Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

Ambulance 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2022

Ambulance is one of the best films of Michael Bay's career. It's short on the needlessly overwrought humor that destroyed most of his Transformers films and sees the director return to the glory days of The Rock, building a very slick, and yes still a bit overengineered but very effective Action film packed with plenty of character depth and emotional overtones. The filmmaker delivers a hearty watch full of his signature scorch and adrenaline overload while also building a carefully conceived plot of interconnecting pieces and enough variation of story content to maintain a quick pace even through a runtime well above two hours. Good stuff!

Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a military veteran who is on the edge. He's a father and desperate husband to a wife who needs hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of experimental surgery in a last-ditch effort to save her life. And nobody will help him. Nobody, that is, expect, his adoptive brother Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal), a lifelong criminal whose father was a notoriously violent and successful bank robber. Danny has followed in his father's shoes and believes he has planned the perfect robbery to snatch $32 million from an L.A. bank. Will reluctantly agrees to go along. The heist goes terribly wrong. Rookie police officer Zach Parker (Jackson White) enters the bank in order to ask out a teller on whom he has a crush. The situation soon erupts, and police kill the crew save for Will and Danny, who escape in an ambulance dispatched to save a wounded Zach. In the back is paramedic Cam Thompson (Eiza González) who must fight for her life, and Zach's, in the midst of a highspeed pursuit through the streets of Los Angeles.

In Ambulance, there are many moving parts, but Bay keeps things together through the preponderance of character content with a fast moving and slick but focused pace on the ambulance pursuit. However, there’s much more to the film than a recreation of Speed in an ambulance. Bay realizes the need for something more and spends a good chunk of the film, including an intense middle stretch, on working on the wounded officer in the back of the ambulance and also building several narratives outside the ambulance and within it, exploring the expanding character content with satisfying depth while the movie otherwise speeds along at breakneck pace. It’s quite impressive how Bay constructs the content with carefully aligned balance. He builds and explores plot threads to satisfaction and changes up the energy flow just enough to maintain interest and keep the movie brisk and engaging, refusing to give in to a one-trick pony sort of structure.

Although this is a Michael Bay film with legitimate potting and character details, it is still every bit made in his signature style, with rapid-fire editing, drone shots galore, plenty of sweeping and swooping camera work, a hot contrast, and relentless energy. There are plenty of cars flipped over, sparks and crashes and explosions, and all of the signature "Bayhem" content fans have come to expect. Bay does his thing very well here and draws the audience into the story and keeps them there for the duration. The audience will be exhausted when the movie is over, coming down from an adrenaline high and working through some emotions as well. It is the modern movie spectacle defined and helped by no bad performances anywhere in the film: every actor is cast well, and each performance hits the right note.

Ambulance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Universal's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release of Ambulance delivers a strikingly clear, efficient, and eye-catching home presentations that is a pinnacle for current presentation technology. The digital source work looks gorgeous and bests the companion Blu-ray, perhaps not by leaps and bounds -- the 1080p image is just that stellar -- but in a way that offers a total refinement of the picture, bringing out its very best qualities and characteristics with every shot. The 2160p resolution finds greater overall clarity and a firmer sense of sharpness. Faces are just a bit more complex and natural, clothes crisper, and environments more intimately complex. The overall boost to image definition adds up to a fairly large increase. Viewers will be delighted with the consistent clarity -- even in drone shots -- and the level of high yield intricacy on display in practically every shot. The Dolby Vision color grading is where viewers will note the biggest gains. Color depth is improved to offer more vivid red output on the side of the ambulance, on the paramedic shirts (which are also exemplary for the clean and efficient white level boosts and clarity seen on them), and of course on blood. Black level depth is superior as well, presenting with absorbing and deep, but not overbearing or prone to crush, realism. Explosions pack a more intense punch, cop and ambulance lights flash with brilliant intensity beyond the Blu-ray's reach, and every urban tones feels grounded and true. Noise is still present, but noise management is better here. That this is not a drastic leap over the Blu-ray speaks well of the 1080p disc rather than speaks poorly of this, because what is here is striking and a fine example of UHD at its current new release best.

Ambulance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Universal's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a real treat. The track is very, very good. Clarity is exceptional, reaching peak performance for all elements. Surround integration is outstanding. There is never an inch of stage real estate left not only unused but left anything but maximized. That includes the top end, which features some discrete effects but primarily serves to bolster the sense of absolute, harmonious engagement from all directions. Listeners will feel the rattle inside the ambulance, experience the impact of automatic weapons fire, and understand the high-speed stakes of racing down the freeway with an army of cop cars in pursuit. Subwoofer output is very strong yet very balanced. Even in the quieter moments, the sense of absolute fullness and audio adrenaline is obvious. Dialogue is also clear, well prioritized, and center positioned. Modern audio engineering doesn't get any better than this.

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

Ambulance contains a handful of featurettes. A Blu-ray copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Bayhem (2160p/Dolby Vision, 6:14): Talking up the high energy experience of working with Michael Bay and the characteristics that make his movies mayhem.
• Pedal to the Metal (2160p/Dolby Vision, 9:34): A closer look at the Falck ambulances used in the film and making the key ambulance scenes as seen from inside and out.
• Aerial Assault (2160p/Dolby Vision, 5:08): Looking at the cutting-edge drone photography in the film. Also: a quick look at helicopters in the film.
• Finding Ambulance (2160p/Dolby Vision, 5:34): Discussing the original film that inspired this, the character drama within, cast and performances, and more.
• Chase Capital of the World (2160p/Dolby Vision, 3:58): Exploring the Los Angeles setting.
• A Tribute to First Responders (2160p/Dolby Vision, 6:54): Training Eiza González to play a convincing paramedic and exploring the challenges real first responders face in the line of duty.

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

Ambulance is a return to vintage Michael Bay, not Transformers Michael Bay. It's full of energy, good story beats, solid characters and performances, and all of the signature Michael Bay chaos. It's emotionally draining and physically demanding, too, so be prepared to be a bit exhausted when it's over. Universal's UHD is great, offering reference audio and video. A smattering of extras are included. Highly recommended.