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Reviews
Ready Player One (2018)
Ready Player One: 4K Review
Like many who had read the book I was sceptical when the film was first announced, Ernest Clines first Novel "Ready Player One" took me on an unforgettable nostalgia trip crammed packed with what seemed like my entire childhood.
With so many franchises, characters and music tracks I didn't think it would get out of the starting blocks, I mean, who could get all these different companies on board? I'll tell you who Steven frickin Spielberg, that's who!
The story is set in 2044-2045 where the world has become a dumping ground, and many of its inhabitants are living in makeshift homes made up of Jenga style stacked trailers called the Stacks.
To escape the misery of the real world, many people turn to the fantasy of Virtual Reality which enables them to become whoever they want, do what they want, when they want in the make-believe universe called "The Oasis."
The co-founder James Halliday has just passed away leaving "The Oasis" and its fortunes as a prize to whoever can solve the retro driven puzzles he has left behind.
Ready Player One pays tribute to many well-known Film, T.V and Game franchises such as Back To The Future, Nightmare On Elm Street, King Kong, Batman, Robocop, Aliens, Star Wars, Halo, Starcraft and Duke Nukem, Street Fighter, Mass Effect, there is literally too many to mention in this review.
Albeit the film doesn't touch on a lot of the book, it does do well to cram in the main story into the 2 hours 19 minutes of runtime, and as a massive fan of the book, I was not disappointed with what Spielberg has done with Ready Player One and how it translates in to the blockbuster hit it has become.
As mentioned in the title this is the 4k HDR review of this film, and if ever a movie was made 4k and a rip-roaring soundtrack this is it.
Straight from the get-go, visually Ready Player One looks jaw-dropping, the detail is phenomenal especially as for the most part there is so much happening on the screen at once, you can still see everything in its glory. The use of HDR (or Dolby Vision) if your TV supports it, helps significantly in this area by being able to show more of the dynamic range (A higher level of brightness) and much deeper black levels.
For the audio side of things, this disc supports all your standard formats alongside the superior Dolby Atmos Track which blew my mind. I am fortunate enough to able to make use of the latterly mentioned track and own many a film that support it, but by far the Atmos track on this disc is the best I have ever heard on any movie to date, it is just thunderous.
There is a scene in the film referencing Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," and a lot is going on audibly. Axes swing from all angles, blood-filled hallways running like a river smashing up against walls all while characters are shouting and screaming yet everything can be heard clearly and from every direction the director intended, the final scene is just mind blowing and is leaps and bounds ahead of anything I have heard before.
If you own a 4k TV/Projector supporting HDR you are in for a treat if you own the latter and an Atmos setup strap in for the ride as this is reference material at its finest.
The Toys That Made Us (2017)
The Toys That Made Us: Season 1 Review
With the on-going revival of everything retro, Brian Volk-Weiss and Tom Stern could not have picked a better time to bring us a TV series that throws us back to the toys of yesteryear.
Season 1 which first streamed on Netflix back in December covers some of the biggest toy franchises ever. With the first series spanning 4 episodes covering the history of "Star Wars", "Barbie", "He-Man", and "G.I Joe" makes for a more than enjoyable watch not only because it brings the many joyous memories of viewers childhoods but also allows us to see an interesting side of an industry many will not have seen before.
It introduces us to the creative minds of the people who brought these amazing characters to life with there outrageous ideas and designs to the arguments that ensue to who named which toy that helped it reach the pinnacle of its success.
There are deeper layers here, covering the underhand and illegal tactics that some of these manufacturers did to propel them ahead of there competition and help parents part with there hard earned cash to make sure their child had the greatest and latest toys to show off to there friends.
Overall "The Toys That Made Us" is a complete pleasure to watch, It took me on a trip down memory lane and provided me with some of the best times I had as a child, It is entertaining, funny, and thought-provoking all at the same time. I can wholeheartedly recommend this show and you really should give it try.
Score 5/5
Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbuster 4k Bluray Review
This is the fourth release of Ghostbusters post DVD era and the first and most obvious question is, is it the best release to date or even worth the upgrade if you own the previous releases? In short, if you have the right TV and AV equipment then the answer is YES!.
Picture Quality:
Sony has done a fine job of improving the image of a film that is now well over 30 years old, upping the resolution to 2160p and adding HDR could have been an easy way of just churning out another release of a film that has a gigantic following for an easy cash-in. Yet adding this new technology to this disc helps the picture quality by improving the contrast, colour and brightness which make this release a real enjoyment to watch (again).
First thing first, does Ghostbusters have the polish and glitter like some of the more modern movies that have been released? No, the grain of the original is still there and present throughout the entire film, however, the image has been enhanced and in places looks tremendous with primary colours, in particular, making the picture pop. Skin-tones are more natural looking than ever and there is plenty of detail to be found where it could not be found before. One drawback I find on a lot of older films that have had a 4k transfer are the darker areas where the blacks become pixelated which I am glad to report I did not see once whilst watching the film in its entirety.
Audio Quality:
If you are unsure as to why you should buy/upgrade to this release this is one area where this disc excels. Adding a Dolby Atmos soundtrack to a film of this age could have just been done to get the "Atmos" badge on the box to entice people to make a purchase, but this really does excel and I was amazed how good of a job Sony has done in this area.
The previous Blu-ray releases have a True HD 7.1 track onboard which is great and a vast improvement over the original VHS and DVD versions, but the Atmos track supplied on this 4K disc is a major upgrade. Using the object based technology adds to the atmosphere right through the film in particular towards the end of the film where our team of parapsychologists are in a battle with main antagonist Gozer and this is where the Atmos truly shines with pieces of the building noticeably falling from above. The charge of the proton packs humming in the background the proton beams blasting from every angle. As the saying goes they saved the best to last, in the scene where Gozer asks Ray (Stantz) "Are you a God" the booming voice of Gazo surrounds you from everywhere like a voice from God and is truly one of my favourite parts of any Atmos track I have heard to date.
Overall:
There a few points I would like to make here. As I said at the start of this review to get the most out of any 4k release you need the right equipment, If you have a 4k TV and 4k player and are using TV speakers then you obviously will not be getting the required effects from the Atmos track, for this you will need either an Atmos-enabled soundbar or preferably a capable AV receiver and speaker setup to maximize the effects from these releases.
Also, the scores below are based on the age and previous releases of the film, the video is a huge improvement from earlier releases but when compared to the likes of Dunkirk it is somewhat left behind for obvious reasons.
(I will be writing an article soon on what equipment Is required to get the most from these newer releases)
Score:
Video: 4/5
Audio 4.5/5