• Type:
  • Genre:
  • Duration:
  • Average Rating:

John Sciacca

Review: Alien

Alien (1979)

review | Alien

also on Cineluxe

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

The style-driven sci-fi horror flick that launched Ridley Scott’s career gets a terrific 4K HDR restoration, but not a new Atmos mix

by John Sciacca
August 26, 2019

Forty years. That’s how old the seminal sci-fi, suspense, horror film Alien turns this year. And to celebrate the milestone, 20th Century Fox has given it a complete 4K HDR restoration, supervised by director Ridley Scott, with the transfer taken from a 4K digital intermediate.

What can be said about Alien that hasn’t been said in hundreds of other reviews, columns, blogs, and forums? Released in 1979, the movie has a different look, feel, and style than anything else that had come before. And like throwing a boulder into a pond, it caused a ripple effect through the filmmaking world that influenced the style and storytelling of virtually every sci-fi film that followed—principally Scott’s own Blade Runner. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley—looking incredibly young and fresh-faced here—launched the idea of a strong female hero, and Scott’s gritty, decaying Nostromo showed that the future didn’t need to be shiny and new. 

I remember the first time I saw Alien. All I really knew about it was the tagline, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” The original trailer had an incredibly slow build, almost a full minute of a slow pan down to an egg, followed by a lot of dark scenes with people running and panicking. And not a single spoken word—not one.

Of course, as an 11-year-old, the infamous chest-burster scene was shocking but not actually the nightmare fuel one might think. No, what lingered in my brain was nightmares of running through a darkened ship, klaxons blaring, strobes flashing, being chased by a monster as a countdown timer steadily wound down towards destruction. Fun times.

Unfortunately, Alien has never lived up to its potential on the home screen. DVD and LaserDisc versions were overly grainy and noisy, and the previous remastered Blu-ray version couldn’t do the shadow and black-level detail justice. All of that is made right with this 4K HDR version, which looks fantastic. Fortunately, the restoration isn’t heavy-handed, getting rid of the bad bits of noise and deterioration while keeping Scott’s look and stylistic feel solidly intact.

The film begins with the unrestored 20th Century Fox logo showing you just how grainy and noisy the source material was but once we jump into the film, the image is clean, clear, and beautifully solid. The blackness of space is deep, inky, and clean, with the stars as bright pinpoints of light. They definitely took a mild touch with HDR, not overdriving the film but enhancing key scenes, punching up the appropriate highlights like the ship’s drive engines, spotlights, flames, and strobes. Much—and I mean much—of the film takes place in the dark, with many things hidden in shadows, and it’s here the cleaned-up transfer and HDR have the greatest impact. 

Occasionally, there are scenes where the boosted brightness of a spotlight will highlight a bit of noise in the image, but these are few and unobjectionable. There’s a brutal video torture test at 24:30 in, where the crew is exploring the moon that’s the source of the spurious radio signal. Here we have myriad shades of gray illuminated by various lighting sources and swirling smoke that could be an absolute banding nightmare, but the image holds up wonderfully. While Alien will never be accused of being a colorful film, 4K’s wider color gamut is used modestly to enhance the bright reds and oranges of the many indicator lights located around the Nostromo. 

It’s been years since I’ve watched it, and I couldn’t entirely recall the storyline, so it was nice to go into it semi-fresh. What I really appreciated was the total lack of exposition. You’re thrown into the Nostromo with the crew as they’re awakened out of hyper-sleep and have to figure out things along with them. Several minutes pass before a word is spoken. The depth of the image during the slow, wandering journey through the empty space ship is almost 3D. HDR is used nicely here, allowing us to see more shadow detail than ever, letting you appreciate the lengths taken with the practical sets. The same can be said for the spacecraft the crew discovers on LV-426. Here you can marvel at H.R. Giger’s design style and really appreciate the look of the Space Jockey and leathery texture of the eggs in the egg farm.  

Whether by design or technical limitations, the glimpses of the Xenomorph are kept few and are often just snatches or in shadows. This reminded me of Jaws, where Spielberg keeps the huge Great White a visual mystery for much of the film, proving that often the dangers we can’t see are the most terrifying. 

I was amazed how well the story and effects hold up. The only things that really date the look are the ancient displays and computer tech located around the Nostromo. Some of the graphics on these screens look a bit of a mess, while others—namely the text on Mother’s screen—look razor-sharp. The alien looks just as terrifying as ever, with the workings of its glistening, goo-filled inner jaws clearly visible. 

Part of the danger of making a film this old look so good is that some things best left unseen are revealed. There were a couple of moments where it was too obvious that the alien’s movements were a tad too human-in-a-costume or that we were looking at models instead of full-sized crafts. Fortunately, these were minor and certainly didn’t detract me from enjoying the film. 

One thing not changed from the previous Blu-ray release is the audio, including the 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio. Would I have loved a new Dolby Atmos or DTS:X mix? Absolutely. There are many scenes where an immersive track could have been used to great effect but this mix plays well in a luxury cinema and my processor’s upmixer did a great job of putting blaring alarm klaxons up into the overheads. 

Both the 4K disc and the Kaleidescape download include the original theatrical cut and the director’s cut (which actually plays a minute shorter) along with two commentary tracks and two isolated soundtrack scores. Alien is a must-have for any film fan, and I dare say it will never look better than what we have here.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The 4K HDR restoration looks fantastic, getting rid of the bad bits of noise and deterioration while keeping Ridley Scott’s signature style solidly intact.

SOUND | This is the same 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that was on the Blu-ray release but a processor’s upmixer can do a great job of putting things like the blaring alarm klaxons up into the overheads.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: The Matrix Trilogy

The Matrix Triology

review | The Matrix Trilogy

The imminent arrival of the first Matrix film in 18 years makes this the perfect time to revisit the original trilogy

by John Sciacca
December 17, 2021

You might ask yourself why we’re reviewing The Matrix Trilogy a full three years after its 4K HDR disc release. The answer is simple—with the new The Matrix: Resurrections dropping next week both theatrically and on HBO Max, it seemed the perfect time to revisit this sci-fi classic. 

To be even more honest, it had been years since I’d watched this trilogy and I’d never sampled the 4K HDR release with the new Dolby Atmos audio soundtrack. I couldn’t even remember exactly how the story finished, so I decided to take the Red Pill and once again head down the rabbit hole with Neo, discover how these films hold up some 20 years later, and get ready for the exciting fourth chapter!

Released in 1999, it’s no understatement to say The Matrix was groundbreaking. Everything from the ad campaign (“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”), to the look and style, to the visual effects was intriguing and mind-blowing. I can remember turning to my wife in the theater just minutes into the movie and saying, “I’m not even sure what is happening but I am loving this movie!” I’m happy to say that feeling holds up and the films are still a blast to watch!

And while the innovative “bullet-time” effects have been widely copied since, and even showed up in commercials for a while, the effects are still amazing to watch and, bolstered by the new Dolby TrueHD Atmos mix, are more immersive and impactful than ever.

Ultimately, though, what makes The Matrix work and hold up so well it is that it is just so damn cool. The world is cool, the concept is cool, the style is cool. But most of all, the characters are cool. With lesser actors, some of the lines could have been laughable, but this cast committed to the Wachowskis’ vision, and they inhabit their roles and the world so well it’s easy to go along for the journey. Laurence Fishburne as the all-wise and believing prophet Morpheus walking around with arms folded behind his back in a leather duster and spouting things like, “My beliefs do not require them to [believe].” And Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, in her skintight, shiny black bodysuit, is never sexualized but rather an incredibly strong female lead every bit as vital to the story. Hugo Weaving as trilogy Big Bad Agent Smith brings gravitas to a character that is really just a computer security program. 

And then there’s Keanu Reeves as Neo. Of course, now, after three successful John Wick films, it’s easy to separate Reeves from his “whoa, dude!” past performances but in 1999 he wouldn’t have been an obvious choice for this role. Of course, it’s impossible today to think of Neo as anyone other than Reeves, and he plays the part with the perfect amount of curious/confused, “What the hell?!” that we as the audience are experiencing; and the underlying excitement of lines like, “I know kung-fu” after an entire day of having fighting skills uploaded into his brain come across as wide-eyed discovered excitement rather than silly. 

The first film, The Matrix, is still the best. It was a wholly original experience, and while the second and third films fleshed out the world—and completed the experience—the first one stands head and shoulders above the others. Though I actually enjoyed the third film, The Matrix Revolutions, this time more than I did on first viewing. (There is definitely something to be said for being able to view an entire story back-to-back-to-back instead of needing to wait years between releases.) 

The parts I remembered as being great from the second film, The Matrix Reloaded—namely the scenes with the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and the amazing freeway chase rescuing The Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) from The Twins (Adrian and Neil Rayment)—are still fantastic, while the bizarre and way too long club-rave scene in Zion still goes on far too long and The Architect’s (Helmut Bakaitis) convoluted speech with “ergo,“ “concordantly,” and “assiduously” is still a bit of a headscratcher but a very cool concept presented in a cool Matrix-y manner. 

