Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

12 Strong 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Jingo Unchained.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 12, 2024

Warner Bros. hits the "random" button with this new 4K UHD edition of Nicolai Fuglsig's 12 Strong, which is celebrating no significant anniversary this year and already has a very capable 2018 Blu-ray edition to its name. Nonetheless, this barely-advertised MOD title will be of interest to fans, because it takes an already great-looking (and sounding) release and makes it that much better, thanks to HDR10 and tight encoding on a full-strength triple layer (100GB) disc. Really, the only thing bad here is the actual movie... unless, of course, you have the same taste as this guy.

For dual roasts of 12 Strong, please see Michael Reuben's review of said Blu-ray edition or Brian Orndorf's theatrical review, both of which correctly point out the film's misguided tone and the inexperience of director Fuglsig, who worked with (under?) producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Though not without merit (if nothing else, the peculiar nature of its plot may be enough to warrant a watch out of curiosity), the end result is as forgettable as it is borderline insulting.

12 Strong 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from the earlier Blu-ray edition.

In his review of WB's 2018 Blu-ray edition, Michael Reuben details 12 Strong's digitally-shot cinematography and its smooth transition to 1080p, where cool color filters stood in appealing contrast to its earth-toned landscapes while leave plenty of room for crisp image detail and almost eye-popping textures. None of this has fundamentally changed on the studio's new UHD edition, which features a new 2160p/HDR transfer that almost certainly uses the same 2K digital intermediate source as that previous release. The result "goes to 11", to coin a phrase from This is Spinal Tap, as Michael Reuben's well-deserved perfect 5/5 video quality rating left almost nowhere for a future release to go but down. It doesn't, of course, as this tightly-encoded transfer -- which practically gets an entire 100GB disc to itself and runs at a very generous bit rate from start to finish -- looks even more crisp, stable, and arresting than before, which further widens the already-considerable gap between 12 Strong's visual strengths and narrative weaknesses.

Also "new" to this UHD release is HDR10 encoding (not Dolby Vision compatible, per WB's kind of irritating policy for catalog titles), which likewise offers its own brand of support for the main feature that heightens 12 Strong's already rock-solid visual aesthetic. Unsurprisingly, the film's overwhelmingly cool color palette -- mostly a byproduct of those already-mentioned blue filters -- enjoys a greater amount of depth and variation from scene to scene, while black levels (which in all honesty often run no deeper than dark gray by design) and overall contrast values are similarly bolstered by the increased dynamic range. As such, bright whites rarely feel "bright white" but are nowhere close to blooming, which also contributes to a greater sense of depth. Finally, the aforementioned bit rate all but ensures a complete lack of compression artifacts like banding, macro blocking, or posterization, leading to an overall very potent presentation that likely meets or beats most original theatrical showings. Simply put, five stars all the way.

Does this inarguably great transfer make 12 Strong any better? Not if you didn't like it before... but those "on the fence" or at least decently receptive to the film may enjoy themselves more this time. But just think of what a full-strength 4K release would do for one of WB's many neglected (and actually great) catalog titles such as North by Northwest, Dog Day Afternoon, Network , or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

12 Strong 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I'm almost positive that whatever lengths were taken to sweeten the visuals on 12 Strong's new 2160p/HDR transfer did not include any sort of upgrade to (or modification of) the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that was first included on WB's 2018 Blu-ray edition, but I found this to be a robust and engaging sound mix that does its job almost perfectly. Dialogue remains crisp and well-defined, action sequences are thunderous at times, and overall it feels smooth and extremely polished while retaining a certain level of rawness. So while I cautiously say this is the same track as before, I'm rating it slightly higher than our previous review... but still not perfect, because for whatever reason 12 Strong's (reported) original theatrical 7.1 mix has again not been offered on home video.

Please note that unlike the Blu-ray, no foreign dubs are subtitles are included this time... only English. USA! USA!

12 Strong 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard 4K keepcase with recycled cover artwork; no inserts or slipcover are included. Both extras are similarly taken from the Blu-ray edition and are listed below in name only. Please note that both a Blu-ray and Digital Copy of the film were initially advertised in WB's April press release, but neither are included.

• 12 Strong: The Making of an Impossible Mission (22:05)

• Monumental Effort: Building America's Response Monument (10:13)

12 Strong 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm all for no-nonsense 4K catalog upgrades, especially ones that are tightly encoded on 100GB discs with outstanding A/V merits and an affordable price tag. Without question, WB should churn out as many as possible in the near future. But how's about we focus on more deserving titles than Nicolai Fuglsig's 12 Strong, a nearly brand-dead and jingoistic drama that very few people were clamoring for on UHD? With that said, fans of the film should nonetheless take note, as this great-looking and sounding disc supplants the earlier great looking and sounding Blu-ray edition.