Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Arthur the King Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 21, 2024

Unabashed dog lovers like yours truly will almost certainly enjoy Arthur the King, even if they'll know that, much as when Fido looks imploringly at them with longing eyes when there's some tasty food available, they're being manipulated. If there's an extremely specific Venn Diagram available showing this particular intersection, there may also be others out there who join me in not only sharing a love of dogs but also a real enthusiasm for so-called adventure or endurance racing. For those similarly inclined, Arthur the King may be some kind of previously unknown or unimagined mecca since its "based on a true story" setup is that an adventure racer named Michael (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself the unwitting "partner" of a stray dog named Arthur who joins Michael's team at the Adventure Racing World Championship in Santo Domingo.

There is little doubt you've seen the general outlines of this tale (tail?) before, with disparate characters learning to work together as a team and finding out they can play to each other's strengths, with each learning from the other in order to make some seemingly impossible goal a reality (or at least almost a reality in this case, since a health crisis intervenes). There's quite a bit of time spent introducing the various members of Michael's team and of course offering some "nemesis" backstory between Michael and another team mate. Interestingly, then, the "Arthur" material is initially intercut and shows his hardscrabble existence. Perhaps just slightly hilariously, then, that whole "disparate characters" angle turns out to involve Arthur's interactions with the team and their growing attachment to this unexpected mascot.

The adventure facing aspect offers this story a lot of exciting vignettes that should certainly satisfy adrenaline junkies, and of course the man's best friend element is played for all its ultimately heartstring pulling (yanking?) appeal. Some of you may have seen the hilarious meme featuring two identical side by side silhouettes of a cat licking its paw, with the left one labeled "Cat before the apocalypse", and the right one labeled "Cat after the apocalypse", which may be why there haven't been that many "heroic feline" movies, but even cat lovers may find both exquisite scenery and some lovable animal action to keep them entertained here.

Arthur the King Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arthur the King is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The IMDb lists Panavision cameras (and lenses) capturing at 8K source resolutions, with a 4K DI. This is a really gorgeous looking transfer virtually the entire way through, with the outdoor Santo Domingo material looking stunning, with surprisingly fulsome detail levels even in some midrange and wide shots (including aerial flyovers). There are some intentional tweaks to the appearance of things where "first person" quasi-Go Pro material is introduced, and which has a much more overt "video" look to it. The palette is nicely suffused throughout. Once again the Lionsgate masthead has noticeable banding, but I didn't see any issues once the film started.

Arthur the King Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Arthur the King features an expressive Dolby Atmos track that offers clear and consistent surround activity from the get go, though things really only kick completely into high gear once the actual games have started. The glut of outdoor adventure racing material provides ample opportunities for often nicely layered ambient environmental effects, and Kevin Matley's score is also well represented in the side and rear channels. There's some appealing dynamic range courtesy of the wide gamut of locations and situations. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Arthur the King Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Simon Cellan Jones and Author Mikael Lindnord


• Audio Commentary with Producers Tucker Tooley and Tessa Tooley


• Audio Commentary with Producers Mark Canton and Dorothy Canton


• Finding Arthur (HD; 9:19) is a fun piece focusing on canine casting.


• A Love Letter to Arthur (HD; 5:29) features the real life Mikael Lindnord, whose story inspired the film.


• A Dog's Journey: Making Arthur the King (HD; 11:32) has some good behind the scenes footage.


• Best Friends PSA (HD; 1:02) features Wahlberg and "Arthur".


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:32)

Additionally DVD and digital copies are included, and packaging features a slipcover.

Arthur the King Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're unfamiliar with adventure racing, there are any number of at times rather visceral reality shows available to watch, including various iterations of World's Toughest Race and Race to Survive (the latter just started airing a New Zealand set season as this review is being written). The pairing of a down on his luck adventure racer with a down on his luck dog leads to, yes, predictable results, but the context of this story gives it some additional energy, even if you can almost feel your emotions being massaged this way and that as the story develops. Techical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.