New to Blu: May 20-26

A true-life prisoner-of-war drama is this week’s best bet on Blu-ray.

“Unbroken offers audiences a rich and satisfying visual experience,  thanks mainly to Roger Deakins cinematography which is preserved perfectly on this 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encoded Blu-ray.

“The anamorphic widescreen picture has an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and shows off details superbly and colours richly.”

“The image is squeaky clean but never takes on that aggressively flat digital sheen.

“Its colours favour earthy yellows and tans that dominate but still give way to spots of other colour — the red on the Japanese flag or green foliage — while contrast is tuned to favour that earthy and mild sepia look.”

“I believe this is Universal’s first Dolby ATMOS release on Blu-ray, which includes a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core.

“Even when folded down to 5.1 by my Marantz SR5008 receiver (since my room is too small for 7.1), this is a near-reference quality soundtrack.”

That’s good news for NZ buyers since neither ATMOS nor 7.1 are offered locally.

“The Wedding Ringer features a crisp, clear, and completely gorgeous 1080p transfer. It makes for a simple review.

“Details are precise and the image consistently sharp, revealing foreground clothing and skin with unflinching accuracy while maintaining a crisp, consistent definition around the background.”

“This is a comedy that relies on the improvisational talents of the two leads, yet a lot of the dialogue becomes muffled whenever there’s any physical action happening on screen.

“Get ready to either turn on the subtitles or to constantly adjust the volume on your system.”

Also new are are direct-to-disc We’ll Never Have Paris, The Devil’s Violinist, Home Sweet Hell and Suddenly.