The films all have different feels while still feeling and looking like parts of the same whole. The Matrix is more a think-piece divided into three distinct acts of Neo discovering the Matrix, learning his role, and becoming The One, and introduces the concept of this other world and what is possible when you become unplugged and learn how to control it. Reloaded builds out the mythology of who Neo is and what he can do and introduces the new threat replicating and emerging in the computer world, with Zion under imminent attack by the machines. And Revolutions is an all-out action assault as most of the characters are defending Zion while Neo and Trinity go off to confront the machines in Machine World. 

I also can’t recall a film prior to Reloaded that ended on such a drastic cliffhanger, literally just ending and setting up the opening for Revolutions. (Much the way The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 concluded years later.) 

All three movies were originally filmed on 35 mm stock, and these releases, taken from new, true 4K digital intermediates, look fantastic. The movies have the perfect balance between clarity, sharpness, and detail without scrubbing away noise into waxy softness. Only occasionally did I notice any grain/digital noise, usually in scenes with loads of all-white, like inside The Construct.

Edges are sharp and defined, and closeups have tons of detail. (I’d never noticed the pock marks on Reeves’ cheeks before—though certainly nothing to compare with Fishburne!). Whether it’s the texture aboard the interiors of the ships, or the construction of the human world of Zion, or the weaving of clothing in the “real world,” or the detail of the mechanized robots, or the stone and pebbled finish outside Neo’s office building, images are terrific-looking throughout.

You just get clean beautiful images that are the best these movies have ever looked, and the HDR grading makes this an entirely different visual experience. Blacks are deep, dark, and clean; colors are punchy, vibrant, and vivid; and bright highlights shine off the screen, especially in Resurrections during the final battle, which has plenty of eye-reactive lightning strikes. Right from the opening credits, the brilliant green text leaps off the screen, then there are plenty of highlights from lights aboard the ships or of autos, or brilliant orange-red flames or sparks of electricity. 

Sonically, the new Dolby TrueHD Atmos track is another massive improvement and launches this series into the hallways of legendary demo material that showcases some of the best of dialogue clarity; massive, tactile bass; subtle atmospherics; and fully overwhelming immersive audio.

Take a listen to subtler moments, such as aboard the crashed ship in Revolutions. You’ll hear creaks and groans; venting gasses; crackling sparks; buzzes, clicks, and hums; and sounds of dripping fluids. There are other moments with deep rumbles of rolling thunder where you can pick up the individual droplets of rain falling. They are subtle but literally all around you, truly the hallmark of what an immersive audio track should deliver.

Of course, the movies’ huge action moments deliver the goods, and each film has its own truly demo-worthy scene, from the lobby shootout in The Matrix and the freeway chase in Reloaded to the attack on the dock in Revolutions. The gunfire is big and explosive, with reports and ricochets that wreak havoc and destruction all around the room. You’ll hear things collapsing and crumbling overhead, feel the ripples as bullets streak through the room, hear the race of cars blasting alongside you as Trinity races in her Ducati, and hear Sentinels crawling all around, behind, and overhead in a truly 360-degree surround field. 

The Matrix Trilogy belongs in every collection, especially in 4K with the new Atmos audio mix. It is the epitome of exciting home theater viewing that is not only engaging but also highly entertaining. If you haven’t seen it recently, give it a rewatch so you’re caught up for Resurrections, the first new Matrix film in 18 years!

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The 4K HDR transfers have the perfect balance between clarity, sharpness, and detail without scrubbing away noise into waxy softness.

SOUND | The new Dolby TrueHD Atmos mixes launch this series into the annals of legendary demo material, showcasing the best of dialogue clarity; massive, tactile bass; subtle atmospherics; and overwhelming immersive audio.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

review | Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings

the MCU on Cineluxe

recent articles

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

Disney’s reach-out to Asian audiences is entertaining enough but doesn’t quite click as either an MCU entry or an action film

by John Sciacca
November 13, 2021

November 12th was the second annual Disney+ Day, a time when Disney promotes its streaming service by unleashing a torrent of new content to subscribers. This year, beyond new titles, the studio also added IMAX Enhanced content to many existing Marvel titles. 

As per Disney’s site:

IMAX Enhanced content on Disney+ features an expanded aspect ratio of 1.9:1. This differs from most films where the picture appears wide but does not take up the full height of your screen.

IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio allows you to see up to 26% more of the original image and experience the full scale and scope of the picture from the comfort of your home or on the go. Some movies only have select sequences filmed in IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio.

For owners of 16:9 direct-view TVs or projection screens, which is a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, this means more of the screen is filled with picture instead of black bars (leaving roughly an inch of black above and below the image on my 65-inch Sony). Smartly, Disney also includes the film in its original 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio, which will be the preferred method for viewers with widescreen front-projection systems.

One of the biggest Disney Day releases was the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) entry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This film is somewhat notable as Disney/Marvel’s first return to a post-pandemic exclusive cinematic release, without being simultaneously offered as a Disney+ Premier Access option. 

Along with being available for streaming on Disney+, it’s also offered via digital retailers like Kaleidescape. For the best experience, specifically with the enhanced, lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos audio track, I downloaded and watched the Kaleidescape version.

I imagine there are two types of people who saw or are considering watching Shang-Chi—those who were avid comics readers familiar with the history of the character, and then the other 99% of the population that just wanted to see how this was going to fit into the fourth phase of the MCU—initially kicked off by the Disney+ series WandaVision and followed-up with Black Widow—and just wanted to see another big spectacle superhero film. 

I was firmly in the second camp, and went into this knowing absolutely nothing about Shang-Chi. I was at least interested in the casting of Simu Liu in the lead, as my wife and I are big fans of the Netflix series Kim’s Convenience, where he plays Jung. (Seems that Liu can’t break free from his ties to the auto industry, as he works at a rental car agency in Kim’s and as a valet in Shang-Chi . . .)

After the massive success of Black Panther, you can certainly argue Disney is trying to be more inclusive with its films, breaking away from the traditional white male superhero. This is the first Marvel film to feature an Asian director (Destin Daniel Cretton) and a predominantly Asian cast, and following on the live-action Mulan remake, and then the animated Raya and the Last Dragon, Shang-Chi completes the outreach cycle. 

Having said that, it didn’t feel like it is pandering or trying to shove culturally-appropriate images or messages down your throat, at least not to this outsider. The film feels organic in the way it presents things, whether it’s the family having breakfast, talking about the Asian culture’s emphasis on education or respect for family, or if the action is taking place in San Francisco—which has a large Asian population—or Macau. 

The film also does what it can to tie into the larger MCU, even though it really takes place outside any of the action we’re familiar with, and doesn’t feel too connected to that larger universe. The “blip”—where Thanos wiped out half of the population in a finger snap before Iron Man brought everyone back—is referenced, Dr. Strange’s companion/assistant Wong (Benedict Wong) has a small role, and we see the return of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who was last seen as the faux baddie Mandarin in Iron Man 3, who also references his time in prison (covered in the Marvel short All Hail the King). And, of course, we have the now-obligatory Marvel mid- and end-credits scenes that really try to flesh out the franchise, as well as set up additional installments in the MCU. 

As an outsider to the story, the film’s opening minutes are a bit of an information dump where it attempts to bring you up to speed on the legend, history, and power of the Ten Rings and how they grant the wearer the strength of a god and endless life.  After centuries of living, toppling governments, and changing the course of history, Xu Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) learns of Ta Lo, a hidden village with mythical creatures and ancient magic. While trying to gain access to Ta Lo through a magical forest, he falls in love with one of the city’s guardians, Ying Li (Fala Chen). They ultimately have a child, Shang-Chi (Liu), who has changed his name to Shaun and is now living in San Francisco where he works as a hotel valet with his friend Katy (Awkwafina).

One day while riding a city bus, Shaun is attacked by an unusual gang and despite putting up a heroic fight, the jade pendant given to him by his mother is ripped from his neck. He believes his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) is also in danger, so he heads to Macau with Katy to find and protect her.

Throughout, we learn of Shang-Chi’s background, his training, the fate of his mother, and his and Xialing’s relationship with their father. Ultimately Shang-Chi, Xialing, and Katy are all reunited with Wenwu, who is still searching for Ta Lo, but feels he has finally learned the secret to discovering the hidden city’s location.

There is a lot of hand-to-hand martial arts-style fighting, but the varied locations and participants help keep it interesting and from seeming too repetitive. The choreography is also hyper-fast, kinetic, and pretty inventive. While there is some Wuxia-style fighting, it doesn’t lean too heavily on this or ever feel Crouching Tiger-esque, though it certainly leans heavily into its mythical creatures bent at the end. 

I’m an Awkwafina fan, but her wise-cracking sidekick role here, where she’s used to bring some comedic relief to almost all of her scenes, ran a little thin. In some ways, she felt a bit like her Sisu water dragon character brought-to-life in human form from Raya and the Last Dragon. 

Shot in Arri at 4.5K, this transfer is taken from a 2K digital intermediate, and it certainly looks clean, clear, sharp, and detailed throughout. There are some shots showing Wenwu and his Ten Rings army and the Tan Lo army wearing different uniforms, and the fine detail and texture in their armor is evident. Closeups also show loads of detail in other fabrics and garments, as well as extreme facial detail, letting you see the difference in skin texture and smoothness. While the most detail is in the tight shots, longer shots can hold their own as well. Notice the tight line structure in the tile, stone, and thatch building roofs, or the clarity of leaves in bamboo forest. 

