A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Sony has released Director Penny Marshall's timeless 1992 baseball film 'A League of Their Own' to the UHD format. The 4K presentation is currently exclusive to the studio's prestigious Columbia Classics Collection boxed set. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio. This two-disc set bundles in a remastered Blu-ray disc rather than that originally released in 2012 or re-released in 2017. A few new extras are included.

A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the remastered 1080p Blu-ray disc included in this set.

A League of Their Own on the UHD format is well worth root, root, rooting for. It's as sweet as a Rockford Peach and about as filmic as they come. The picture's 2160p/HDR presentation brings new life to the movie, greatly overpowering the previously issued Blu-ray by leaps and bounds and even besting the remastered presentation by a fairly large margin. Truthfully, there's no need for comparative analysis. This one looks extraordinary on its own, a picture-perfect representation that captures the elements with flawless textural and tonal brilliance. Details are exceptional. Dirt on the diamond, gravel drives, overgrown grass, cornstalks, all variety of natural elements exude textural might in the film's opening minutes introducing Dottie and Kit on the ball field and on the farm. Things hold steady as they board a sleek train and find themselves in the cities and on larger diamonds where greater complexity of storefronts, signage, and baseball uniforms and dugouts leap off the screen with precision clarity, greatly amplified over any previous release. Viewers will not just notice that uniforms show frays or carry wear and dirt. On the UHD, the microscopic details and intimate elements are in plain evidence, allowing the viewer to soak in every bit of elemental minutia available. This is all supported by a refined grain structure, one that is even, flattering, and perfectly proportional. The image looks perfectly filmic in every facet. It's breathtaking.

The film's HDR color amplification is both aggressive and tasteful, aggressive in its rather intense add to saturation and depth but tasteful in how the imagery remains in-line with core tonal application. One just need look at the green grass and ivy at Wrigley Field, here standing in for "Harvey Field," where the girls participate in tryouts for the league. The exacting depth and punch absolutely dazzles the eyes; talk about "eye candy," speaking of Mr. Harvey. The uniforms are once again a highlight for color saturation, with the white accents in particular offering intense luminance and purity heretofore unseen on home video. Even the white opening title cards enjoy a major boost to tonal brilliance and clarity. Add in earthen tones around the farm and the dirt on the diamond, not to mention period attire, and the color spectrum looks dazzling at every turn. Skin tones are likewise perfectly reproduced and black levels are beautifully inky and pure. There's absolutely no strike against this one. Never mind a home run; it's a grand slam.

The included Blu-ray contains a 4K remaster. It will not be reviewed here but suffice it to say it does outclass the previous issue. It lacks the dramatic film-like excellence found on the UHD and the colors lack the bountiful boldness HDR provides. UHD all the way, but it's nice to have a superior Blu-ray, anyway.

A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A League of Their Own twirls a gem of a soundtrack on the UHD format. The Dolby Atmos presentation offers a fully realized audio presentation that offers a splendid range of elements that carry each scene to sonic perfection. The track offers some impressively delivered Swing music during several scenes, first accompanying a montage as the girls try out at Harvey field, later during a sneaky excursion to a club, and again during game seven at film's end. It's seamlessly spacious and all enveloping while maintaining crisp musical definition through a very distinguishable range. The track is filled with positive atmospheric effects, beginning with rolling thunder and clanking baseballs during Marla's tryout early in the film and moving on to include sparse crowds at early games where individual voices and one-off sounds are plainly identifiable all around the stage. As the league gains momentum and the games become ever more important, fullness only increases as the sparsely attended league suddenly begins packing the bleachers. The overhead channels carry some support elements including crowd noise and music but it's the public address announcements that offer the most vivid top layer positioning. Core baseball sounds -- bat hitting ball, ball cracking leather, slides into the base, and so forth -- offer solid, natural clarity and placement. Dialogue is, of course, well prioritized, naturally occurring, and always present in the front-center channel.

Note that the remastered Blu-ray includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack.

A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sony's UHD disc includes a smattering of trailers while the remastered Blu-ray disc brings over all legacy content as well as three of the six episodes form the short-lived TV show based on the film. As it ships within the Columbia Classics Collection boxed set, A League of Their Own includes a non-embossed slipcover and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code.

Blu-ray:

• The Enduring Legacy of A League of Their Own
• Deleted Scenes
• NEW! 1993 TV Series Episodes (1080i, 4x3, DD 2.0): The first, fifth, and sixth episodes of the short-lived TV show that ran only six episodes long. Included are "Dottie's Back" (23:40), "Shortstop" (23:38), and "Marathon" (23:38). It's too bad that Sony didn't just include the whole series.
• Audio Commentary
• Nine Memorable Innings
• Music Video: "This Used to Be My Playground" by Madonna.

• NEW! Trailers (1080p): All are new save for the first, which appeared on the 2017 Blu-ray release. Included are Theatrical Trailer (2:35), International Trailer (1:29), Geena Davis Teaser (0:45), Tom Hanks Teaser (0:41), Madona Teaser (0:50), and Jon Lovitz Teaser (0:49).

A League of Their Own 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sony is hitting its 4K catalogue releases out of the park and A League of Their Own is no exception. The 2160p/HDR presentation is practically in a league of its own, so to speak. It looks superb and even if it's chronologically batting fifth in the Columbia Classics Collection, it could lead off for just about any other group of UHD discs. The Atmos track is a treat, too, but the UHD visuals excel even beyond the insanely high expectations for the studio and the box set in which this film is found. As it ships in the Columbia Classics Collection, A League of Their Own earns my highest recommendation.