Wonder Woman 1984 – 4K Blu-ray Review
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Warner Bros. | 2020
PG-13 | 2hrs 31 min | Comic Book | Fantasy | Action | Adventure
HD | 1080P | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1 | Dolby Digital 5.1
Native 4K | 2160P | HDR10+ | Dolby Vision | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1 | Dolby Digital 5.1
Aspect Ratio 2.39:1, 1.90:1
Staring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen
Directed by: Patty Jenkins
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, and the 4K HDR10 video? Excellent, both worthy of being called reference quality.
Entertainment: 4+
Video: 5
Audio: 5-
Technical Review – Native 4K UHD HDR10
Wonder Woman 1984 was shot using Arri Alexa 65 & XT cameras with a mix of Arriflex, IMAX and Panavision lenses. It was reportedly shot in several image ratios including 1.43:1, 1.90:1 and 2.39:1 and several source formats including; ARRIRAW codec in both 3.5K and 6.5K, Super 70 and Super 35. It was finished as a 4K Digital Intermediate and given an HDR color timing pass for this Ultra HD release.
In a nutshell, the image quality, detail and clarity are very good and on many occasions reference quality. Any film grain was barley observable and when present was very fine with no signs of clumping or swarming. This 100GB dual-layer disc has been well authored, shows no excessive use of noise reduction or edge sharpening and no obvious compression artifacts. Deep blacks abounded throughout, were noise free, and showed excellent low level detail like the nighttime scenes at the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool and the final battle with Cheetah. Peak whites and overall highlights provided clean detail with no clipping as seen during the opening 15 minutes on Themyscira, all providing a terrific dynamic contrast range.
Facial close-ups, for the entire cast, provide excellent detail, clarity and definition with very natural skin tones and accurate rendition of pores, eyelashes, hair, cuts, bruises and features without any undue exaggerations or obvious makeup issues. Costume fabrics are well-defined as are the rock formations and the various terrains. CGI effects and live integration are very good throughout never appearing soft, no matter how ridiculous. With wide shots providing well detailed panoramic views.
Color fidelity is excellent with well saturated primaries and secondaries, all having good color depth and density as well as accurate flesh tones. The opening scenes on Themyscira reveal solid earth tones, colorful costumes, the pure whites of the spectators gowns and terrific looking ocean waters, skies and golden beaches revealing, blues, oranges, browns and yellows plus the luscious greens of the shrubs and pastures. City shots too, starting at the Landmark Mall, are brightly colored with the neon signage, wonder woman’s costume, the yellow and golden glow of her truth lasso and her gold metal suit in the final battle sequence.
The cinematography is excellent throughout and it is certainly worthy of being labelled a reference quality movie.
Audio – Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Wonder Woman 1984 is presented with a Dolby Atmos mix that defaults to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 in my system delivering a dynamic and fully immersive surround sound experience. (For some reason Warner Bros have also included an unnecessary english Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.). From the opening athletic scenes on Themyscira all channels are active.
The overall sound presentation is quite dynamic with good sub involvement and action from all surrounds, like zipping bullets and carrying environmental effects such as the opening Themysciran athletic contest with the spears being thrown, the crowd cheering and even the competitor’s rapid breath. Not to be outdone, the Mall scenes support music, shoppers talking, and cash registers ringing until Wonder Woman shows up with her lasso moving the action up a notch or two. Effects placement are accurate and natural, with movement in both the rear and side surrounds with the various atmospheric effects consistently pulling you into the many locals and environments. Even during the quieter scenes the reverb and atmosphere provides a welcome degree of realism to the various rooms and corridors. Action scenes are generally grand in scale exercising all speakers, with gunfire appearing everywhere and chaos, pops, bangs, crashes and flying debris enveloping the listener.
Imaging continuously feels broad and expansive as action moves off-screen, with dialogue always clear and detailed with solid front-center imaging and prioritization, even during the movies more intense sonic moments and crowd scenes. Music is smooth and detailed, with Hans Zimmer’s score sounding terrific, offering a mix of traditional orchestral cues and 80’s time period instrumentals, all with effortless integration within the sound stage.
Good sub action makes itself known during the action sequences like the truck chase, jet take off, explosions and firefights, with a solid bottom end having good muscle where required.
There is little to criticize regarding this soundtrack, providing as it does, an excellent mix.
Story Overview
Maintaining a low profile Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) lives quietly amongst us mortals curating ancient artifacts and acting as an archaeologist at the Smithsonian Museum. She has come into her full powers and continues to perform heroic acts incognito. After accidentally coming into contact with an ancient artifact, that was being examined by Barbara Minaerva (Kristen Wiig), a gemologist colleague, Diana’s memories of Captain Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) get the better of her, and she pays the price for this long lost love. The artifacts theft by a power-hungry entrepreneur and businessman, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), catapults Diana into facing the origins of the artifact and its disastrous powers. Spurred on by the artifacts abilities Maxwell’s powers continue to grow and push the world towards a cataclysmic collapse. Now Diana has to face two dilemmas; how to save the world from Maxwell and the now powerful Cheetah, a villainess of superhuman strength, and her desire to keep her long lost love.
My 2 cents
While the movies length did not tax my concentration, however you cut it this movie is “well padded” with material that is not necessary, and adds little to the story line, like the ridiculous flight through the fireworks! Clearly somebody believes that if a “little is good” then “more is excellent”. Gal Godot, her supporting actors and extras deliver enjoyable performances throughout keeping the movie moving no mater how ridiculous the situation. The story and ideas are fine creating what seems to be a “one off” with no solid connections to previous or future movies in the series (yet), plus the movie seems to swing between being serious and silly not really mixing the two well.
Despite my concerns regarding the movies length and story telling, it was still entertaining and enjoyable providing many stellar images and a reference sound mix. For those into extras and bonus features there are plenty (almost 100minutes) to get your teeth into. Recommended for those fans of Wonder Woman and the DC Extended Universe.
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