The HDR grade gives the images plenty of shadow detail and a lifelike quality, but with plenty of pop and highlights when needed. Car headlights at night are appropriately bright as they pierce dark roadways, or the electric glow surrounding the rings and other weapons, or some fiery, golden lanterns set out to float. Notice early on the white-on-white detail in an outfit worn by Wenwu. Even though it’s very similar shades of the same color, we still get plenty of detail, texture, and pop instead of it just being a white smush. 

We also get plenty of color pop, whether it’s the bright, vibrant greens in the forest, the hot reds of the valet vest uniforms, or the gorgeous, varied colors of neon lights in nighttime Macau. There are also several scenes lit with beautiful warm golden lighting. Throughout, the film really just looks great, and is visually vibrant and engaging.

One of the real benefits of watching on Kaleidescape is the lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack compared with the lossy version supplied to streaming providers. Disney has been slagged for many of its recent home soundtracks, and I found it a little lacking at first, especially on the low-end dynamics. But after bumping the volume by 5 dB over my typical listening level, it returned a lot of the impact, particularly with the bass, which developed some tactile moments with the increased levels. 

There are certainly some immersive elements but I found this to be a fairly front-centric mix, especially compared to a lot of modern titles. We do get some atmospheric moments like the sounds of swirling winds and leaves or noises inside clubs or traffic sounds. The mix kicks into higher gear during the many combat scenes, such as a spear-weapon that Xialing throws Scorpion-from-Mortal Kombat-style that whistles through the air and chunks into the side walls, Wenwu battling men around the room, the shouts and melee during training and combat, or a bus careening all over the room. 

I didn’t notice nearly as much height activity as expected from such a big action film. Music definitely uses the height speakers for a big expansive, room-filling mix, and there are other moments, like soul-eaters flying overhead, or a booming voice beyond an armored wall, or the creaking and groaning of bamboo moving in the forest, but this certainly wasn’t as dynamic as Black Widow. 

I’ll be honest—Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was just OK. It was fun to watch, looked great, the fight scenes were dynamic and visually interesting, and the actors—particularly Leung, who brings some real depth to the villain character—did a fine job, but the story itself felt a little thin. And, ultimately, it just didn’t feel like a Marvel movie. But with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% and an Audience Score of 98%—the highest combined score of any film in the MCU—it seems like I’m in the minority here, and perhaps my opinion will change on future viewings. 

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The HDR grade gives the images plenty of shadow detail and a lifelike quality but with plenty of pop and highlights when needed.

SOUND | The Atmos mix certainly has some immersive elements but is fairly front-centric for a modern action film.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: No Time to Die

No Time to Die (2021)

review | No Time to Die

recent reviews

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

Bond says goodbye (or does he?) in this epic two-and-a-half hour sendoff that’s a home theater tour de force

by John Sciacca
November 10, 2021

In a way, the mere fact that we can finally actually watch No Time to Die feels a bit like a victory in itself, and perhaps even points to a sign to the return of post-COVID cinematic normalcy. This 25th film in the James Bond franchise began development in 2016 and was originally scheduled for a November 2019 release but had to be postponed to February and then April 2020 after the original director, Danny Boyle, left over script disputes. Then prior to its planned release, a global pandemic worthy of any Bond super-villain occurred and the film was pushed to November 2020—the first major film to be postponed due to COVID. It then continued being delayed as it was apparent the global cinema market was not poised for reopening. In fact, the continued delays of No Time to Die’s release were one of the reasons the world’s second-largest cinema chain, Cineworld, cited for closing its doors indefinitely. 

But, as with any villain’s plans for global domination, Bond ultimately prevailed, and the film was released in the UK on September 30, 2021, followed by its release here in the States on October 8, and then just 31 days later—on November 9—it is now available from all digital retailers, including Kaleidescape.

As I mentioned in my reviews of Goldfinger, The Living Daylights, and Casino Royale (2006), I’m a big Bond fan. I’ve not only seen all the films, I’ve read all the books—and I mean all of them, including the original Ian Fleming novels, the John Gardner followups, then the Raymond Benson series, and now into the Sebastian Faulks era. 

One thing Bond does—or at least has tried to do—is to evolve and adapt with the times so he can stay relevant to modern viewers. Locations change, women change, villains change, plans for world domination change. But through it all, Bond is still always essentially Bond.

And that includes even when the man playing Bond changes. With the physical demands required of the role, there are only a certain number of years our favorite Double-0 can be played believably by the same face. And just as there was uproar when Sean Connery was replaced by George Lazenby, then Roger Moore, then Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and now Daniel Craig here in his final Bond performance—which began 15 years ago with his role in Casino Royale—there will always be controversy over who will be the next Bond. So I understand the franchise will have to change. And, oh boy, does No Time to Die serve up a heaping portion of it.

As mentioned, the original director was replaced early in the process, and the choice of Cary J. Fukunaga seems as interesting one, as he was best known for directing TV series like Maniac and True Detective along with films with significantly smaller budget like Beasts of No Nation and Sin Nombre. (Another fun trivia fact—Funkunaga helped pen the screenplay for It.) I’m not doubting his abilities but on the surface he just seems an interesting choice to helm a pivotal final installment in the Craig era with an estimated $250-million budget.

Whereas all previous films in the franchise were essentially stood on their own—with some occasional winks and nods to others that had come before them—one of the big changes in the Craig era was to create a series of films that have a strong continuity running throughout. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Quantum of Solace, Craig’s second Bond film, which begins just moments after Casino Royale’s conclusion. 

To prepare for No Time to Die, my wife and I went back and watched the previous two films, Skyfall and Spectre, and that was certainly helpful, especially since it has been six years since Spectre was released, and the events in No Time come right on the heels of Spectre.

Bond films are known for their massive opening sequences, and right from the start it’s clear that No Time will be . . . different. In fact, Bond isn’t even in the opening several minutes, which are instead a flashback to Madeleine’s (Lea Seydoux) childhood, an event she mentioned in Spectre and which establishes her relationship with this film’s villain Safin (Rami Malek). 

As much as No Time feels different, it also feels very much the same, and they are careful to include all the classic beats—the “Bond, James Bond” intro, the shaken-not-stirred vodka martini, the big car chase, the Q-Branch gadgets, the world hopping, and a certain old friend from the CIA. There are also some nice nods to the franchise’s history, and in a way, the film has a sense of farewell. 

One clever touch is a rotating tour of the Aston Martins Bond has driven throughout his history. And if you ever wanted to see what that glorious DB5 from Goldfinger can do when it’s fully unleashed, you’re in for a treat! There is also a nice moment where the Ms from the past—both Dame Judi Dench and Bernard Lee—are given a subtle nod. The framing of one scene feels very reminiscent of the looking-down-a-rifle-barrel from the film’s iconic opening sequences. And those familiar with Fleming’s work might notice some strong parallels between the “Garden of Death” featured in the novel You Only Live Twice and the poison garden featured here.

There is also a line spoken early on that really jumped out at me. While Bond and Madeleine are driving, she tells him to speed up and he says, “We have all the time in the world.” You might recall this as the Louis Armstrong title song—and a line Bond himself says twice—in the film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. 

Also, I was initially really disappointed by Billie Eilish’s opening “No Time To Die” song when I heard it months before the film’s debut. I felt the song was far too slow and somber to be a Bond opener, but in the context of where it’s placed in the opening, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying it and that in the moment of the film, it actually works. 

I’m not going to go too deep trying to summarize the plot. Frankly, you’ll want to see No Time to Die or you won’t, so I doubt my 1,000-yard view will change your mind. Also, I certainly don’t want to spoil any of the fun or surprises. With a franchise long run time of 2 hours and 43 minutes, No Time certainly feels epic, and even though it’s packed with a near steady stream of action, it often feels like it has all the time in the world to unfold. 

The movie opens with Bond retired from active service and finally able to take some time away to go on holiday with Madeleine. Of course, the world needs James Bond, and events from his past come up to draw him back in, to try and track down a scientist behind a new super-weapon that could be used to kill off large sections of the population. 

The film was shot on a host of formats, including some scenes filmed in IMAX. Unfortunately, we don’t get any of the expanded IMAX scenes in this digital presentation—perhaps on an eventual IMAX Enhanced physical disc release. But what we do get is sourced from a true 4K digital intermediate that looks consistently gorgeous. I mentioned we had watched Spectre the night before, and that was on Blu-ray. The image quality in 4K HDR here absolutely trounces that, revealing layers of sharpness and detail throughout. 

Bond films have always had a massive scope and scale, and we can really see and appreciate that here. Fukunaga frequently pulls back—way back—to reveal these gorgeous panoramic vistas that show the expanse of the location, whether in Italy, Cuba, or the UK. The movie is beautifully framed and shot and looks fantastic up on a big home theater screen.

