New to Blu: March 22 – 28

The biggest new Blu-ray slate in weeks includes Bafta-winner I, Daniel Blake and three 4K-UHD newcomers.

“The Blu-ray transfer is suitably bright and consistent, full of depth,” The Digital Fix said of I, Daniel Blake. “The audio is full of environmental detail, especially in crowds.”

“Even though it was shot on 35mm for the realistic feel and bringing every element of that home to the viewer, the visuals are stunning and there are zero defects on this disc,” DVD Fever said.

Amazingly for a title of this significance, the NZ Region B release omits the UK disc’s film makers commentary, deleted scenes and making-of short.

Wouldn’t you think that in an era of declining disc sales and escalating streaming options that distributors would be going all out to make their Blu-rays truly collectible?

“Bad Santa 2‘s 1080p transfer, sourced from a digital shoot, looks fine for the most part but doesn’t stand out as anything particularly special,” Blu-ray.com said.

“Detailing never leaves all that much to be desired within the scope of 1080p resolution, though it’s a bit limited by the somewhat flat and smooth digital texturing.”

But Rewind thought the picture was “excellent with all colours being bright and outstanding“.

DVD Talk hailed Allied’s strong bit-rate and is a quality encode “with great colour reproduction, depth, and overall clarity. It’s a beautiful looking film with an equally beautiful presentation.”

“Overall, the picture is terrifically balanced and comfortably bright with crisp, immaculate whites throughout,” concurred High-Def Digest.

“This is matched by inky rich, luxurious blacks and deep, penetrating shadows without ever ruining the finer details in the darkest portions of the frame.”

Watch for a 4K release of Allied within the next few weeks. While NZ continues to miss out on 4K releases of other A-list titles, like Hacksaw Ridge and Arrival, distributors persist with re-issues of the likes of The Smurfs and Underworld in UHD.

At least the latter is understandable, given it coincides with the 4K/BD release of Underworld: Blood Wars.

“Sony’s 2160p/HDR-enhanced presentation offers a basic refinement in colour, in no way altering the look or tone of the movie but yielding a firmer blend of black and blue, more subtly diverse shades that better differentiate environments, clothes, and characters,” Blu-ray.com said of the original in the franchise.

Also new are The Legend of Ben Hall, Office Christmas Party, Before I Wake, Don’t Knock Twice, Sssssss and the final season of Hell on Wheels.