Aquaman 4K Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Aquaman Summary
The Atlantean child Orin, son to the Queen of Atlantis (Nicole Kidman), was abandoned as an infant and left to die; however, he was rescued and raised by a kindly lighthouse keeper. The keeper (Temuera Morrison) adopted the boy as his own son, renaming him Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa). Able to survive the harshest depths of the ocean and on the surface world above, the child of two worlds grew to be a hero to both eventually returning to Atlantis to become their King in addition to being a founding member of the Justice League as Aquaman!
Aquaman Movie Review
Aquaman, almost by its very nature, is a bit cheesy. Being able to communicate with sea creatures and command the oceans seems a bit weak compared to other superheroes, but they give it their best here. A bit of silliness aside the movie is OK, much better than some of the other DC titles, but never takes itself too seriously. My kids highly enjoyed it and watched it a second time the next day. The film clocks in at nearly 2.5 hours, and a shorter, faster-paced film might have been more enjoyable in the end. I think Aquaman plays in fine with the rest of the Justice League characters, but as a solo act it lacks the depth of Wonder Woman but it more enjoyable than the other DC films.
Aquaman Technical Review
Aquaman was shot at 3.4K on Arri cameras, but only given a 2K digital intermediate. The disc does feature a Dolby Vision layer to go with the HDR10 version. Overall the image here is impressive. HDR is used often, and colors like Aquaman’s trident and costume shimmer with rich, vibrant hues. Shadows maintain the depth without losing details, and overall the image is quite sharp. It isn’t as sharp as the best titles with that 2K digital intermediate, but otherwise it’s superb looking.
The soundtrack is in Dolby Atmos and does a fantastic job. It isn’t as dynamic as the best soundtracks, but it is very good otherwise. The subwoofer does get used quite often, and Atmos is used to place you in the environments fairly often. Being undersea there is plenty of chances for those channels to shine. Vocals are clear and easy to understand and overall the soundtrack doesn’t disappoint at all.
Aquaman Special Features
- Going Deep Into the World of Aquaman
- Becoming Aquaman
- James Wan: World Builder
- Aqua Tech
- Atlantis Warfare
- The Dark Depths of Black Manta
- Heroines of Atlantis
- Villaneous Training
- Kingdoms of the Seven Seas
- Creating Undersea Creatures
- A Match Made in Atlantis
- Scene Study Breakdowns
- Exclusive Sneak Peek of Shazam!
Aquaman Review System
Sony A1E OLED, Vizio PQ LCD, Panasonic UB820 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, SVS PB-3000 subwoofer.
Pros
Fun, if sometimes a bit silly, movie, very good Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos usage.
Cons
Not a true 4K transfer, not the best of the superhero genre films.
Summary
Aquaman is a bit silly at times but is a perfectly enjoyable film. The Dolby Vision video and Dolby Atmos audio are wonderful, and my kids definitely enjoyed it and will be watching it again in the near future.
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