The Great Gatsby UltraHD Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Summary: Based upon the novel you likely read during high school, The Great Gatsby is set during the roaring 20’s in New York City. Jay Gatsby is a mysteriously wealthy man living in West Egg. Gatsby is known to throw large, extravagant parties but no one has ever met him. Nick Carraway moves into a small cottage set next to Gatsby’s mansion as he sets out to become a bond trader in the city.
Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan lives with her husband Tom across the water from Gatsby. After having dinner with them, Nick returns home to find Gatsby looking across the water towards Daisy and Tom’s house. As he’ll soon discover, Gatsby’s past and his intentions for Nick are intertwined.
Movie Review: The Great Gatsby is a good attempt by Baz Lhurman to capture the magic of the book, but it comes up short of that or Moulin Rouge which this tries to channel. The style doesn’t quite capture the feeling of the book, but it does try to bring alive the feeling of the roaring 20’s. The acting here is perfectly fine, just the approach of the film to the novel doesn’t quite work out.
Technical Review: While originally shot in Redcode Raw, the digital intermediate is only 2K and so the UltraHD Blu-ray can’t deliver the full resolution. Some images, such as Daisy on the couch when we first meet her, look crisp and incredible detailed. Even compared to the Blu-ray, the lack of compression artifacts is clear and there is an extra bit of sharpness. We don’t get as much benefit from WCG and HDR as I had assumed we would. The image is clean and detailed, but not eye popping.
The Atmos soundtrack is more of a disappointment. The use of the height channels is barely noticeable most of the time, and it doesn’t pull you into the movie as much as it could. The roaring parties at the Gasby Estate are not as all encompassing as expected, but the surrounds are still used well. It’s an improvement on the prior Blu-ray soundtrack, but not enough to make most people want to upgrade.
Special Features: Seven featurettes including “The Greatness of Gatsby”, “The Jazz Age”, and “Fitzgerald’s Visual Poetry”, Deleted Scenes with an alternate ending, and a trailer for the 1926 Great Gatsby film.
Review System: Vizio P65-C1 display, KEF R300 fronts and surrounds, KEF R600C center
, KEF R50 Atmos modules
, Onkyo TX-NR555 Receiver
, Samsung UltraHD Blu-ray Player
Pros
Image is clear and detailed, some benefit from HDR and WCG
Cons
Overall lack of visual pop compared to other UltraHD discs, soundtrack doesn't take full advantage of Atmos
Summary
The Great Gatsby takes the great American novel and tries to put a bit of the Moulin Rouge feel to it but doesn't full succeed. While the image can look very sharp, it doesn't have that visual pop from HDR that other titles do and the height channels in Atmos aren't used to the fullest.
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