Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray delivers truly amazing video and audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
For more about Blade Runner 2049 4K and the Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray release, see Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray Review published by Michael Reuben on January 17, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
Having already written at length (no doubt
too long, by some standards) on the greatness of
director Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, I won't repeat myself here but simply note that
Warner's 4K UHD of the film is exceptional. Although I haven't yet seen the 3D Blu-ray of BR
2049—and I'm not sure how many others have, given its apparent rarity—I very much doubt that
it will improve on the UHD experience, which has been sourced from a 4K digital intermediate
personally overseen and approved by director of photography Roger Deakins. Watching BR 2049
in 4K is so engrossing that I doubt it could be matched by anything 3D has to offer. It's an
experience of such delight that it should be enough to motivate fans of the Blade Runner world to
upgrade their equipment (assuming they haven't already done so to experience the UHD disc of
The Final Cut).
For my thoughts on BR 2049, which I have attempted to make spoiler-free, please see the main
Blu-ray review.
As noted in the standard Blu-ray review,
Blade Runner 2049's cinematographer was the
legendary Roger Deakins, a pioneer of digital cinema who personally oversaw the film's post-production on a 4K digital intermediate. Deakins also
oversaw BR 2049's formatting in two
aspect ratios, 2.39:1 for standard venues and a "taller" version for IMAX theaters framed at
1.90:1. As with the standard Blu-ray, Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD contains
the standard width (at 2.40:1), and it's an especially unfortunate choice for UHD, a home video
format that, like IMAX, is touted for its detail, depth and color intensity. The added height of the
IMAX version, which I saw theatrically, makes more effective use of Dennis Gassner's imposing
production design, with its towering ruins and vast interior spaces. The omission of that version
caused me to dock the video grade of the standard Blu-ray, and I am giving the UHD an identical
video score for the same reason. But the 4K/HDR treatment is extraordinary.
Characters in BR 2049 say as much (or more) with their faces as with their words, and the UHD's increased
definition and refined HDR grading reveal every line, wrinkle and flicker of reaction. The vast
futuristic spaces are so finely rendered that you can almost feel the dust blowing through the
wasteland where K locates Deckard or the sharp edges of the metallic piles where K's spinner
lands roughly after an unexpected aerial encounter. The enormous grubs that Sapper Morton
farms (and offers K as a snack) are revoltingly alive, and even though the shadows that frame K's
encounter with the errant replicant are layered and deep, you can still see each adversary's face in
the gloom as they prepare to do battle. The accumulated bric-a-brac in K's apartment and, later,
in Deckard's hideout are sharply distinguished, as is the minimalist decor of Wallace Corp. The
4K presentation effectively expands the sense of space in the film's many long shots (e.g., the
abandoned solar farms over which K flies at the beginning and the endless Wallace Corp. storage
facility where he seeks critical records), while at the same time retaining a sharp focus on
individual persons and elements in the frame. The promenade where K is first accosted by
Mariette supplies a gorgeous and colorful interplay of dark and light that effectively recalls the
street scenes of the original Blade Runner, and the false memories conjured by Dr. Ana are
vibrantly alive. (The green forest she's editing when K first arrives is so gorgeous that it belongs
in a BBC nature documentary.)
Film is an inherently visual medium, but the Blade Runner films are especially so. Both Ridley
Scott and Denis Villeneuve created intricately realized worlds of imagination on which their
cameras linger, inviting the viewer to take the time to look around and immerse oneself in the
environments that shaped the films' characters and drive their actions. Warner's 4K presentation
allows the home viewer to do so with incomparable intensity. Outside of an IMAX theater or a
good (very good) standard theatrical projection, it's the best way to experience BR 2049.
The UHD disc offers the same excellent Dolby Atmos soundtrack that has been previously
reviewed. Like the standard Blu-ray, it also offers the
option, redundant in my opinion, of a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track.
As I said in the main Blu-ray review, I believe that BR 2049 is destined for a long afterlife, not
only on its own merits, but also because it is now inseparable from the larger mythology that is
the haunting world of Blade Runner. Experience it on UHD disc, and see it at its best. Highly
recommended.
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