Closeups reveal tons of detail, whether it’s the contrast of Madeleine’s smooth skin versus Bond’s weathered, creased, and lined face or the fine lines and detail in Bond’s Glen Plaid suits or the micro-dots in a tie or the texture and ribs in the cloth of Madeleine’s shirt. Modern digital productions have a cleanness to the image that feels like everything between you and the lens has been removed, and that is evident here. 

There are lots of moments to highlight the HDR grading, whether they are white-hot fluorescent lights, neon signs, the gleaming white of outdoor snow scenes, shafts of light penetrating dark interiors, or the eye-reaction moments of exploding fireballs or the soft, glowing light as characters talk in candlelight. I never felt things were pushed too far but we certainly enjoy a full range of deep, inky blacks and vibrant whites. 

While some digital retailers like iTunes ands Vudu received a lossy Dolby Digital+ Atmos audio mix, MGM has continued its maddening habit of only supplying Kaleidescape with a 5.1-channel DTS HD-Master mix. I’m not going to lie and say this isn’t a tad disappointing but it certainly isn’t a deal breaker, and you’ll be happy to read that this soundtrack delivers the goods, with a classic big, loud, and dynamic mix Bond is known for.

Things like gunshots have a ton of dynamics, with loud, sharp reports and solid weight and slam to their impact. Explosions will give your subwoofers plenty of chance to flex, delivering tactile bass you can feel in your chest. 

And even though the Kaleidescape 5.1 audio is not a true immersive mix, modern upmixers (such as the DTS:Neural X processing on my Marantz) do an admirable job of placing sounds all around and overhead. Whether it’s things like the sounds of ice cracking that spread out from the center and front of the room into every corner or the loud clang of bells ringing throughout the room or the sounds of a water platform creaking, groaning, and breaking apart or a moment when a gun man is clearly standing directly behind you repeatedly blasting away, the mix places you right in the action. Even subtle moments such as Bond standing out in an open forest have lots of ambience and spaciousness to expand your listening environment. 

There were a couple of moments where the upmixing might have made dialogue a bit trickier to understand. In one scene, Bond and Paloma (Ana de Armas) are communicating via in-ear mics, and another where there are announcements over a PA system, and voices are placed up into the height channels. The effect was actually quite good—and you got a real sense of them moving around and overhead and traveling into different speakers—but it did make the dialogue a big harder to understand. This is certainly an instance where the truly discrete Dolby TrueHD Atmos mix could offer a bit of refinement.

The film’s ending is a bit polarizing, with some saying “perfect” and “best ever,” and others claiming it ruined the franchise. For me, I felt a bit like I did at the end of The Rise of Skywalker—I enjoyed the ride, but it came with a heavy dose of bittersweet to know it was over . . . at least for now. As the end credits declare, “James Bond will return.” How and in what fashion remains to be seen, but I am certainly excited to see what Bond’s next chapter looks like. 

For now, No Time to Die is a fantastic experience at home, visually and sonically, and with its lengthy run-time, you’re able to pause if need be for a bathroom or snack break to ensure you don’t miss a moment of action.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The transfer, from a true 4K digital intermediate, is consistently gorgeous, revealing layers of sharpness and detail throughout.

SOUND | The 5.1 DTS HD-Master soundtrack delivers the goods, with a classic big, loud, and dynamic mix Bond is known for.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

review | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

recent reviews

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

Gene Wilder’s take on the classic children’s tale definitely benefits from 4K’s added resolution and wider color gamut, and makes for a wonderful family-viewing experience

by John Sciacca
July 1, 2021

Growing up, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was one of my absolute favorite films. I was only one when it was originally released theatrically, but it made its TV debut on Thanksgiving Night, November 28, 1974 (and was shown again on Thanksgiving 1975 and again in May 1976) and I can remember those televised presentations being something I greatly looked forward to and that our family would plan an evening around to watch. (Remember those days of scheduled viewing before everything was just available instantly at the press of a button?)

It was so easy for young me to fantasize about being Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum) for those 100 minutes, rooting for him as he beats the odds to find the fifth and final Golden Ticket and wins the chance to go behind the closed and secret gates of one of the world’s greatest chocolate factories and meet the amazing Mr. Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) with Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson); and once inside, to rise above the shenanigans of all the bad little girls and boys to win the ultimate prize. The film’s ending then leaves it open to your imagination to ponder what might happen next and what the future holds for Charlie and his Chocolate Factory. 

As a parent now with kids of my own, Willy Wonka is still a treasured favorite we return to regularly, and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to come home and randomly find my daughter Lauryn watching it, pulling it up on our Kaleidescape and saying she just felt like watching it again.

For me, Willy Wonka is a perfect family film. It doesn’t try to cram in a lot of innuendo or double entendres going for a cheap adult laugh. Sure, there are jokes and quips between adults that young viewers might not understand, but isn’t that just life as a kid watching adults interact? 

The kids are kids, not adults playing kids, and they all engender certain exaggerated qualities—the gluttonous German Augustus Gloop (Michael Bollner), who tries to eat everything in sight; the “I want it now!” spoiled brat Veruca Salt (Julie Dawn Cole); the perpetual gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde (Denise Nickerson); and the TV-obsessed Mike Teevee (Paris Themmen)—that make for easy lessons in bad behavior. At the center of it is Charlie, a poor boy doing what he can to help out his family, trying to do his best in a world that seems constantly stacked against him, and looking for a break. But even Charlie isn’t perfect, being tempted by the intoxicating bubbles of Wonka’s Fizzy Lifting drink. 

There is just enough about the Chocolate Factory that is edgy and off-kilter to make it mysterious—“No one ever goes in, and no one ever comes out”—but not too scary. (Well, except for the boat ride on the Wonkatania, where there are those creepy images, including a sudden startling moment of a chicken getting its head chopped off.) 

Then you have Wilder’s brilliant performance as Wonka. I can remember watching Wonka walking out of his factory for the first time, slowly limping along with a cane as he painfully ambles his way towards the gate, not knowing what to think of this mysterious figure who hadn’t been seen in public for years. Then in an instant, he appears to trip before performing a somersault and leaping up to greet the crowd with a big smile and open arms. It sets the whole mood for who he is. There is a manic look in Wilder’s eyes that, along with his crazy hair, makes him a believable confectionary genius, with splendid quips often mumbled to no one in particular. Even with his mischievous, quirky, and downright bizarre behavior, there is a tenderness in his performance that makes you feel Wilder’s Wonka really loves kids and has been rooting for Charlie to win, something I think Johnny Depp really missed in Tim Burton’s 2005 remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I have been waiting for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory to get a 4K restoration, and I’m happy to say it has definitely been worth it! The new 4K HDR transfer, taken from a 4K digital intermediate scan of the original 35mm film, looks gorgeous. Images are clean, sharp, and detailed throughout, looking like layers have been pulled away and giving you a glimpse into the Chocolate Factory likely better than what was shown in 1971. Right from the get-go, it’s clear that the picture has been refreshed and renewed in the best way. 

Closeups can have startling detail. Shots of Grandpa Joe show singular wispy hairs flying off his head, and every pore and whisker on his face, and shots of Slugworth (Gunter Meisner) let you see the details on the scar on his cheek. You can practically read every word of fine print on the lengthy contract the kids have to sign before heading into the factory, with the tiny letters being sharp and defined, and see the fine detail, such as the check pattern on Violet’s dad’s jackets or the plaid of Veruca’s father’s suit, and make out the engraving on the coin Charlie finds in the gutter. 

While the HDR grade is fairly modest, it lends a natural quality to images throughout. We do get some nice pop from the flashing of light off aluminum foil wrappers or the gleaming white shirt of Charlie’s science teacher. HDR also adds some depth to the Fizzy Lifting room, where Charlie and Grandpa Joe float up to the ceiling amidst a black background and chrome/steel grid, with iridescent bubbles floating everywhere. One scene that did seem a bit overblown was during the “Cheer Up, Charlie” song, where Charlie is walking in front of the moon and streetlights, which all had pretty clear blue rings around them. Whether this was from too much HDR or something in the original film, I can’t say.

What really benefits are the colors, which just pop, and are bright and vibrant, especially inside the factory and in the candy shoppe with its many brightly colored labels and candies. Things like the red-orange label of the Wonka bar or Wonka’s purple jacket really have more vibrancy. Skin tones also look natural, well, except for the Oompa Loompas, which are appropriately orange. There is a bit of film grain present, particularly noticeable in shots of powdery blue-grey skies, but it is never distracting, and certainly hasn’t been scrubbed away into softness.

Some of the sets—particularly the scene inside the factory with the chocolate river—look a bit dated. The enhanced clarity and resolution reveal that a lot of the props are, well, props, with some of the magic spoiled by the fact that you can actually see that the candy isn’t real and that some of the striping is just colored tape and that much of the ground cover is synthetic turf. Also, the compositing of images on TV screens—specifically when Charlie is watching Violet—also stand out a fair bit. However, most of the film holds up terrifically well, and the story is certainly timeless. 

Sonically, this new 4K transfer gets a DTS HD-Master 5.1-channel mix that doesn’t break any new ground. Dialogue is kept well anchored to the center channel and is clear and intelligible throughout. We get a bit of width across the front, such as cars and trains passing far left/right outside the screen, or the ticking of a clock. The most dynamic aspect of the mix is the musical numbers, which get some room to breathe across the front speakers and even get a bit of bass extension for a nice and full presentation. If there were any actual “surround” sound effects, they were subtle enough to go unnoticed. 

