Ralph Potts reviews the Ultra HD Blu-ray release of the fourth installment of the Resident Evil film franchise which is based on the popular Capcom video game series.
The Review at a Glance:
(max score: 5 )
Film:
Extras:
Audio/UHD Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
88
Details:
Studio and Year: Sony Pictures – 2010
MPAA Rating: R
Feature running time: 97 minutes
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi/Horror
Disc Format: BD-66
Encoding: HEVC
Video Aspect: 2.35:1
Resolution: 2160p/24
Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), Catalan, Czech, French, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, German, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish
Starring: Millan Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Wentworth Miller
Written & Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Music by: Tomandandy
Region Code: A,B,C
Release Date: January 17, 2017
“She’s Back, and She’s Bringing a Few of Her Friends”
My Take:
After a one-woman assault on the Umbrella Corporation’s fortress, Alice’s (Milla Jovovich) superhuman abilities are neutralized. Now, fleeing the Undead masses created by the T-virus, Alice reunites with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and her brother, Chris (Wentworth Miller). Together they take refuge with other survivors in an abandoned prison, where a savage zombie mob stands between them and the safety of “Arcadia.” Escaping these bloodthirsty mutants will take an arsenal. But facing off with Albert Wesker and the Umbrella Corporation will take the fight for survival to a new level of danger.
Lee Weber reviewed Resident Evil Afterlife when it was released on Blu-ray back in 2010. I have opted to include his thoughts on the film as well as his ratings for the audio/video and bonus material. My comments will be related to the Ultra HD presentation and new Dolby Atmos mix. Here are Lee’s thoughts on the film:
Alice (Milla Jovavich) worked at Umbrella Corp, in a lab that was working on experimental viral weaponry. Things went awry and the T-virus leaked out killing everyone in its path. Once dead, the virus really kicked in, bringing the people back to life as zombie’s. The T-Virus worked in Alice making her a Super-Solider like the Virus intended; she has been fighting for her life ever since. After 5 video games and 3 movies comes Resident Evil: Afterlife, the 4th film in the series, and Alice is still fighting and hoping to find a safe, T-Virus-free place to live. After revenge killing the reminisce of the Umbrella Corp’s underground Tokyo base, she heads to Arcadia, Alaska, after hearing rumors of it being the safe haven she so hopes for. When finally making to Arcadia, she re-teams with her friend Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and realizes it’s not the place she had hoped for. They take off to LA and find a band of survivors and team up to go to the real Arcadia, which is a huge vessel in the sea.
My experience with Resident Evil is limited, I played the first 2 video games, so I know of Umbrella Corp. and the general back-story. I saw Resident Evil 1, and thought it was pretty bad, so I didn’t see any of the others in the series. As far as video game adaptations go, this is the best I have seen and I did enjoy it more than the first. But I found neither as scary as playing the games alone in my dark room…the chills were lost with these films. It looks and feels like a video game, so for that I give it credit. The fight scenes are full of eye-candy and digital insanity, albeit borrowing waaaaaay too much from the Matrix. A good video game adaption does not mean it’s going to be a good movie. Heart, character development…you know, the important stuff is missing here. And the plot really isn’t more than a vehicle for action. Is it too much to ask for both these days??…At least the action is pretty cool.
Parental Guide:
The rating is for strong sequences of strong violence throughout.
AUDIO/VIDEO – By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100/EXCELLENT = 83-91/GOOD = 74-82/AVERAGE = 65-73/BELOW AVERAGE = under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
UHD Presentation: 80
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
HDR: Dark Highlights:
HDR: Bright Highlights:
HDR: Expanded Color & WCG:
Resolution:
Visual Impact:
Dolby Atmos Rating: 96
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Level of immersion:
Soundstage integration:
Audio object placement:
Effectiveness:
Entertainment factor:
Ultra HD Blu-ray has finally been released and eager enthusiasts are ready and willing to see what it has to offer. For those not familiar with the details regarding Ultra HD Blu-ray you can refer to my article that includes some pertinent data on the subject. Here is the link:
Ultra HD Blu-ray Has Come to AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Resident Evil: Afterlife comes to Ultra HD Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment featuring 2160pHEVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 72 Mbps and lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) sound.
For its presentation in Ultra HD, Resident Evil: Afterlife was rendered from a 2K DI and up-converted to 4K. With the limited exposure to Ultra HD either sourced from 2K or 4K Digital Intermediates we are left to judge based upon what we have seen thus far.
The film was shot with a specific visual aesthetic in mind and that comes through in both its 1080p and Ultra HD presentations. This isn’t an overtly colorful film however its palate of autumn based hues, sepia tones and variants of blue/red benefited from UHD’s wider color gamut, appearing noticeably warmer and pleasing to the eye. Resolution gets a slight boost although the differences between the UHD and 1080p renderings are closer than I would have liked. Close-ups tend to be better refined with resolvable texture on surfaces and physical features being a bit easier to detect.
