Pacific Rim [Blu-ray] [2016] [NTSC]

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Pacific Rim was shot digitally, yielding results reportedly as high as 5K, but is capped by a 2K Digital Intermediate, which has been used here for this Ultra HD Blu-ray release. Pacific Rim' has always been surround sound demo material, but this Dolby Atmos mix rises above the original Blu-ray's 7. alien monster anime ever created – most notably the seminal Neon Genesis Evangelion– acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro’s mega-budget Summer blockbuster Pacific Rim somehow managed to be more than just the Transformers vs.Granted, there is a great deal of hard, commanding bass to enjoy, providing the gigantic action with plenty of weight and presence, but it's not at the room-energizing, wall-rattling and seismic intensity the visual would imply. With the release of the sequel, there isn't a better time to revisit the first movie in all its 4K glory. This is a film where the VFX work varies from photo-real to something more akin to sytlized animé, and all of that holds up here. It was captured on Red Epic cameras capable of up to 5K (5120x2560) raw frame quality, then downsampled to a 2K Digital Intermediate mixed with 2K rendered visual effects.

I'm bumping this because I bought Pacific Rim HDR and a 4K Blu-ray player over the weekend and it's glorious. I went IMAX 3-D and my ears bled in ecstasy from the stomping of the robots feet on the hard pavement to the smashing of their fists into the jaws of the Kaijus. It's really the HDR, WCG and Dolby Vision that make all the difference, however, with even the opening Universal banner and ensuing Studio credits having imaginative stylisation that lends itself particularly well towards the theme of enjoying vividly colourful future tech in all its radiant glory, something furthered by all the HUDs and holographic readouts, and even the damn exit signs.Although dominated by building-shaking, ground-quaking LFE-edged action, it's still an impressively nuanced affair, offering discrete surround dissemination and keen attention to the details - from the tech gear in the Jaegers to the thrum of the energy-pulsing Kaiju. Blade Runner looks okay in 4K HDR, but 2049 is light years ahead of it in picture quality even though it's a lower resolution. Much starker contrast between the darkness of the sea and the light-colored evac pod through the madVR conversion. I love Japanese movies, Kurosawa, and Masaki Kobayashi's "Kwaidan" which Criterion has refurbished to "2K" resolution.