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a terrific film that definitely benefits from 4K’s added resolution and wider color gamut, and makes for a wonderful family-viewing experience. As Mr. Wonka says, “Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted. He lived happily ever after.” 

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The 4K HDR transfer is gorgeous, looking like layers have been pulled away and giving you a glimpse into the Chocolate Factory likely better than what was shown in 1971.

SOUND | The most dynamic aspect of the conservative audio mix is the musical numbers, which get some room to breathe across the front speakers, and even get a bit of bass extension for a nice & full presentation.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: Red Notice

Red Notice (2021)

review | Red Notice

recent reviews

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Netflix spent $200 million to come up with this action-driven heist film that critics hate but viewers seem to love

by John Sciacca
November 18, 2021

While Netflix has dumped Hollywood-level boatloads of cash into previous productions à la Martin Scorsese’s mega The Irishman ($159 million), and Michael Bay’s Underground ($150 million), Red Notice boasts the streaming giant’s biggest budget to date, along with its highest level of A-list talent, in the form of Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot. With an estimated budget of $200 million, and a limited theatrical release to be eligible for awards consideration, any thoughts Netflix isn’t treating its original tentpole productions with the same focus as traditional Hollywood studios is totally out the window, further eroding any arguments against streaming services as legitimate forms of entertainment.

Of course, we’ve learned time and again that big budgets and casts don’t guarantee a good movie, so the obvious questions are, “Does Red Notice work? And is it worth your time?”

With a current Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 35%, you might say, “No,” but when you counter that with the 91% audience score, it’s probably apparent Red Notice is designed to entertain viewers less than cater to critics.

While it doesn’t break any new ground, and relies heavily on elements from heist movies like the Ocean’s films starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, the Mission: Impossible franchise, and Indiana Jones—at one point, Reynolds even whistles the Indy theme—the chemistry between Reynolds and Johnson and their anti-buddy frenemy relationship makes for an entertaining two hours. Watching Reynolds needle Johnson for almost the entire film was great, and you have to wonder if the genesis of this bond was formed during Reynold’s cameo in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. We watched Red Notice right after Shang Chi and everyone in our group preferred Red.

We’re informed during the opening credits that a Red Notice is, “The highest level of arrest warrant issued by The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), reserved for the world’s most wanted criminals.”

We’re then told that 2,000 years ago, Marcus Antonius gave Cleopatra three bejeweled eggs. While the whereabouts of one egg is known, the second is rumored to be in the possession of a notorious arms dealer and the third remains lost. An Egyptian billionaire wants to give all three of the eggs to his daughter, Cleopatra (Brenna Marie Narayan), as a wedding present, and he has offered a massive reward to whoever can deliver. This attracts the attention of international art thief Nolan Booth (Reynolds), but also puts FBI profiler Special Agent John Hartley (Johnson) and Interpol agent Urvashi Das (Ritu Arya) on high alert when one of the eggs is put on display at a museum in Rome. 

After thinking he has made off with the first egg, Booth is apprehended by Hartley and Das at his home in Bali, but the egg is then stolen by Booth’s main competitor for title of “World’s Best Thief,” The Bishop (Gadot). The Bishop also plants disinformation that makes it appear Hartley was in on the heist, which leads to he and Booth winding up in the same Russian prison cell, forcing them to work together.

Throw in a bad guy named Sotto Voce (Chris Diamantopoulos), who looks eerily like a cross between Paul Rudd and Dos Equis’ “World’s Most Interesting Man,” a bull fight, elaborate escapes and thefts, chases, and Nazis, and you’ll have a pretty good idea what Red Notice is about. 

What the film lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in fun, packing in almost non-stop action with plenty of big scenes and a ton of locations—Rome, Bali, Russia, London, Valencia, Argentina, Cairo, Sardinia, Paris—that keep the visuals fresh and interesting. There are also plenty of plot twists along the way to keep you entertained. 

And humor. Reynolds brings his signature snark to almost every scene, similar to the PG-13 patter he brought to Free Guy. In fact, I daresay the only reason I can think of to not see this is if you aren’t a fan of Reynolds’ humor. Also, since all three of the leads have experience playing superheroes—Black Adam for Johnson, Wonder Woman for Gadot, and both Green Lantern and Deadpool for Reynolds—they know their way around action and choreographing exciting fight scenes.

Netflix has been a real advocate for 4K HDR in its productions, so it’s no surprise that Red Notice was shot in a combination of 6K and 8K resolution, and that the transfer is taken from a true 4K digital intermediate with Dolby Vision HDR grading, resulting in images that are sharp, clean, and highly detailed throughout.

A scene in the opening shows a line drawing of Cleopatra, and its lines are crisp, sharp, and defined. Closeups reveal tons of detail in the actors’ faces, making it easy to see the creases, crags, and lines in Johnson’s head and face versus Reynolds’ whiskers and stubble and the smooth near-perfection of Gadot’s skin. You can also really appreciate the texture in surfaces like the stone and brick walls outside the museum in Rome or the pebbled surface of the doors and sides of an armored car, or the detail and sharpness of individual leaves in a jungle forest. Even lengthy shots like one of London in golden early morning light have lots of sharpness. 

There is also a ton of pop courtesy of the DolbyVision HDR grading. Right from the very beginning, I noticed how saturated the color red is in the titles. There are also beautiful, bright highlights off golden objects such as one of the eggs, or from bright sunlight streaming in through windows, or interiors lit by warm lighting that almost give the images a glow. Other scenes, like one showing video screens inside a security station, really pop with bright highlights. Black levels were deep and solid and clean throughout as well. The only bit of streaming nastiness I noticed was a moment when characters were dunked underwater, and there was a bit of posterization in the murky lighting.

Sonically, the Dolby Atmos track definitely enhanced the fun with a pretty dynamic mix. We get nice atmospheric effects like voices echoing off the hard museum walls, the flat sound inside an old bunker, the swirls of winds and snow, the background yells, commotion, and buzzers in a prison, or the huge crowd roars and cheers during the bullfight. 

The mix also really expands when called on via active height channels used effectively to add another sonic layer when appropriate. We get the almost requisite Atmos helicopter flyover that clearly races overhead, or the sounds of water bubbling up all around, and moments like The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” blaring from all channels prior to the start of a big chase. 

There is plenty of action here, and I was surprised by the depth of the bass performance. Besides the report of gunfire, you can really feel the weight of heavy doors as they slam shut or the concussion of grenades as they go off.

Thanks to its generous budget, the visual effects and production values are first-rate, and the leads play their roles exactly as you would expect. Honestly, this feels like a big-budget Hollywood production that would have been successful at the box office. For Netflix subscribers, I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t add it to your list.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The transfer is taken from a true 4K digital intermediate with Dolby Vision HDR grading, resulting in images that are sharp, clean, and highly detailed throughout.

SOUND | The Dolby Atmos track definitely enhances the fun with a pretty dynamic mix with surprisingly deep bass performance.

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: King Richard

King Richard (2021)

review | King Richard

recent reviews

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Will Smith’s performance and actors who actually seem to know how to play tennis keep things interesting & believable in this story of the early years of Venus and Serena Williams

by John Sciacca
November 26, 2021

I’m a sucker for movies “based on a true story.” Usually these capture super-human achievements (like First Man or Midway) or unlikely events (like Ford v. Ferrari or The Social Network) or give us a glimpse into events we only knew a little about and want to learn more (like Richard Jewell or Just Mercy). Of course, the downside of these kinds of films is that Hollywood likes to tell a good story above all else, and these movies often become the definitive truth for the public, even when that truth has been manipulated, compressed, or let’s say “enhanced” for the sake of the story. For example, as I dug into the real stories behind movies like Bohemian Rhapsody or American Sniper, I learned that—as attorney Lionel Hutz famously said on The Simpson’s—“There’s the truth and ‘the truth’,” and just because it happens up on screen doesn’t mean it necessarily happened that way.

All of which is to say, I’m not sure exactly how accurate Warner Bros.’ new film King Richard is when it comes to telling the “true” story about the origins of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams growing up, or the antics of their father Richard, but I will say it was an entertaining feel-good film with great performances all around that really gives you a sense of the obstacles these girls/women overcame and just how much raw talent they had. I also walked away thinking that if their father was even half the character as portrayed by Will Smith, then the girls’ talent was truly off-the-charts for any of the people to actually take a chance on them and be forced to put up with him.

The film focuses on a fairly narrow slice of the girls’ lives, covering just a few years from when they start their serious training up until Venus (Saniyya Sidney) turns pro and competes in her first tournament in 1994 at age 14. Similar to Rockyfor a movie based on two of the greatest female tennis players of all time, there actually isn’t a lot of tennis. We get some scenes with them practicing, trying out for coaches, training, and some moments from Venus’s junior tournaments, but it’s really not until the big final matches when Venus turns pro that we see a lot of court action. The movie concentrates more on Richard’s all-focused drive on getting them to the top and making them the best, and showing us the hardships they had to overcome—Serena (Demi Singleton) and Venus shared a room and even a bed with three other half-sisters in a small house in Compton, California.