There is intermittent use of visual elements that utilize high dynamic range. I wasn’t especially impressed with its application although some of that may be owed to the nature of the photography. There were instances where bright elements looked appreciably vibrant, and alternatively, low level sequences had excellent depth of field and emboldened contrast. One of the best examples of this comes in the film’s opening sequence at the facility in Japan. The panning overhead shot of the city looks great as the cities lights appear bright, while the details contained in the streets/buildings set against the dark variants in the backgrounds is realizable. Viewing Resident Evil: Afterlife in Ultra HD wasn’t an eye-opening experience, however I found it to be an appreciable improvement over the standard Blu-ray presentation. I am not so sure the differences warrant an upgrade although the inclusion of the immersive Dolby Atmos surround mix could sweeten the pot. Read on…
In listening to the Dolby Atmos surround mix I found it to be of the active variety that made steady use of the platform. Its use of audio objects is a mix atmospherics, discrete effects and music. This is done to very good effect and creates a tangible level of immersion that coincides with the onscreen events nicely. During the first act, there are several instances where the mix generates a noticeable improvement in dimension and depth of field. The assault at the facility in Japan contains a host of sounds that utilize the overhead channels, creating a wonderfully immersive, and involving listening experience. While this scene sounds very good in the standard mix it’s taken to the next level in the Amos mix, providing an idea of what the presentation has in store.
This continues with the film’s action based sequences as well as those that convey the breadth/expanse of interiors and exterior venues as the track bristles with enveloping ambience and discretely placed effects. Overall, I would say that viewing Resident Evil: Afterlife in Ultra HD with the new Dolby Atmos mix definitely heightened the experience of watching the film at home.
[*] It should be noted that I experienced audio dropouts with the TrueHD/Atmos soundtrack during my evaluation. Switching from my Oppo UDP-203 to the Samsung UDB-K8500, the dropouts went away. I have alerted Oppo to the issue.[*]
Blu-ray Video:
Video: 92
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Resolution/Clarity:
Black Level/Shadow Detail:
Color Reproduction:
Fleshtones:
Compression:
Audio: 96
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Dynamics:
Low frequency effects:
Surround Sound presentation:
Clarity/Detail:
Dialog Reproduction:
Resident Evil: Afterlife comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 26 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.6 Mbps.
Here are Lee Weber’s thoughts on the audio/video presentation on Blu-ray:
I know it sounds weird but the problem here is how good Resident Evil: Afterlife looks. It shows off all its faults, warts and all. A casual observer might not notice but the digital effects seemed to stick out in a way that wouldn’t be seen on the big screen or on SDDVD….but Blu-ray can be unforgiving. At times the CGI had a bit of separation from the frames they were laid upon and their definition was a bit different than the non CGI parts of the frame. This separation might look amazing, creating greater depth on its 3D release, but here it did stand-out as a bit off. Besides that, it was pretty impeccable. It was highly defined, super resolute with deep and un-crushed black; colors looked spot on and this sure was a fun watch. Now this audio track is one of the most ballsy, brutal and precise I have heard; it is absolutely reference material.
The audio is a nice workout for you reference level listeners, and LFE lovers. The mix worked very well, and its heavy but accurate use of surrounds just added the icing to the insanity of over abundant action sequences. Resident Evil: Afterlife is absolutely recommend for its A/V presentation—Sony, you did well, again.. I cant wait to see this in 3D!!
Bonus Features:
Disc 1 Resident Evil Afterlife Ultra HD Blu-ray
Disc 2: Resident Evil Afterlife Blu-ray
Undead Vision: Picture-in-Picture
Audio Commentary
Deleted & Extended Scenes
Outtakes
7 Featurettes
Digital HD Copy
Final Thoughts:
Based on the popular Capcom game the Resident Evil film franchise has garnered a loyal following that eagerly awaits each release. I wouldn’t paint myself as a loyal follower however I just happen to own each of the films in the series. Since the original release each installment has been a little worse than the one preceding it and that hasn’t changed with Resident Evil: Afterlife. It favors style over substance, offering little in the way of cohesive storytelling.
It comes to Blu-ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertaining in this Ultra HD Combo Pack that enhances the image quality while invigorating the listening experience with a noteworthy Dolby Atmos immersive sound mix. Resident Evil: Afterlife is on par with what we have come to expect from the franchise, and the addition of Ultra HD/Dolby Atmos takes it up a notch, so if you’re a diehard fan this may worth considering for your Ultra HD Blu-ray collection.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter will be hitting theaters on January 27, 2017. Here is the trailer:
You Tube
Ralph Potts
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS500 3D/4K Ready High Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Calman 5 & C6-HDR Meter from Spectracal)
Stewart Filmscreen – Studiotek 130 G3 100” 16×9 Screen
Carada Masquerade Horizontal Masking System
Marantz AV8802A 13.2 Channel Audio/Video Processor
Sherbourn Technologies – 7/200 Seven Channel Amplifier
B&K Reference 200.7 Series 2 Seven Channel Amplifier
Oppo UDP-203 Ultra High Definition Blu-ray Player
Sony Playstation 3 Blu-ray disc Player
System Controller: Apple iPad/iRule Pro HD Universal Remote Control
Canton “Ergo” and In-Ceiling series speakers
Axiom Audio QS8 Quadpolar speakers
SVS PB-13 Ultra (Rosenut finish)
SVS SB-13 Ultra (Piano Gloss finish)
Panamax M5400-PM Power Conditioner/Surge Protector
Wireworld, Better Cables (Silver Serpent) – Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
Cool Components – CP-CP102 cooling package
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