GATTACA – 4K Blu-ray Review
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Sony Pictures | 1997
PG13 | 1hrs 46 min | Drama | Thriller | Sc-Fi
HD | 1080P | Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Native 4K | 2160P | HDR10 | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1 | DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Staring: Ethan Hawke | Uma Thurman | Jude Law | Gore Vidal | Alan Arkin | Xander Berkeley
Directed by: Andrew Niccol
Ratings & Reviews
Please see here for my comments on reviewing movies.
My ratings are simple being marked out of a maximum of 5+. My reviews are biased towards the technical production aspects of the film with brief comments about the story line. Extras, sorry, that’s just not my ‘bag’.
So what did the 7.1 soundtrack sound like? Very good in most respects, and the 4K HDR10 video? Also very good.
Entertainment: 5-
Video: 5-
Audio: 4+
Technical Review – Native 4K UHD HDR10
GATTACA was originally shot on 35mm photochemical film in Super 35 format using ARRIFLEX and Moviecam cameras with spherical lenses. It was finished on film at a theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1. For this Ultra HD release, the original camera negative was re-scanned in 4K to create a new Digital Intermediate, graded for high dynamic range in HDR10 and is presented on a UHD 66 dual layer disc. Details are crisp and refined, except for a few shots that are optically soft, like the opening title sequence. As you would expect, this Super 35 film creates fine film grain that is generally quite light, but is always natural and organic with no distracting clumping or swarming, and creating a pleasing cinematic feel. Wide shots are sharp and well textured with few signs of edge enhancement or digital noise reduction artifacts. Clothing and threads are well detailed as are facial features such as pores and wrinkles.
The HDR treatment provides inky blacks with good shadow detail and specular highlights, bright luminous whites, and a solid and vibrant color palette, particularly secondary hues. The nuanced and stylized palette favoring warm earthy tones with shades of greens and blues and an overall yellow tint/amber-sepia quality to the photography that supports the movies strangely “old fashioned” atmosphere. Primaries, like the red blood, are also deep and well saturated.
Overall a very good image nosing its way into the bottom end of reference.
Audio – Dolby TrueHD 7.1
GATTACA includes a new Dolby Atmos mix that defaults to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 in my system. The earlier DTS-HD 5.1 Master mix is also available. This is primarily a dialogue-driven movie with a front heavy presentation that focuses on the characters. It isn’t going to give your surround system a reference workout but it is smooth, quite wide and very atmospheric. The surrounds always helping pull you into the various environmental atmospheres keeping you engaged at all times.
Imaging continuously feels broad and expansive as action moves on and off-screen, with dialogue always clear and detailed with solid front-center imaging and prioritization. Music is smooth and detailed, with effortless integration within the sound stage, being well balanced between the dialogue and effects as Michael Nyman’s strings-heavy Schubert adagios, the piano solo “Impromptu for 12 Fingers,” and Stan Getz’s rendition of “First Song (For Ruth)” weave their way through the performances.
Sub woofer workout is minimal except during the title sequences where finger nail clippings hit a table and the various rocket launches, particularly the final launch.
There is nothing to criticize regarding this soundtrack, providing as it does, a very good mix.
Story Overview
In the future your destiny is pre-selected by your parents genetics. Only those who are genetically pure can rise to the higher levels in society. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is an ambitious young man who has long dreamed of space flight but was born the old fashioned way, a disfavored “natural” birth. He is therefore destined to remain a janitor at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation. Jerome (Jude Law), a perfectly-engineered, and former Olympic athlete, is seriously injured and ends up wheelchair bound. Vincent and Jerome agree to swap identities and assume Jerome’s DNA identity by using his urine, blood, hair etc for screening. Vincent gains entry to the space program and falls in love with co-worker Irene (Uma Thurman) who becomes suspicious of Vincent’s genetic profile. Then just before his space mission to Titan the Mission Director is murdered, resulting in a series of police investigations that may put pay to Vincent’s dreams.
My 2 cents
I haven’t seen this movie in decades, owning the original 1998 SD DVD Dolby Digital 5.1 release. So this native 4K version with its uncompressed 7.1 mix was quite an improvement. Andrew Niccol’s cautionary tale of this dystopian vision of the future has solid performances and strong characters. GATTACA is an excellent Sci-Fi movie and deserves a place high on any serious list of science fiction movies. An entertaining 106 minutes.
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