New to Blu: March 6 – 12

March 5, 2019 0 Comments

Robin Hood

➢ “It’s almost depressing in a way that the video side of things on this release is so spectacular, since all of the impressive 4K visuals are in support of such an underwhelming property. Be that as it may, the digitally captured imagery (reportedly at a source resolution of 8K, finished at a 4K DI) looks stupendous in this version, with a couple of minor exceptions.” — Blu-ray.com.

➢ “It sure looks good. And that’s in HDR10 for me. Dolby Vision and HDR+ encodes are on the disc as well. The two main action sequences present opportunities for tons of flying debris and arrows whizzing through the environments causing destruction. Colours pop and dark sequences are nicely contrasted with deep inky shadows versus torch lit main subjects. It’s sharp sharp sharp, with visible pores and clothing patterns in closeups.” — Home Theater Forum.

➢ “Though not a killer presentation, Robin Hood usually looked strong. Sharpness worked fine most of the time. Some interiors looked a bit soft, but those remained infrequent, so the majority of the film was accurate and well-defined. I saw no signs of jaggies or moiré effects, and the film lacked edge haloes or print flaws.” — DVD Movie Guide.

Creed II

➢ “This is an excellent Ultra HD presentation … With a discernible increase in detail and emboldened chromatic highlights the UHD image appears noticeably sharp, and vivid. Primary colours such as red, and blue, are pleasingly rich, while whites and grays appear gradational. Fleshtones are wonderfully lifelike, and consistent throughout the presentation.” — AVS Forum.

➢ “Warner’s 2.40:1 HEVC 4K image look stunning and when compared to its Blu-ray counterpart, makes it a no-brainer to go for the 4K version. Darkness prevails in a majority of the scenes … and takes advantage of the increased resolution and HDR that the 4K image offers. Detail, coloors and contrast all looked great.” — Blu-ray Authority.

➢ “Creed II favours slice-of-life drama over non-stop visual excitement and Warner Bros.’ [1080p] transfer, framed at the film’s approximate original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, handles both sides well enough. Wide outdoor shots and brightly-lit arenas obviously fare the best, with strong levels of texture and detail that showcase the solid cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau.” — Blu-ray.com.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

➢ “This is the most let-down I’ve been about a 4K Blu-ray image in quite a while. Being new and from Disney I expected it to look great but the image here is as flat and lifeless as many of the toys. Compared to good HDR content nothing pops off the screen and it feels like an SDR image. There isn’t the sharpness and fine detail present in better 4K titles, while elements like gold lack the sparkle.” — Reference Home Theater.

➢ “The 2160p UHD release maintains a tight, fine, and consistent grain structure that positively accentuates the picture, which boasts very impressive fine detail and broad-scope clarity. The companion 1080p Blu-ray handled the content just fine, but Disney’s higher resolution UHD allows for more finesse, a greater feel for the world and the small details within it.” — Blu-ray.com.

➢ “The 4K version of the movie is a feast for the eyes … Although the movie is not encoded with Dolby Vision, the HDR boost it gives everything a deeper, more textured look over the Blu-ray counterpart (although the Blu-ray looks great for a 1080p presentation).” — High-Def Digest.

The Little Mermaid

➢ “Colours were already one of the more admirable aspects of the previous Blu-ray, and the animated classic benefits from its jump to the HDR10 format. The difference may be nuanced and understated, but primaries nonetheless appear a bit fuller and slightly richer with reds and greens looking particularly more energetic and animated … This a beautiful upgrade over its HD SDR counterpart and the best the Disney film has ever looked on home video.” — High-Def Digest.

➢ “In 2013 this film underwent a restorative process and the results as translated in Ultra HD are impressive. Colours shine brilliantly with pleasing saturation and striking blues that look absolutely beautiful. The original film elements don’t have the highly polished gloss of today’s digitally enhanced animated films which is to be expected but, this presentation makes the most of them. On several occasions I found myself marveling at just how good this 30-year-old animated feature looks.” — AVS Forum.

Willow

➢ “This is a very handsome and agreeably filmic image. Detail is almost uniformly terrific throughout, particularly various examples of attire that reveal fine fabric definition, including various flaws and stitches, while faces are complex, hairs are well defined at the individual strand level, and natural vegetation and various example of terrain look great. There are a few photographic soft edges and several shots that appear filtered to some degree.” — Blu-ray.com.

➢ “The 1080p AVC-encoded transfer retains the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1. Colours are solid and natural, perhaps not as vivid as a more modern film that was shot digitally (Willow was shot on 35mm film, way before the days of digital), but the image also does not appear to be overly processed using digital tools to make it appear more modern. On the whole, detail is superb.” — Home Theater Forum.

● Also new is House of Cards: The Complete Sixth Season.