Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

65 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 27, 2023

65 opens with this text: “Prior to the advent of mankind, in the infinity of space, other civilizations explored the heavens.” In other words the movie takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... until a spaceship crash-lands on earth, 65 million years ago, and conveniently in the hours before the cataclysmic collision that cost the dinosaurs their reign on the planet. 65 is a film with a somewhat campy story that tries to (more or less) steer clear of camp in favor of a forward moving action film that holds no pretenses beyond the adventure. It works in some spots and not in others, but in the aggregate the picture satisfies essential cinema demands as good, lean popcorn escapism. It doesn't try to be too much and doesn't try to be too little, finding that Goldilocks sweet-spot for disposable entertainment.

After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) quickly discovers he's actually stranded on Earth…65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.

One of the things that the movie does well is to focus on the characters rather than the world. It’s not so much about throwing spectacle after spectacle at the screen: it’s about survival and grounding the survival in reasons to live. Admittedly, those reasons are fairly generic, which amount to, for Mills, a basic desire to return home to his family. The action takes place across what is, for Mills and Koa, alien terrain, and there are dinosaurs, and there are threats and hazards and doubts and fears, but the movie does not push and push and push towards the external supports but instead it does its best to hold focus on the characters' internal struggles and desires to get home. Even as Mills becomes increasingly bloodied and the world more dangerous, it’s always that intimate, internal drive pushing him and Koa to their destination. The film doesn’t try to overwhelm the audience with Jurassic Park/World ooh-and-ah. Audiences don't get to "know" any of the dinosaurs; they're just part of the world that must be overcome to reach safety.

Otherwise, the movie follows a fairly standard construct that features Mills and Koa traversing prehistoric terrain, encountering dinosaurs, and Mills shooting dinosaurs. This takes place outside, in caves, across tricky terrain, and through water, and much of the movie is therefore very similar. But that's the story. It's a point "A" to point "B" journey where peril abounds but peril that Mills' rifle overcomes more or less with ease at every turn. The movie isn't bad, and that it's very lean at under 90 minutes discounting credits speaks to the filmmakers' understanding that it need not be a prolonged affair certainly helps to minimize the monotony. Still, where the movie really delights in the first act it loses some momentum in the second and doesn't do much to recover in the third. The film is simply a linear progression as Mills becomes increasingly bloodied and the dinosaurs become increasingly bigger. It's enjoyable but hardly revolutionary.

65 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release of 65 delivers a rock-solid UHD image that is more of a fine-point refinement of the Blu-ray and less a substantial overhaul. Gains in both key areas are fine rather than significant, with the UHD offering greater clarity to faces, clothes, and environments in addition to sharper definition and a greater sense of realism and clarity which delivers fine-point improvements to facial feature detail and terrain elements. Still, the smaller elements add up to make every shot crisper and more efficient. The Dolby Vision grading likewise fine-tunes the color experience, offering deeper tones with more significantly accurate shading, allowing greens to find a new level of vibrancy and various gray, blue, and black elements more stability. Skin tones enjoy a slightly deeper appearance, revealing healthier and fuller clarity. Noise is handled a bit better here as well when compared to the Blu-ray, and like the Blu-ray there are no obvious source or encode flaws to note.

65 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unlike the companion Blu-ray, which concurrently releases with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, this UHD version of 65 releases with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. It's clearly a step above the Blu-ray, which itself offers an excellent track that just about pushes the 5.1 configuration to its limits. The gains here are not so much in clarity as they are in spacing. The Atmos track holds to the essential characteristics of excellent musical clarity, clear and center-focused dialogue, and heavy action effects but adds a sometimes substantial sense of spatial engagement in the film's various environments. Rainfall emanates from a top end position, reverb in caves is more obvious, and various dinosaur roars and action elements (and music) all play with greater upward positioning. The track is well balanced to fold in the top elements, using the overheads for both discrete purposes as needed and for complementary usage as the situation warrants to add a bit of fullness to the experience. But in all other ways the track holds fast to the same basic characteristics found on the Blu-ray track, including good bass to gunfire and dinosaur roars and overall excellence in detail and definition.

65 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of 65 includes a few extras, all of which are found on the bundled Blu-ray disc. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 8:03 total runtime): Included are Red Powder, Look at Me, Koa's Stick, Mills builds a Fire, and Mills Says Goodbye.
• Set in Stone: Filmmakers (1080p, 4:21): The filmmakers discuss their longtime desire to make this movie, filmmaking tactics, and more.
• Future of Yesterday: Creating the World of 65 (1080p, 4:56): Looking at props, content design, set pieces, locations, sound design, and more.
• Primordial Planet (1080p, 2:30): A brief documentary-style look at Earth of 65 million years ago.
• Final Showdown: Concepts to Screen (1080p, 10:14): Full-screen storyboards juxtaposed with the finished product in a bottom-right window.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

65 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

65 doesn't demand that its audience turn off the brain, mostly because there's not much here to stimulate the brain one way or the other. If the film is good at anything, it's good at focus and forward momentum. That's also a downfall considering that the film plays with obvious repetition once the story is established. Still, it's a decent excursion and, at under 90 minutes sans credits, it doesn't overstay its welcome in its repetitiveness. Sony's UHD delivers excellent video and audio paired with a decent selection of extras. Recommended.