished with a 4K DI. This is a very complimentary image to the first film. The bright skies and settings all match aesthetics quite pleasingly. The crisp image features a terrific array of refined color and detail on display.” — WhySoBlu.

➢ “I found that this Ultra HD rendering makes the most of its elements. The 1080p transfer looks terrific but this rendering takes it up a notch with a discernible increase in detail, and emboldened highlights, both light and dark … Comparing the DV and HDR-10 presentations for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, I found the HDR renderings to be similar.” — AVS Forum.

Overlord

➢ “Overlord is a heavily saturated piece (to give it that period style) but this 4K presentation still enjoys a nominal, although largely unnoticed uptick in detail, only really apparent in shadow detail (thank you Dolby Vision) or some of the textures in the more striking tones but this only further emphasises the fact that it’s not really a resolution upgrade you’re experiencing here, it’s WCG, HDR and Dolby Vision working their magic to bring the picture to life.” — AVForums.

➢ “The horror combat flick targets Blu-ray with an exceptional 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode that boasts outstanding, pitch-perfect contrast from beginning to end. Visibility into the far distance is often extraordinary … The film debuts on Blu-ray with the same fantastic and wonderfully engrossing reference-quality Dolby Atmos soundtrack as its Ultra HD counterpart.” — High-Def Digest.

➢ “Overlord was shot digitally which doesn’t quite find the vintage, grainy, filmic look that might have better enhanced the movie’s tone and style. It is nevertheless a pleasantly dense and highly agreeable image. Noise is present to some degree in many scenes, with much of the film playing out in lower light interiors and nighttime exteriors.” — Blu-ray.com.

● Also new are Serenity and All The Devil’s Men, re-issues of Peggy Sue Got Married, U-Turn and Fright Night, Cliff Richard: 60th Anniversary Concert, Adventure Time – The Complete Tenth Season and the anime titles:

• Fate/stay Night: Heaven’s Feel 1. Presage Flower
• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: The Complete Series
• Bungo Stray Dogs – The Complete Second Season
• Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions ~ Heart Throb – The Complete Second Season
• Interviews With Monster Girls – The Complete Series
• Fate/apocrypha: Part 1 (eps 1-12)
• Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions -Take on Me!
• Sailor Moon Super S – Season 4 (Part 2: eps 147-166)
• Fireworks.