Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 24, 2019

To paraphrase (and slightly tweak) a famous quote by a certain Dorothy Gale, one way or the other, we’re not in Grindhouse territory any more. A lot of people have referred to Alita: Battle Angel as “a James Cameron film”, and while it’s true that Cameron was a guiding force and co-producer of the project, Robert Rodriguez received the directing credit, and so it’s probably at least as instructive to look over Rodriguez’s previous outings in a science fiction environment as it is to look at Cameron’s arguably better remembered achievements. Rodriguez has often offered something approaching futuristic high tech visions, albeit often laced with pretty substantial amounts of whimsy, in such films as Spy Kids, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, but Alita: Battle Angel is a significantly more ambitious enterprise, one that brings with it a whole field of hazards courtesy of the fact that it was adapted from a well beloved manga. In that adaptive regard, it's kind of interesting to compare Alita: Battle Angel with the largely disparaged live action film version of Ghost in the Shell, at least insofar as both properties offer a heroine who may be as much machine as she is human. Alita: Battle Angel seems to have escaped much of the controversy surrounding certain casting decisions made in the case of Ghost in the Shell, perhaps ironically at least in part because the lead actress in this instance is Rosa Salazar, who, despite some impressive credits (American Horror Story: The Complete First Season) probably doesn't have quite the name recognition that someone like Scarlett Johansson does. The fact that the character of Alita is a "composite" presentation utilizing aspects of motion capture and some obviously CGI elements may have also provided a subliminal discounting of any similar outrages. And thankfully perhaps, that's the only controversy Alita: Battle Angel managed to escape, for while the film has some occasional stumbles, it manages to capture at least some of the spirit of the original manga while also creating an immersive 26th century world that is impressively rendered in an often surprisingly beautiful way considering the post-Apocalyptic emphasis of the film.

Ghost in the Shell may not be the only other film some viewers may think of when watching Alita: Battle Angel, since at least some of its aspects are definitely “old hat”. Any number of films have posited a future where technology has arguably outrun Man’s moral compass, and other elements like a “city in the sky” may evoke memories of films like Elysium, and even the fedora and overcoat getup that Alita’s mentor Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) wears could have been ripped right out of Dark City. What’s kind of interesting about the post- Apocalyptic ambience of Alita: Battle Angel is that it is way post-Apocalyptic, in that The Fall, as the story refers to the calamity, happened centuries earlier, and Mankind is still attempting to pick up the figurative pieces.

That “Fall” has left the Earthbound citizens in a world of ruin and huge heaps of trash dumped from Zalem, the “sky city” in this tale. Ido, scavenging through the garbage, finds the “core” of a cyborg which has a human brain still showing activity. Ido is a cyborg repairer of some note, and he takes the head and torso home, where he attaches it to a robotic body he had fashioned for his paralyzed late daughter Alita. When the cyborg awakens with no intact memories, including her name, Ido dubs her “Alita”. Alita is a bit of a naif as the story gets underway, learning the ways of the teeming urban environment both from Ido and from a guy named Hugo (Keean Johnson), who sparks more than a casual interest in the girl.

A number of sidebars intrude into the main mystery of whom exactly Alita may be, with one of the arguably strangest being an epic “game” called Motorball that is more or less the gladiatorial combat of the 26th century, albeit in “another” ball, namely Rollerball, style. The carnage the game creates has resulted in a need for body parts, and Ido’s estranged wife Dr. Chiren (a rather severe looking Jennifer Connelly) is in cahoots with a Motorball impresario named Vector (Mahershala Ali) to “engineer” more dominant players. Hugo also is involved in scavenging activities, and there’s an underlying tension throughout the film as to which side of the hero-villain aisle he might come down on (and — minor spoiler alert — he does come down rather spectacularly, as those who have seen the film will know).

These brief plot points barely hint at other things the film addresses, including the long ago interplanetary war that led to The Fall, and Alita discovering a cybernetic body in a crashed spaceship that ultimately gives her even more power than she had already*, something that aids in her development as a so-called Hunter Warrior, a bounty hunter of sorts. And there's one which I personally feel could have used a bit better explication within the film itself — a kind of telepathic supervillain named Nova (Edward Norton) who lives in Zalem and is able to more or less “possess” people. It’s all unabashedly gonzo most of the time, but there’s perhaps unexpectedly at least a glimmer of honest human emotion suffusing the film, considering the robotic character at its “core”.