I also don’t know if Sidney or Singleton have any actual tennis talent, but both sure look convincing on screen, which is what matters here. I was a golf professional in my previous career, and it is always a huge distraction in most golf films when it’s clear the actor couldn’t break 100 to save his life. Here, the girls’ mechanics are definitely believable, with strong, aggressive ground strokes and serves that look like the real deal. Even more impressive, Sidney is left-handed, but actually learned to play right for the film—though I do think the actors are physically smaller than the actual Williams sisters, who were imposing even at a young age.

Having read the Tiger Woods biography by Jeff Benedict, I saw quite a few parallels between the two stories. In both cases, you had less-privileged kids pushed to greatness by the drive and willpower of fathers who recognized their potential and wouldn’t take no for an answer. In this case, Richard had come up with his “plan” even before the girls were born, and he was laser-focused on sticking to it and making them the best, regardless of obstacles or setbacks.

We get a sense that young Venus and Serena enjoyed playing and practicing, but was that because it was just living up to the plan constantly being drilled into them, they were trying to please overbearing Richard, they recognized tennis as their way to a better life, or they actually loved playing? Another common thread between King Richard and Tiger’s story was that of dropping supporters/coaches once they had reached the end of their usefulness, with people used just as stepping-stones to get to the next level.

While the film is struggling at the box office, having brought in a worldwide gross of just $8.4 million to date against its $50 million budget, it’s available day & date on HBO Max in 4K HDR with Dolby Vision from a 4K digital intermediate and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. 

The opening images are a bit soft and have a desaturated color palette that feels like we are stepping back in time, but with the clarity and cleanness that is the signature of digital over film. Closeups certainly deliver loads of detail, and when we come in tight on Smith’s face you can see all the fine lines, pores, and individual hairs in his beard, or see the texture in fabrics like tennis shirts and sweaters. You also get nice sharp, tight lines, such as when shooting through chain-link fences surrounding tennis courts or the brick-and-mortar at country club buildings. Some longer shots, such as the pans of crowds at the Bank of the West tournament, also deliver sharp focus and detail. 

The Dolby Vision grade is fairly restrained but is used to create natural-looking images with lots of depth and shadow detail throughout, with some added highlights when called for. Some of the best-looking images are the outdoor, sunlit scenes on the courts, where the lens just soaks up all the natural light, and where we get some gleaming white tennis shirts and shorts. We also get some night scenes with neon lights, sirens, tennis court lights, and headlights that pop against the black.

With the vast majority of the movie being dialogue that moves the story forward, don’t expect too much from this Dolby Atmos mix, but it definitely keeps the voices in the center channel, where they are always clear and intelligible. The surrounds and height speakers are used to expand the music and score—this might be the first and only time you can hear Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” in Atmos—and we also get some nice atmospheric audio when appropriate, like the sounds of street traffic or the sounds of birds, bugs, and insects. Occasionally, we get some overhead channel activity from rain storms or the echo of PA announcements. We also get a nice, authoritative POP! when Venus is whacking the ball.

King Richard is an entertaining, well-made, and well-acted film, and with Rotten Tomatoes critics’ and audience scores of 91 and 98% respectively, it would not be a surprise to see Will Smith up for his third Best Actor nomination. Other than a few uses of the n-word, it is definitely family friendly, and kept my 15 year old—who has no interest in tennis—engaged. Streaming now on HBO Max, it is certainly worth giving a watch. 

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The Dolby Vision grade is fairly restrained but is used to create natural-looking images with lots of depth and shadow detail throughout.

SOUND | Since the movie relies on dialogue to move the story forward, there’s not a lot going on in the Dolby Atmos mix, but it definitely keeps the voices in the center channel, where they are always clear and intelligible.

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: The Dark Knight Trilogy

The Dark Knight Trilogy

review | The Dark Knight Trilogy

The UHD Blu-rays of Christopher Nolan’s iconic superhero trilogy make these films as vivid as they were when first seen in theaters

by John Sciacca
December 6, 2021

As my daughter Lauryn has gotten older—she just turned 15—it has been wonderful revisiting classic films as a family now that she’s old enough to appreciate— and not be scared by—them. We’re caught up on all the Star Wars films, she’s a huge fan of virtually everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), she loved the six-season journey that was ABC’s Lost, and we’ve sat through the new 4K HDR extended versions of The Hobbit and Rings films. As a parent and movie buff, it’s really great to relive these classics through her eyes, getting a chance to experience them again with someone who is watching for the first time—especially when some of these are movies I’ve previously watched multiple times. 

Another great benefit is that many of these films are now receiving 4K HDR makeovers, making it a perfect time to go back and rewatch a favorite in a way you’ve likely never experienced it before. And, as is likely the case with many readers, my entertainment system has progressed by leaps and bounds since I’ve watched these movies years ago, which certainly makes it feel like a completely new experience in many cases.

The latest series of films we watched was Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, which started in 2005 with Batman Begins, followed in 2008 with The Dark Knight, and concluded in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises.

I remember watching Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989 and loving it. It was hands-down the best Batman we had at the time—especially with the ultra-campy ‘60s Adam West version as our previous touchstone. But, let’s be honest—time hasn’t been as kind to it. And watching it some 40 years later—even with a new 4K HDR transfer and Dolby Atmos sound mix—things like Prince’s soundtrack, the dancing, the goofiness, and even some of the Burton-ness just feel dated. 

Prior to watching Nolan’s trilogy, I told Lauryn that beyond being just great superhero movies, these are just great movies, specifically The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger’s fantastic Academy Award-winning portrayal of The Joker, which transcends the superhero genre by exploring depths and boundaries rarely attempted in movies with characters wearing capes.

There are several things Nolan does that elevates this trilogy above others. First, he weighted the cast with fantastic actors. Throughout the three films we have Christian Bale in the double role of Bruce Wayne and Batman, Michael Caine as butler-cum-conscience Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Morgan Freeman who runs Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences Division as Lucius Fox, anchoring the principal cast. Each of them has won at least one Academy Award and been nominated for multiple—a ton of firepower to build your franchise around. For villains, we get Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Heath Ledger, and Tom Hardy. And that doesn’t even mention the multiple other characters that weave through the story, like Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Nestor Carbonell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aaron Eckart. The films are packed with A-listers and the quality of the acting shows throughout.

Second, Batman has always been the hero most grounded in reality, and Nolan really makes that feel real here. Bale is believable as billionaire playboy Wayne—buying hotels, dating supermodels, and driving Lamborghinis—but he’s also not invincible, and is a complete physical wreck by the third film. But Wayne isn’t alone in his endeavors, and it’s the equally important team of Alfred—who handles many of the logistics and runs things behind the scenes to allow Wayne to keep his secret identity—and Fox, who gives the perfect (and plausible) answer as to how and where Batman gets all those wonderful toys—that really make the story work. Between the three of them, it’s far easier to buy into the action and that Batman would have this tech at his disposal and be the savior Gotham needs. 

Third, Nolan manages to walk the style line between Marvel and DC, even before they existed as such. Coming in three years before Iron Man (the first film in the MCU) Batman Begins was the first modern big-budget superhero film, and Nolan set the tone, again choosing to ground it more in reality and shoot with a mentality towards making a great movie instead of just a great superhero movie. Where Marvel’s formula leans towards being light when it needs to, and DC—especially with the Zack Snyder films—tends to go overly dark and somber, Nolan found a way to be serious and mature but still fun. The light moments are far more a well-placed clever comment from Alfred or Lucius than something gratuitously placed for a laugh. 

Finally, and perhaps the most important thing, Nolan doesn’t rush things. The shortest film in the trilogy is 140 minutes, with the longest running 165, giving Nolan plenty of time to let things develop and unfold. This is particularly evident in Batman Begins, where we don’t even see Wayne as Batman until an hour into the film. Think about that—for the first 43% of a superhero movie, we don’t even see the superhero. Instead, Nolan takes Wayne and us on a lengthy journey lasting years to get the training needed to believably transform him from a soft socialite into a hard vigilante, while interspersing the history of Gotham and the Wayne family along the way. The same is true with The Dark Knight Rises, where the first 45 minutes pass without a Batman sighting, instead letting us see the toll it has taken on Wayne. Nolan lets the story build, develop, and speak for itself, instead of feeling the insecurity of needing to insert the hero into every scene. And by including the same principal cast throughout the films, we have nearly eight hours to become invested in these characters. 

All three films were originally filmed in 35mm but have been remastered for their UltraHD release, and these new transfers are taken from true 4K digital intermediates. As I’ve said before, don’t expect film-to-4K transfers to have the tack-sharp look of modern digital productions, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a ton of detail, especially on closeups. You can definitely see all the fine lines and wear on Bale’s face, the texture in fabrics, the construction of his vehicles, and both the grit and polish of Gotham.

