Audio Video News

Eye on Blu-ray: Movies Headed for 4K Blu-ray (or Not)

SV Staff  |  Mar 18, 2019

4K Blu-ray is once again taking a back seat to standard Blu-ray and DVD in the most recent crop of disc announcements. All five of the movies listed below will be released on standard Blu-ray and DVD but only one is slated for release on 4K/Ultra HD Blu-ray. Cause for concern? Guess that will depend on what you think about these flicks…

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

April 16, The Kid Who Would Be King (20th Century Fox) – Old school magic meets the modern world in this epic family-friendly adventure. Alex thinks he’s just another nobody, getting bullied at school and told what to do by his teachers, until he stumbles upon the mythical Sword in the Stone, Excalibur. Now, with the help of the legendary wizard Merlin, he must unite his friends and school yard enemies into an allied band of knights to defeat the wicked enchantress Morgana. Also slated for release via Movies Anywhere and on standard Blu-ray and DVD. Includes 10 bonus features. 2:39.1 widescreen, Dolby Atmos.

DVD and/or Blu-ray (no 4K)

April 23, Escape Room (Sony Pictures) – An intriguing invitation brings six strangers together. Initially, they think they have gathered for a highly immersive escape room, but they soon make the sickening discovery that they are pawns in a sadistic game of life and death. Together, they move from one terrifying scenario to the next as they find clues and solve puzzles. But the players soon learn that exposing their darkest secrets may hold the key to their survival. Slated for release on standard Blu-ray and DVD. Available April 9 via Movies Anywhere. Includes alternate opening and ending, six deleted scenes, and four featurettes.

April 23, Destroyer (20th Century Fox) – An unrecognizable Nicole Kidman gives a Golden Globe-nominated performance as Erin Bell, a self-destructive L.A.P.D. detective who faces demons of her past as she tries to stop a violent crime wave. Slated for release on standard Blu-ray and DVD. Available April 9 via Movies Anywhere. Includes commentary with director Karyn Kusama. 2:40:1 widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1.

April 30, Miss Bala (Sony Pictures) – Caught in the perilous world of a brutal cross-border cartel, a young woman (Gina Rodriguez, Annihilation and Jane the Virgin) finds powers she never knew she had as she seeks to rescue her friend. Ismael Cruz-Córdova (Mary Queen of Scots) stars alongside Rodriguez as the cartel kingpin, whose growing attraction to his strong-willed female hostage raises the stakes for both as the CIA, DEA, and rival cartels close in. Slated for release on standard Blu-ray and DVD. Available April 16 via Movies Anywhere. Includes eight deleted scenes and three featurettes, including “Making of Miss Bala.” Dolby Digital 5.1.

Late April, Mission of Honor (Cinedigm) – The story of Squadron 303, a group of heroic pilots who fought in the skies over England in the Battle of Britain during WWII. These brave men were not just fighting to keep Great Britain free from the Nazis, but also to keep alive the memories of their own countries, which had been caught in the cross fire as Germany tore across Eastern Europe. Equipped with nothing more than obsolete RAF planes and secondhand uniforms, they flew for all of those who had become casualties in one tyrant's quest for power. Slated for release on standard Blu-ray and DVD (no 4K disc). Available for download on iTunes and Amazon Video.

Also see…

Roundup: Movies Headed for 4K Blu-ray (or Not)

COMMENTS
Tenchigtx's picture
Submitted by Tenchigtx on March 19, 2019 - 11:43am

The bottom line is that not every movie needs to be upgraded to 4K. Most films are usually downgraded to 2K in post production anyway. While I enjoy the sharpness that 4K provides, 1080p (for many of the above titles along with most catalogue releases) should be plenty and then some. As long as the video transfers and sound mixes are done right, having home video releases in at least Blu-Ray is going to be more than enough to recreate the theatrical experience. DVD underwhelms. UHD overkills. Blu-Ray is just right.

alchav21's picture
Submitted by alchav21 on March 23, 2019 - 12:20pm

Will Sound&Vision add a Review for Streaming Movies? That is the big complaint with Physical Viewers. So I think a Review with some kind of Specs would help.

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