10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released '10 Cloverfield Lane' to the UHD format. The presentation, which is visually drastically different from the companion film 'Cloverfield,' bears the fruit of Dolby Vision color enhancement but textural increases over the Blu-ray are more stagnant. The disc retains the same Dolby Atmos soundtrack as found on the Blu-ray, and the bundled BD disc carries over all of the previously released extras. Read on for more.

10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date. Also note that some readers may find potential spoilers for the movie's climax in describing part of the image below.

10 Cloverfield Lane's UHD release, presented at the standard 2160p resolution with the somewhat nonstandard (though Paramount UHD staple) Dolby Vision color enhancement, offers a modest improvement over the Blu-ray, with largely stagnant detail levels but more obvious and pleasing color improvements under the Dolby Vision experience. Textural finesse is barely improved on the UHD. Up-close skin textures are a little sharper. Various structural elements (particularly cinderblocks) and sundries within the bunker are perhaps ever-so-slightly better defined. The image looks very strong on playback, but comparisons with the Blu-ray yield no significant boosts at the macro level and only little improvements at the micro level. The movie was shot at a resolution of 6K but reportedly finished at 2K, so it is perhaps not a surprise to find no major upswing in core textural complexities. As for the Dolby Vision color palette, the image boasts a brighter, more finely tuned presentation. Rather than darker, as seems so often the case with more traditional HDR, the Dolby Vision enhancement adds a fairly substantial increase in color vitality. Fireballs and vehicle taillights are strong examples; the film's climax, set against a darkening exterior environment, sees both offer better saturation and vibrance compared to the Blu-ray, while black levels prove a little more deep and absorbing. Inside the bunker flesh tones find a more creamy and complexly nuanced hue, particularly under some of the artificial lights within the bunker. There's certainly a pleasing add to the palette's liveliness and exuberance that for both general color elements and standout one-off moments deliver improved highlights and color accuracy and intensity. Source noise does remain, though it's somewhat less pronounced here. A few smudgy edges appear throughout, though such can be traced back to the source. Of note is the serious judder experienced at the 22-minute mark. It was a significant issue with the Blu-ray as well, and even a change in format from Blu-ray to UHD and a change in review display -- then a Sony XBR65X930C, now an LG OLED65C7P -- has not alleviated the problem. Nevertheless, this is a sold enough presentation, due largely to the improved colors under the Dolby Vision specification.

10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a full audio review, please click here

10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

10 Cloverfield Lane's UHD release contains no bonus content on the 2160p disc. All extras, identical to those found on the previously released Blu-ray, can be accessed on that disc, which has been bundled into this set. See below for a list of what's included, and please click here for a full supplemental content review. A fresh digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Audio Commentary: Director Dan Trachtenberg and Producer J.J. Abrams.
• Cloverfield Too (1080p, 9:07).
• Bunker Mentality (1080p, 3:48).
• Duck and Cover (1080p, 1:44).
• Spin-Off (1080p, 3:52).
• Kelvin Optical (1080p, 6:07).
• Fine Tuned (1080p, 6:42).
• End of Story (1080p, 3:19).

10 Cloverfield Lane 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

10 Cloverfield Lane marks a major departure -- visually, structurally, and tonally -- from Cloverfield, and beyond the title and a few cues most would be none the wiser if the movie were more generically titled and not marketed as a connected universe film. It's a solid experience, though, a great watch that, even with foreknowledge of where it's headed, maintains an air of mystery and darkness and dramatic intensity from start to finish, aided certainly by a pair of strong lead performances. Paramount's UHD offers little in the way of textural uptick over the Blu-ray, but the Dolby Vision color enhancement adds vividness, vitality, stability, and depth to the film's color palette. The UHD retains the same Atmos soundtrack from the Blu-ray as well as all of the supplemental content. As with Cloverfield's UHD, this one's a hard recommend for those who own the previous release (even considering the layer Dolby Vision adds to the experience) but newcomers are certainly encouraged to splurge on this version.