What makes these transfers really pop, though, is the HDR grading. Much of the action takes place at night or in dark interiors, and the HDR gives us a foundation of deep, solid blacks with which to pop bright highlights, resulting in images that are far more realistic. There is also more headroom to pump highlights into reflections glinting off glass or metal, or the brightness of an explosion, or headlights/sirens during night chases. And when you combine the sharpness, clarity, and detail of 4K with the inky blacks and bright pops of HDR, such as in long exterior shots of Hong Kong or Gotham, you end up with images that are beautiful to behold.  

Nolan is fairly well known at this point for his dislike of immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos, so all three of these films make do with a 5.1-channel DTS HD-Master mix. Fortunately, when routed through the upmixer of a modern processor (DTS: Neural in my case), you get a terrific sense of immersion.  While you get some ambient sounds on the streets of Gotham, it’s the big action scenes that really show off your system, with sounds frequently encircling the entire room, including up overhead. Whether it is people under the trippy influence of Scarecrow’s (Murphy) gas, or Batman crushing over things in the Tumbler or flying around in The Bat, or the stadium-filled echo of the young boy (“What a lovely, lovely voice”) singing the National Anthem, the mix delivers.

Explosions, gun shots, and vehicle crashes—of which there are plenty across the three films—also have plenty of authority and weight, with your subwoofers definitely energizing the room to tactile levels. There was one scene where the loud THWACK! of an arrow suddenly slamming into a target made both my wife and daughter jump.  

I also happen to love the Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard scores, especially for The Dark Knight with The Joker’s theme, which has a frantic, crazed quality that drives the tension; and the music definitely gets room to expand across the front channels and overhead. The Dark Knight opens with a bank robbery, and the long drawn out and unsettling string notes inform you something sinister is about to happen. 

Dialogue is mostly intelligible, though there were some moments—particularly in the third film with Bane (Hardy) speaking behind a mask—where the combination of music, mayhem, and on-set recorded dialogue made some lines a bit tricky to hear, but certainly nothing like the sonic mess of Nolan’s Interstellar or Tenet. 

With his Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan accomplished one of the toughest feats in Hollywood—making a sequel that is better than the original. In fact, The Dark Knight is the fourth highest-rated film on IMDB’s Top 250, behind The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, and The Godfather: Part II. And as good as it is, The Dark Knight Returns is arguably better in ways.

This trilogy belongs in any collection, especially now that it has been given the 4K treatment, and if it has been more than a few years since you’ve watched these films, they make for a terrific movie weekend. 

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The HDR grading really makes these 4K transfers pop. With much of the action taking place at night or in dark interiors, HDR provides a foundation of deep, solid blacks with which to pop bright highlights, resulting in images that are far more realistic.

SOUND | Since Christopher Nolan doesn’t like Dolby Atmos, all three films make do with 5.1-channel DTS HD-Master mixes. Fortunately, when routed through the upmixer of a modern processor, you get a terrific sense of immersion.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Venom II

review | Venom: Let There Be Carnage

the MCU on Cineluxe

recent reviews

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

It’s not high art, but both audiences & critics seems to like this followup better than the first Venom effort

by John Sciacca
December 6, 2021

Going over my review for the original Venom, I wrote, “[Eddie] Brock (Tom Hardy) is supposed to be this killer investigative journalist, but, honestly, Hardy comes across as just too slow, clunky, and dim-witted to be even close to believable in this role, and the early scenes with him as a journalist were the hardest for me to just sit back and enjoy. Actually, I found him more believable post-infection since his body adapting to the ‘parasite’ offers an explanation for his semi out-of-it behavior.” And that is one of the biggest reasons why the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, actually works better and is more entertaining, because we skip past the first film’s tedious and laborious first act, largely ignore Brock as a journalist, and just jump to the, well, carnage.

The film also trims 15 minutes from the original’s run time, getting down to a tighter 97 minutes that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Don’t get me wrong, Carnage certainly isn’t high-brow entertainment, but it comes to deliver a big, over-the-top, popcorn-munching actioner, and in that respect, it succeeds. And even the critics agree. 

Where the first film received a paltry 30% Rotten Tomatoes score, this new one is clinging to a barely-fresh 60%. Of course, that matters little to Hollywood, and Venom scored where it needed to, mainly bringing in more than $850 million worldwide, which all but guaranteed a sequel—which was teased in the film’s mid-credits sequence where Brock goes to visit a convicted killer in San Quentin State Prison who proclaims that once he is released, there will be “carnage.” 

While watching Venom isn’t a prerequisite to “enjoying” Carnage, it’s helpful to understanding how Eddie became Venom and their “special” symbiotic relationship, as well as providing backstory on some of the returning characters, such as ex-girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams) and shopkeeper Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu). 

Also cribbing from my Venom review, if you go into this expecting to see your favorite web-slinger or other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters, you’re going to be disappointed. Venom and Carnage stand off in their own section of the MCU . . . for now. Let’s just say, the multi-verse is coming and you should definitely stay for Carnage’s mid-credits scene, which will open up a whole new world.

The film opens in a flashback as Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) and girlfriend Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) are living in St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children. Frances is taken away by police but during the transfer, she unleashes a powerful sonic scream, deafening Officer Mulligan (Stephen Graham) and allowing her to escape. 

Meanwhile, Eddie/Venom are still coming to terms with their unique living arrangement—biting people’s heads off is no longer acceptable—and Eddie is back working as a journalist. Kasady, now a convicted serial killer on death row in San Quentin, will only speak with Eddie following their original interview (shown in Venom’s mid-credit scene). During one of these visits, Kasady bites Eddie—“I have tasted blood before. And that is not it!”—and he absorbs the symbiote that becomes Carnage.And, well, cue the action and mayhem as Kasady/Carnage goes on the loose in San Francisco looking for his lost love Frances/Shriek.

Carnage is directed by Andy Serkis, who is largely regarded as the king of motion-capture performances from his roles as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings franchise and The Hobbit, King Kong, Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboots, and Supreme Leader Snoke from Star Wars: Episodes VII and VIII. Serkis certainly understands working in big budget, big action, VFX laden films, and he keeps things moving here—and that’s maybe why it feels a bit thin, as Carnage seems to care less about character development and relationships other than Brock/Venom, and more about getting to the next big CGI-filled battle. 

The movie looks to lighten things up with a lot of dialogue between Eddie and Venom, as the two argue back-and-forth about acceptable behavior and Eddie’s life choices. One small nit here is that Venom’s voice (which sounds similar to Bane’s from The Dark Knight Rises) as well as Carnage’s can be a bit difficult to understand at times. Both voices are heavily manipulated digitally and mixed with a lot of bass, which will certainly test your audio system’s calibration, crossover, and level settings. Get it too heavy-handed and these voices will be a boomy, muffled mess; go too light and you’ll miss that deep resonance that gives them the right weight. But even dialed-in, dialogue—especially the Eddie/Venom exchanges—can be slightly challenging to understand.

Shot on a combination of 4.5 and 6.5K, this transfer is taken from a 2K digital intermediate, which isn’t unusual for such effects-heavy films. Interestingly, Serkis switched to a 1.85:1 aspect ratio for Carnage which plays “fuller” at home on a 16:9 screen, rather than the 2.39:1 scope presentation preferred for most action films. As with most digitally shot productions, images are clean and sharp throughout, and closeups exhibit a ton of detail, such as the fine pores in Hardy’s face or the crisp pattern on shirts or tight detail in a prison’s chain link fence. 

Visually Carnage has a ton to offer, and the HDR presentation really helps images pop. There are a couple of standout scenes that are visually stunning, such as Venom having a night out on the town and the film’s big finale in a church. You can really see the benefits of the HDR grading during night shots in San Francisco, where there are neon lights and headlights a plenty, or the vibrant red of Brock’s Ducati and its glowing brake lights, along with the high brightness of flares and explosions. When Venom steps into a club, you get a ton of bright colors from costumes worn by other club-goers and glow-sticks and other objects that react to the blacklights. The cathedral is it lit by glowing, warm light, with the lighting and shadows looking appropriately dark and natural, along with a beautiful stained-glass window.

Sonically, the Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack offers a lot of demo-worthy and dynamic moments, with a steady combination of subtle atmospherics to establish scenes along with over-the-top action (literally, in the case of the height speakers). For subtler moments, notice the sounds in a hospital early on as well as in the prison, with little establishing sounds happening all around and PA announcements coming overhead, or the sounds of swirling winds high atop a building. Another nice Atmos demo is the placement of the TV audio in Brock’s apartment. As he goes to answer the door and then moves around the room, notice how the TV’s audio slides and shifts around the room.

Action scenes also certainly take advantage of all your speakers, with objects and characters thrown to every side and corner of your room, helicopters and rain/thunder pounding overhead, a Venom tornado that swirls 360 degrees around you, sonic blasts from Shriek, and more. 

As mentioned, the bass levels of Venom’s/Carnage’s voice can be a bit tricky but the film also has several moments of truly momentous subsonic bass that will push your subwoofers to their limits. The opening especially has some massive bass you’ll feel in your chest, along with loads of slam from things being thrown/smashed during fights, Venom yelling/jumping/stomping, the collapse of buildings, or the thunderous gong from a massive bell. 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn’t a great film, but it is an entertaining one that looks and sounds great. It’s one of those where you just sit back, don’t think too hard, and enjoy. But it’s most promising moment is actually its mid-credits scene, and it is perhaps in Venom’s third act where we’ll really get to see the story shine! 