There is an unabashedly "cartoonish" ambience to Alita some of the time, something that may, as alluded to above, remove casting decisions from the realm of controversy. But despite the "computer aided" aspect of the character, Salazar's performance genuinely shines through. I also found it fun to see Christoph Waltz in a role that is perceived (correctly as it turns out) as a decent, even noble, sort, but who goes through moments of believable suspicious activity (from Alita's point of view), where Waltz gets to kind of toe a fine line between "mad" and "scientist". The film's production design won't really surprise anyone fond of the kind of "retro futurism" that has been seen going back to at least Brazil, but it's rendered (in both senses of that word) with real depth and interest, and even for those who may find elements of the story rote or even slightly ridiculous, the visuals are often very engaging.

*This is another moment where fans of anime, mecha outings in particular, may be thinking of any number of offerings where a young hero(ine) discovers a "magical" connection to some kind of battle technology, and in fact that same plot point has been used in a fair number of relatively recent science fiction films like Kin.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was considerably less excited about Alita: Battle Angel when he reviewed the film during its theatrical exhibition. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the (flat) 1080p Blu-ray.

This is one of the first 4K/3D/Blu-ray packages I've personally reviewed, and as such each disc has separate specs. For my thoughts on the "flat" 1080p presentation, please refer to our Alita: Battle Angel Blu-ray review. As should be expected, the 3D presentation is 1080p and the 4K UHD presentation 2160p, both in 2.39:1. I'll separate my thoughts somewhat below, though I recommend reading both analyses, as certain elements pertain to both, even if I don't explicitly mention them.

3D: Fans of 3D Blu-rays have felt like the writing has been on the wall for this particular format for some time, but it's perhaps comforting to realize that there's one figurative 800 pound gorilla still promoting dimensionality in high definition home media presentations (after theatrical exhibitions, of course), namely James Cameron. While a lot of this presentation can be rather subtle at times, especially with regard to a lot of wide establishing shots, there is consistent depth in the imagery here that is often quite striking. A nice example of the difference between "subtle" and "not so subtle" is evident in the very first sequence, with Ido scavenging through the dump. The initial shots showing the sky city and even the piles of trash really don't offer much in the way of dimensionality, but as soon as the shot gets to midrange territory, with items in the foreground and Ido in the background, there's immediate and quite noticeable delineation of space. Quite frequently throughout this presentation, foreground objects, often in shadow, give a great "reference" point establishing depth going back into the frame. Some quick movement scenes, as in some of the fights and especially in some of the Motorball sequences, looked a bit blurry to me in the 3D presentation, especially toward the edges of the frame. Depth can also falter, at least somewhat, in the many dark sequences, especially in the latter half of the film. Perhaps surprisingly, there aren't that many "in your face" moments, aside from kind of fun if gimmicky moments in fights and/or Motorball.

4K UHD: The 4K UHD version of Alita: Battle Angel is almost a tale of two presentations, namely the live action elements and the computer rendered material. The former enjoys noticeable and substantial upticks in detail and fine detail in particular. A lot of admittedly mundane items like the grill on the tray Alita is on during "surgery" have impressive new delineation in the 4K presentation, and practical items like fibers on costumes are really very impressive looking throughout. Actual human actors, or at least their faces if they've been composited onto cyborg bodies, have substantial improvements in features like crags and pores. Even some of the CGI enjoys upticks in detail, as in the first close-up shot of Alita after her first surgery as she sleeps in her bed. But quite a bit of the other CGI actually looks more "cartoonish" in this 4K iteration, so much so that some may feel like they're actually watching an anime rather than an ostensible live action film. This "animated" and often somewhat soft looking aspect is evident from the first establishing scenes of Zalem hovering in the sky, and even extends to some shots of the trash heaps. Even some of the Motorball material looks like something out of an animated version of the story rather than live action. Perhaps surprisingly, I didn't see a huge difference in the palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, though there are some subtle changes. For example, Alita's bedroom has a slightly more orange-pink tone in this version and other elements like a purple feathered collar Chireen has in one scene looks considerably more saturated in 4K. There's one nice exception to this general rule, a purple infused love scene at circa 1:16:00 that has considerably more luster in the 4K presentation. I'd personally place the live action improvements here at close to 5.0 levels at least quite a bit of the time, but some of the CGI material gains little if any improvement in the 4K version, and in fact arguably looks more "cartoonish" in this version. As such, I'm splitting the difference in a manner of speaking by scoring this 4K version 4.0. It's often quite impressive, but there are some variances here that ardent videophiles may quibble with.

Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I mentioned in our Alita: Battle Angel Blu-ray review how those who buy that version may be disappointed by the lack of a Dolby Atmos track, especially since Atmos gets a closing credit nod in the film, but that absence is remedied by the blisteringly effective Atmos track on this 4K UHD disc. I scored the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track a solid 5.0 on the 1080p Blu-ray release, but if I could I'd give this Atmos track a "6.0", as it is regularly impressive, offering all of the great immersion of the surround track on the "traditional" Blu-ray, while also promoting a nice new gamut of vertical information that is audible from the first scenes of trash being dumped from Zalem. Both fight scenes and perhaps especially the Motorball sequences benefit from the Atmos rendering, with fantastically exciting effects ping ponging through the soundstage and with clear wafting sounds that can often pan quite impressively. Fidelity is absolutely top notch throughout this rendering, and as with the 7.1 track, dynamic range is extremely wide.

As alluded to in the prelude to the video assessment, Fox follows their tradition of providing different specs for the different versions. The 3D version has the same DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track as is assessed in the Alita: Battle Angel Blu-ray review (and that's the only audio option on that particular disc).

Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is one of the first 4K/3D/Blu-ray packages I've personally reviewed, and as such each disc has separate specs. The 4K UHD disc and 3D disc have no supplements. The 1080p (2D) Blu-ray contains the following supplements:

• Alita's World aggregates some brief animated features that give background information on various aspects of the story and characters.

  The Fall (1080p; 5:05)

  
  

  Iron City (1080p; 3:19)

  
  

  What It Means to be a Cyborg (1080p; 2:28)

  
  

  Rules of the Game (1080p; 2:52)

• From Manga to Screen (1080p; 20:47) is an interesting piece documenting the adaptive process.


• Evolution of Alita (1080p; 19:43) is an overview of the character.


• Motorball (1080p; 6:02) is a brief piece examining the violent game in the story.


• London Screening Q & A (1080p; 26:38) features James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly.


• 10 Minute Cooking School: Chocolate (1080p; 5:28) is only five and a half minutes, but who's counting?


• 2005 Art Compilation (2019) (1080p; 14:20) is a kind of confusingly named piece that features paintings that tell a story of sorts courtesy of some narration.


• Scene Deconstruction (1080p; 10:47) is an interesting piece that allows you to use the color buttons on your remote to toggle through various levels of rendering.

  I Don't Even Know My Name

  
  

  Just an Insignificant Girl

  
  

  I'm a Warrior, Aren't I?

  
  

  Kansas Bar

My score therefore reflects the supplements of the package, not the (non existent) supplements on the 4K UHD disc.

Alita: Battle Angel 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There is kind of the unavoidable feeling as Alita: Battle Angel comes to a putative close that the bottom line may well be "OK, now that we have that out of the way, let's move on to the real story, OK?" Assuming this is just the opening gambit in a longer strategy, Alita: Battle Angel manages to trot out an almost insane number of plot points with little to no expositional trouble, with well defined characters and a believable creation of a pretty dystopian future society. There's nothing too groundbreaking here in terms of actual content, especially for any devoted anime fan, but Alita: Battle Angel is often energetic, if just as often kind of silly. I found both the 3D and 4K versions of this film rather appealing in their own ways, though each have occasional hurdles as outlined above. All of that said, for fans of the film, this is probably the package to get, as you'll be getting three versions and can come to your own conclusions about each of them. Recommended.