The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"X" marks the spot.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 18, 2024

Martin Scorsese's somewhat contentious Best Director-winning 2006 crime drama The Departed, now only two years shy of its 20th anniversary, has finally gotten a much-deserved go-ahead to 4K UHD. One of the earlier releases to Blu-ray and HD DVD during a then-fierce format war, it was a standout title and one of the earliest "new movies" on HD home video, landing in stores just a little over four months after its US theatrical debut. I hadn't seen The Departed in quite some time before popping in this brand-new 2160p/HDR10 disc and, though I still don't consider it one of the director's finest efforts, it's still a sturdy and well-acted effort with loads of star power at its fingertips.

For a synopsis and critique of the film, please see Greg Maltz's 2007 review of WB's then fairly new Blu-ray. I obviously think a little more of The Departed than Greg but not enough to warrant a full-fledged re-evaluation of the film. It has plenty of memorable moments, a bounty of twists and turns, and its fully-loaded cast uniformly elevates the material, though there are portions of The Departed where the scope of its source material is slightly mishandled. This obviously isn't enough to sink the ship... but it exacerbates the notion that Scorsese's long-overdue Best Director Oscar should have gone to an earlier film like Raging Bull or obviously Goodfellas, so backlash was all but guaranteed.

In any case, the film itself probably isn't why most readers are here: it's all about the new 2160p/HDR10 transfer, especially in the wake of Goodfellas' controversial "revised look" on Blu-ray and 4K... but as evidenced by the rating above, luckily this UHD upgrade is about as solid as they come. Add in a brand-new retrospective featurette and most of the old extras, and you've got a solid catalog release -- the only thing missing is a remastered Blu-ray.

The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: Since no remastered Blu-ray disc is included, these screenshots are sourced from an included 2024 featurette (detailed below) which includes presumably downsampled 1080p/SDR clips. Therefore, they're not representative of the UHD's picture quality and are thus included for decorative purposes only.

In last month's press release, Warner Bros. advertised that this new 4K master of The Departed was completed at the studio's Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) facility with participation by Scorsese's long-time editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. I can't remember the last time that endorsement was advertised... but any way you slice it, this is clearly a rock-solid and conspiracy-free upgrade for The Departed, which is especially worth noting in the wake of Goodfellas' contentious new look on Blu-ray and 4K almost a decade ago. Even having not seen The Departed on Blu-ray in several years, it's safe to say that the film's overall appearance and color timing has not been altered in any meaningful way here; we just get what appears to be a totally optimized and much less compressed version of what came before. Truth be told, The Departed's HD debut was great for its time; even with a bit-starved transfer and VC-1 encoding, it scored high marks back in the day. But one look at this 2160p/HDR10 upgrade offers proof of The Departed's full potential on disc: it's a tightly refined and film-like presentation of the 2K digital intermediate that impresses from start to finish.

Fine details and textures are notably improved in close-ups, revealing knit patterns on police uniforms and other costumes, while black levels and darker details also get a nice bump; the entrance of Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), for example, is famously bathed in shadow and his initial presence feels quite a bit more foreboding this time around. Nighttime scenes also look tight with good contrast balance and deeper blacks, none of which seem threated by crush, banding, or noise-related artifacts. The new HDR10 enhancement unsurprisingly deepens specific color values: blues overwhelmingly stand out on uniforms and the like (although certain skin tones do tend to look a bit orange in tandem) and the overall range between its darkest values and brightest whites should look quite striking, at least depending on the capabilities of your display's local dimming capabilities. But overwhelmingly, this is top-notch work from WB. and the disc itself, all three layers of it, is nicely encoded and gives this 151- minute film plenty of room to breathe with a supportive bit rate. Simply put, die-hard fans should find this to be quite the satisfying upgrade indeed.

The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although the film's new master may wring slightly more sonic juice from its source elements, this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix feels overwhelmingly similar in tone and intensity to the older Blu-ray's lossless PCM 5.1 counterpart. A full-fledged Atmos remix might have been fun to hear too... but given the studio's spotty track record for catalog releases, I'm just happy to have the original. (And no superfluous Dolby Digital 5.1 track this time!)

Optional English and Spanish dubs and subtitles are also included -- no French options this time around.

The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with new cover art; a matching slipcover and Digital Copy are also included. The bonus features are mostly ported from the 2007 Blu-ray; one new retrospective extra is on board, but the Blu-ray's trailer is gone and one loosely-related legacy supplement -- Richard Schickel's 2007 long-form documentary Scorsese on Scorsese -- still remains exclusive to that year's 2-Disc Special Edition DVD.

• NEW! Guilt and Betrayal: Looking Into The Departed (15:05) - This brief but worthwhile retrospective featurette was produced by Rivendell Films and features director Martin Scorsese as he speaks candidly about The Departed; specifically its earliest seeds of development soon after Gangs of New York, adapting the source material, assembling his cast and working with other familiar contributors, shooting locations, and classic film influences such as Little Caesar and The Public Enemy (both from 1931), which each get a few supportive clips alongside the main feature. A little short for its own good, but who doesn't like hearing Scorsese talk?

• Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie and The Departed (21:07)

• Crossing Criminal Cultures (24:04)

• Deleted Scenes (9 clips, 19:25 total) with introductions by Martin Scorsese

The Departed 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Martin Scorsese's The Departed -- or as some fans called it back in the day, The Depahted -- was mostly well-received in 2006 and even earned him a long-overdue Best Director Oscar. Whether or not you feel it was earned that year may be up for debate, but I still find The Departed to be a well-acted, entertaining, and largely memorable production that plays better than ever on WB's new UHD edition. Bolstered by a new 4K master overseen by the film's editor Thelma Schoonmaker, as well as a decent slate of bonus features, this is a well-rounded catalog release that fans will want to snap up as soon as possible -- either via this regular version or a slightly more expensive Steelbook variant.