New to Blu: Movies & Music > December 11-17

Now You See Me has to be seen to be believed on Blu-ray.

“This is a fantastically sharp and well detailed looking presentation that boasts near impeccable fine detail, and not just in the expected close-ups.

“The image is generally crystal clear and benefits from very strong contrast, nicely saturated colours and deep, solid black levels.”

“The 2.40:1, 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer is quite simply gorgeous.

“Clarity is top-notch throughout, throwing up tons of excellent detail, while colour is vibrant and appropriate across the board and black levels are uniformly solid.

“The film has a beautiful level of grain to it, resulting is an appropriately cinematic look, though the CG work can look a bit obvious in places (and surprisingly well-integrated elsewhere).”

“The DTS-HD Master 7.1 track is as impactful as the film’s visuals, offering blasts from the epic musical score by the criminally-underrated Brian Tyler, enveloping atmospherics and impressively-placed dialogue, in a dynamic mix that puts you in the middle of the action, especially during the film’s big action set-pieces.”

The week’s other top release, Elysium, also has a 7.1 encode and should look equally stunning in HD, although online reviews has yet to be posted because it doesn’t go on on sale in the US or UK until later this month.

“The Heat has been given a decent 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode that’s clean, colourful and crisp, but not as sharp or detailed as we’ve become accustomed to.”

“Black levels are inky and provide a nice contrast when necessary, and film grain can be spotted while watching the feature, which lacks any distractions of DNR in the image.

“The film looks damn nice on Blu-ray.”

“The Way Way Back is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1.

“I am slowly but surely becoming a major fan of the Arri Alexa. I often feel that digitally shot features have a shallow and textureless sheen to them, but once again I am really impressed not just by the expected sharpness and clarity of the image on this Blu-ray, but also its nice depth and density.”

“Shot on a low budget, the film really does look quite beautiful.

“Sharpness remains pleasing throughout while the overall brightness and strong, consistent color combines for an appealing image with lifelike summertime skin tones.”

Other newcomers include:

• Grown Ups 2 — “an amazing 1080p HD transfer presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The colours are well balanced throughout and pop off screen”
• Only God Forgives — “a rock-solid high definition presentation”
• The Lords of Salem — “not a demo disc by any means, but the film and its tone are beautifully served by the transfer” (if not the distributor omitting the Region A director’s commentary)
• Admission — “a pleasantly colourful presentation free from any glaring artifacts or noticeable digital sharpening”
• “Though shot to resemble the quality of found VHS footage, V/H/S/2 still manages to look very good on Blu-ray.”

Also going direct to disc are McCanick, Amphibious 3D and I Didn’t Come Here to Die while hot off the jukebox for concert fans are One Direction: This Is Us, Made of Stone: The Stone Roses, Status Quo – Back 2SQ1, The Doors – R-Evolution and George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Live at Montreux 2013.