Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Clueless 4K (Paramount)

Screenwriter/Director Amy Heckerling’s thoroughly modern redux of Jane Austen’s Emma was very much of its moment and is now a delicious bit of ‘90s nostalgia. “That girl from the Aerosmith videos” is cute as a button and effortlessly charming as Beverly Hills high schooler Cher, eager to help others in her own naïve way even if no one seems particularly eager to return the favor. Her new 4K/Dolby Vision SteelBook is an Amazon-exclusive limited edition and a total Betty at that: The case art is styled to match her ‘fit, naturally, the Ultra HD and HD Blu-rays accessorized with plenty of legacy on-disc extras, while the a closet full tactile goodies holds polaroid-style photos, Cher’s report card, 2D as well as 3D stickers and more, all neatly tucked inside a sparkly slipcase.

Fallout Season One 4K (Warner)

Has TV finally cracked the code to adapting popular videogames into compelling serialized stories? Fallout has proven a hit with fans of the blockbuster game as well as folks who’ve never held a controller. In an alternate timeline, the Great War of 2077 has turned Earth into an apocalyptic wasteland, with the fortunate holed up in underground Vaults, and many years later one brave girl must venture outside to find her dad. The esthetic riffs on the perceived future from the Cold War era and despite the sometimes-dark subject matter, the show never takes itself too seriously, resulting in a fun and satisfying adventure with broad appeal. Amazon MGM Studios spared no expense for this production, best enjoyed in its native 4K and Dolby Vision/Atmos. There’s a basic three-disc Ultra HD version with first-episode commentary and featurettes that guide us through all aspects of the endeavor, but the Amazon-exclusive SteelBook offers bold new cover art plus a half-dozen snazzy art cards.

The Way of the Gun (a Lionsgate Limited Exclusive)

Before helming the back half of the big-screen Mission: Impossible saga, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie made his directorial debut with this quirky, Western-inspired tale of two losers (Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro) with a foolproof plan. They kidnap a surrogate mom carrying the child for a wealthy family, not knowing that it’s The Family, who has no intention of peacefully handing over the $15M ransom. Premiering here in 4K, Way (yes way) arrives proudly with Dolby Vision HDR and a fresh Atmos remix plus legacy commentary from McQuarrie and composer Joe Kraemer and an isolated musical score track again with composer comments. New for this edition is a retrospective featurette and a look at the props. The lenticular cover alternates between two manly poses, and a digital copy code is provided but no HD Blu-ray disc.

Fury 4K (Sony)

David Ayer’s brutal World War II drama reveals the unique challenges of the tight-knit band of brothers who man the Sherman tank of the title. His talented cast notches up some career-best performances as they grapple with the high-stress duty and interpersonal drama of this armored vehicle crew. Not since Saving Private Ryan have filmmakers shared with such intensity of the terrors of war, sonically, but this five-star Atmos track is also balanced with fine details for true 360-degree engagement. Sony has managed to top their original 2018 4K disc with an appreciable upgrade to Dolby Vision plus a much higher video bitrate. (One wrinkle: Sony has dropped one of the special features, the Smithsonian Channel tie-in special, “The Tanks of Fury.” Expired rights, perhaps?) The HD Blu-ray, from the 4K master, still packs loads of extras, among them almost an hour of deleted and extended scenes. (This appears to be the same disc that was released in 2015.) Fury travels in a tank of its own--don't expect the SteelBook analogies to end anytime soon--the front cover art no doubt meant to capitalize on the singular Brad Pitt's big summer movie, F1.

Air America 4K (Lionsgate)

Before RDJ was Iron Man and Mel became… well, you know… their Hollywood bromance began whilst playing rogue pilots in Roger Spottiswoode’s 1990 action-comedy. Set during the Vietnam War, the largely fact-based Air America finds the duo running secret missions for the CIA to get around the law. The work is dangerous but it pays the bills, until morals creep in and lead them to a very different agenda. The video for this Ultra HD debut is a native 4K with Dolby Vision HDR, scanned from the original negative and looking quite lovely, particularly the extensive outdoor scenes shot by Mr. Roger Deakins in lush, sunny Thailand, standing for Laos. The HD Blu-ray disc here is the same as was released in 2009, and the 4K disc utilizes the same 7.1 mix, that is, no Atmos upgrade here. The cargo bay of extras contains assorted archival featurettes, interviews, and commentary by co-writer/co-producer John Eskow.

Grave of the Fireflies Blu-ray (Shout Studios)

Long-unavailable on Blu-ray, Isao Takahata’s 1988 historical drama finally returns in our choice of standard or limited edition SteelBook combo packs as part of Shout’s ongoing journey through the Studio Ghibli catalog. A heartbreaking story set in Japan during the waning days of the Second World War, Grave follows two newly orphaned young children as they struggle to survive amid a worsening series of hardships. It’s in no way propagandist or maudlin, rather it explores pride, family and loss in a very raw and honest way, and is widely regarded as one of the true masterpieces of the animated artform. The 1080p video is paired with Japanese and English-dub DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options, and storyboards are provided for the entire movie as well as for deleted scenes, in addition to interviews with Takahata and the late Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Roger Ebert.

Law Abiding Citizen 4K (Lionsgate)

(Does anyone besides me think that the title should be hyphenated?) Pairing post-Oscar Jamie Foxx and post-300 Gerard Butler brought us this unexpectedly powerful thriller, that finds a man imprisoned for murdering his wife’s killers somehow unleashing a deadly spree from behind bars. Strap in for blackmail, dirty little secrets, and an all-too-timely statement about tearing down societal norms. Lionsgate’s two-disc set is an Amazon exclusive, repackaging the 2018 disc in steel and featuring an upscaled video master in Dolby Vision with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. In addition to a slew of featurettes, the HD Blu-ray carries an audio commentary with the producers.