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | Images are clean and sharp throughout, closeups exhibit a ton of detail, and the HDR presentation really helps images pop.

SOUND | The Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack offers a lot of demo-worthy and dynamic moments, with a steady combination of subtle atmospherics to establish scenes along with over-the-top action.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Review: The Last Duel

The Last Duel

review | The Last Duel

recent reviews

Sign up for our monthly newsletter
to stay up to date on Cineluxe

Ridley Scott does Rashomon, applying contemporary sensibilities to medieval morality in this tale of rape & warfare

by John Sciacca
December 5, 2021

Under typical circumstances, The Last Duel would likely have been a successful film as it carries about as solid a pedigree as you can get in Hollywood these days. You have Ridley Scott in the director’s chair, whose resume carries such films as Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Blackhawk Down, The Martian, and many, many more. You have the writing team of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, reuniting on their first collaboration since their Oscar-winning turn at Good Will Hunting in 1997, along with Nicole Holofcener to help with female perspective. You have a leading cast that is stacked with Damon, Affleck, Adam Driver, and Jodie Comer. And you have an epic story based on actual events covered in the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager, which has massive scope and scale clearly meant to be viewed up on a big screen. And even critics largely enjoyed it, with the movie currently sitting with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 86%. 

Except, it wasn’t. With its $100 million budget, the film has so far managed to bring in just under $11 million in North America, and a paltry $29.8 million worldwide. 

The problem, according to Scott, wasn’t the lack of promotion by Disney—which inherited the film when it bought Fox—who Scott says “loved the movie” and “did a fantastic job with promotion,” or even people not ready to return to cinemas post-pandemic, or even how the better-than-movie-theater experience at home is changing movie-going habits. Rather Scott blamed the lackluster performance on Millennials. 

“I think what it boils down to—what we’ve got today [are] audiences who were brought up on these f—ing cellphones,” Scott claimed. “The millennian do not ever want to be taught anything unless you are told it on the cellphone. This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook. There is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation.”

At its heart, The Last Duel is a he said/she said story that certainly feels familiar in the post-#MeToo-movement world. But things were much worse for women back in the 14th Century, where it was definitely a man’s world and a woman’s primary role was to produce a male heir. The movie also informs us that a rape wasn’t a crime against a woman, but rather a property crime against her husband. Also, not only was a woman not even permitted to bring charges without her husband’s permission; if she was found to be guilty of bringing a false witness against a man, she was to be burned alive.

Similar to Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 film Rashomon, The Last Duel is presented in three “chapters,” with “the truth” as told through the principal characters’ point of view, with several of the same scenes shown over and over, but through the lens of how that character saw events. Also similar to Rashomon, the key bit of “truth” at stake here is whether or not a woman was raped.

Apparently, this was supposed to star Damon and Affleck—similar to their turns in Hunting—but due to other commitments, Affleck stepped aside from the leading role and instead took a smaller part as the wealthy cousin to King Charles VI, Count Pierre d’Alencon, and he looks so different with blonde hair and eyebrows that it was a few scenes before I recognized him. This actually was a good change, as Driver as Jacque Le Gris has more intensity, presence, and sheer physicality to be a more convincing opposite to Damon’s Sir Jean de Carrouges. 

As I mentioned in the opening of my King Richard review, cinematic “truth” often differs from the actual truth, and it appears The Last Duel is more a film based on actual events than the reality of what happened. You can learn more about the film’s historical accuracy in this article written by a medieval history professor. 

The film opens with a brief taste of the climactic final duel to come, showing the Carrouges and Le Gris facing off in a joust before a crowded arena, and then cutting to black as they make first contact. 

The film’s first chapter—“The truth according to JEAN DE CARROUGES”—is the longest and most fleshed out of the three, telling events from Carrouges’ perspective. While he fights alongside his friend Le Gris, jealousy develops over gifts and favor d’Alencon bestows on Le Gris. To improve his finances, Carrouges marries Lady Marguerite de Thibouville (Comer), the daughter of a disgraced gentleman, for her large dowry and rights to her estate; but part of the estate he is promised has actually been taken by d’Alencon and given to Le Gris. Adding further insult to Carrouges, d’Alencon appoints Le Gris to be captain of a fort that had been held by the Carrouges family for generations. When Carrouges returns from a trip collecting monies owed him from a conquest, Marguerite informs him that Le Gris came to the home while she was alone and forced himself on her. Knowing that d’Alencon will dismiss any case he brings, Carrouges appeals to King Charles VI (Alex Lawther), asking to defend his and his wife’s honor in a duel to the death, where God reveals the innocent party—i.e., the winner—proving their cause was truthful and just. 

The second chapter—“The truth according to JACQUES LE GRIS”—reveals another side of the triangle and develops events that happened beyond Carrouges’ perspective. Le Gris doesn’t deny the carnal relations—at first—but rather feels Marguerite was willing and consenting. “She made the customary protests,” he claims, but it definitely wasn’t rape. 

The final chapter is “The truth according to THE LADY MARGUERITE,” and the words “The Truth” linger on the screen for several seconds, implying this is how events really happened. Here we see how Marguerite is really dealt a poor hand, stuck in a difficult marriage to a difficult man, with the strain of not getting pregnant after years of marriage weighing heavily on them both. Her word over the rape is repeatedly questioned, and adding fuel to the doubters is the fact that she is now pregnant following the event. The dubious “science” of the day claimed a woman was unable to get pregnant unless she experienced “pleasure at the end,” and that “rape cannot result in pregnancy; this is just science.” So, if a woman was to become pregnant, she was really enjoying the act, so was it really a rape at all? 

Running just over two and a half hours, the film never feels rushed, but with a fair bit of action interspersed, the terrific cinematography, and a steady stream of “new” information, I never found it slow or dragging. It steadily builds in tension toward the final duel, and left me truly unsure of how it was going to finish. 

After some of the massive battles portrayed in Game of Thrones, impressing with epic medieval warfare isn’t easy, but Scott has proven he knows how to film battles both big and small, and the action here is up close, dirty, brutal, and violent. You feel like you are right in the midst of things, especially in the final duel where the hand-to-hand fighting is literally face-to-face at times. 

Shot on Arri at 4.5K, this transfer is taken from a true 4K digital intermediate presented in 2.39:1 aspect ratio. This film has epic scale and certainly deserves to be viewed on a big, cinematic screen where you can appreciate the huge country, locations, and sets. It looked terrific on my 115-inch screen. While not a criticism, images looked more film-like instead of having the tack-sharp ultra-resolution of many modern films, but that fit the movie’s feel.

There are plenty of scenes that show off the clarity and resolution. Closeups of Marguerite let you see her smooth skin and tiny pores, and equally view the ragged scar on Carrouges’ cheek. You can also appreciate the craftsmanship and texture in the costuming, from fine linens, heavy leathers and furs, satins and silks, and dense armor. In an opening scene, you can clearly see each individual link in chain mail armor or see the fine gold braiding in a detail around a hat or the fine stone and mortar lines in buildings and walls. 

Much of the movie is filmed in cold, wintry greys with overcast skies, with drab browns and other earth tones, so there aren’t a lot of big, saturated colors. The HDR grade does give us really natural-looking images, with loads of shadow detail. It also benefits the numerous scenes that were filmed either by roaring fire or candlelight, providing plenty of light to make the flames pop while still keeping blacks dark and detailed. The warm, golden glowing shots by candlelight come across especially well in HDR—and can also be tricky for lower-bitrate streamers, as they can cause posterization, but they looked beautiful and realistic here.

The Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack is engaging, energetic, and immersive when it needs to be. From the opening, you’ll hear the background sounds of wind whistling around the room, crows cawing, bells ringing in the distance, and flags snapping overhead that place you right into the scene. Inside castles, you’ll hear the noise of raucous feasting, or the reverberance of voices echoing off hard castle walls, and the overhead sounds of rolling thunder.

Of course, the big audio moments are the battle scenes, and here all speakers are employed to immerse you in the mayhem. There are the thundering stomps of horse hooves in your sub channel, the huge clash and clang of steel on armor, and the sounds of flaming arrows sizzling overhead and whizzing past you into the back of the room. The final battle is long and especially brutal, and the sounds certainly heighten the tension and emotion. Dialogue has been increasingly difficult to understand in some films, but I’m happy to say I never had any issues here, and voices were always clear and intelligible in the center channel.

The Last Duel is available on digital platforms like Kaleidescape now, and will be released on UltraHD Blu-ray on December 14. While it is an intense film, and the rape scene—shown twice—is ugly and hard to watch, the movie is fueled by strong performances and beautiful cinematography, and it delivers an experience on a large, premium home entertainment system that will likely spark some conversations after the credits roll.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | The HDR grade provides natural-looking images with lots of shadow detail and also benefits the many scenes filmed either by roaring fire or candlelight

SOUND | The Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack is engaging, energetic, and immersive when it needs to be

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

© 2023 Cineluxe LLC

Scroll to top

sign up for our newsletter

receive a monthly recap of everything that’s new on Cineluxe