Fully Immersed, Volume 21
For surround sound lovers, the advent of 4K video and the Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc format have brought with it the glorious side effect of updated soundtracks for catalog classics. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks often deliver a huge leap forward in audio performance, but there's no guarantee that such a soundtrack will be created for a catalog title's 4K release. (See Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy as a case in point.) However, as you'll see below, sometimes we get lucky. This week's column features not one but two stellar Dolby Atmos soundtracks on older catalog titles - and kudos to Paramount for making both of them happen. Here's hoping this trend continues as more and more catalog titles sit alongside new titles on the 4K New Release shelf. Titles such as...
I plan to cover at least a few of the above titles soon. Until then, here's what I've listened to most recently...
Black Panther 4K
Disney | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on 4K UHD only
Even while writing this, Marvel's little movie that could continues to slowly chug up the hill of box office greatness - soon to become only the third film in history to earn more than $700M domestically. That kind of coin buys a lot of Vibranium. Fortunately, fans don't have to wait for Panther's leggy box office run to end; Disney has already brought the film to disc and the 4K Ultra HD offering thankfully includes a Dolby Atmos option. Overall volume is lower than most films so I had to turn it up a bit, but once I did this revealed a solid and thoroughly engaging soundtrack. Dialogue is crisp and intelligible throughout and bass is satisfyingly deep whenever something explodes - which is often - or drum music is involved. Rather than draw attention to themselves, the overhead channels do more to support and round out the other channels - with one notable and fun exception. At the end of a thrilling car chase halfway through the film, Klaue (Andy Serkis) fires a pulse weapon at a pursuing car, disintegrating the vehicle in mid-air. It's a brilliant sonic moment where car parts and shards of glass can be heard slowly passing overhead, concluding with a single tire rolling down the right side of the listening space before bumping to a stop in the rear right corner somewhere. #WakandaForever
Braveheart 4K
Paramount | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on 4K UHD only
Every man dies. Not every man really lives. Mel Gibson's Braveheart is an epic masterpiece in every conceivable way. Gibson's thrilling tale, inspired by Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace, may not be entirely factual but it is most definitely entertaining. And when you go to the Oscars, you don't get dressed up for nothing; the film won five of the ten Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director (Mel Gibson), Best Cinematography (John Toll), and Best Sound Effects Editing (Lon Bender and Per Hallberg). It's that last one that you'll be most aware of with Paramount's new 4K Ultra HD release, which features a brand new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. After Murron is executed, Wallace slowly rides his horse into the village, a riveting slow motion sequence which brilliantly builds tension thanks in large part to its haunting music, highlighted by flutes and woodwinds that seem to emanate from every channel in this huge-sounding new mix. The iconic battle of Stirling sounds better than ever, with the thunderous, concussive bass of the English's cavalry charge giving way to the crisp highs of swords clanging and soldiers screaming. The film's blood-soaked battles provide an incredible sense of immersion thanks to this new Dolby Atmos soundtrack and on the whole, this is by far the best Braveheart has ever sounded at home. Highly recommended.
Phantom Thread
Universal | Buy Now | DTS:X available on Blu-ray, 4K UHD
No one was more surprised than me to discover that dress designer Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Jason Statham's Transporter have a lot in common. Both men live quiet lives of routine, rigidly governed by a set of self-imposed rules - and God help those who disrupt the natural order of the day. On occasion, that quiet is disrupted by noise and chaos, though in Woodcock's case, it's not gunfire and fist fights so much as fashion shows and high society weddings. Both men aggressively drive fast cars to get where they're going, with Woodcock forgoing the BMW in favor of a stylish Bristol 405. Last but not least, it's the love of a strong-willed woman - a fantastic Vicky Krieps here - who helps our leading man become less of a bastard. The twisted romance at the center of Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread is great fun to watch, but just as compelling is the DTS:X soundtrack Universal has woven into both the standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD release. Dialogue is clear throughout and although most of the action is front and center, piano and string music often wafts into the surround and overhead channels to effectively round out the soundstage. Like the film, this capable DTS:X soundtrack is all about subtlety and nuance. In the end, the question I'm left with is this: when are we going to get a new DTS:X soundtrack on The Transporter?
Saving Private Ryan 4K
Paramount | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on 4K UHD only
Paramount has just unleashed a 20th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD edition of Steven Spielberg's World War II masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan. And just as was the case with the new Braveheart release, 4K fans will surely drool at the sight of the shockingly gorgeous 4K video on display here. But our focus is immersive audio, and again like Braveheart, Paramount has used Saving Private Ryan's 4K debut as an excuse to conjure up an all-new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. And if there was ever a film that deserved the Dolby Atmos treatment, it's this one; the results are truly spectacular. Anyone who has seen Saving Private Ryan knows that its first 30 minutes, a painstaking - and painful to watch - recreation of the Allies' landing at Omaha Beach, is an assault on the senses. The new Dolby Atmos track makes that truer than ever, with discreet gunfire erupting from every nook and cranny of the sound field, frequently punctuated by thunderous bass punching you in the gut whenever a mortar explodes. Soldiers spilling over the sides of their boats into the water brings a chilling, muffled respite from the chaos, before the camera surfaces for air and we are once again thrust back into the cacophony. Towards the end of this harrowing opening, soldiers stick a mirror out to spy on an enemy firing at them from an elevated gun nest. The overhead channels are used to brilliant effect here, accurately conveying the enemy's gunfire as coming from a higher elevation than the pinned-down soldiers below. Highly recommended.
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