Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released a 40th anniversary UHD release for the fan favorite 1985 film 'Better Off Dead,' written and directed by Savage Steve Holland and starring John Cusack. This is the film's UHD debut. It originally debuted on Blu-ray in 2011, and it also subsequently released with a FYE exclusive SteelBook in 2020 (with a wider release of the same SteelBook in 2022). This UHD release features new 2160p/Dolby Vision video. New new audio tracks or supplements are included. Likewise, this currently ships only in standard packaging; at time of writing there is no SteelBook packaging variant to buy.

Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Paramount's 2011 Blu-ray release of Better Off Dead looked…good enough, especially in 2011. The old Blu-ray (which is also included here) featured the (even then) antiquated VC-1 encode. The film was long overdue for a new presentation. This 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD offers a nice step up from that old disc, and while it may not hit on every cylinder or stand at the top of the catalogue UHD heap, it offers a decent 4K image overall.

The new presentation does impress in the familiar opening animated sequence, which is both crisp and colorful, sharp and sure in its color output. The live action content to follow is also solid, maybe not reaching the pinnacle of what fans have been spoiled with in catalogue UHD releases, but the image is undeniably good at presenting a rich, cinematic flavor to the proceedings. The 2160p resolution captures the native 4K elements with well-rounded accuracy and stability. There is never a real "wow" factor at work with this one. At its very best, it offers good and crisp, but never great and complex, imagery. At peak performance, facial and clothing details satisfy in the broadest sense, producing essential detail a few notches above the Blu-ray but lagging well behind the best of the UHD format. There are some softer elements and shots and scenes that lack real complexity that 35mm and the UHD format can and offer do offer. Grain is fairly light, but it's fairly steady in density and consistency. Even in the best lit and most complex scenes — the skiing segment in the opening minutes — there's just not much textural might and detail excellence to find. It looks good, but never great.

Much the same can be said of the colors. This is a fairly steady but not necessarily vivid palette, with some elements that offer a decent sense of punch (winter attire in the aforementioned skiing sequence), but never does the Dolby Vision grading really leap off the screen with a sense of real tonal impact that pushes displays and dazzles eyes. The presentation is stable yet reserved, finding good natural balance to all elements but without stepping into that upper echelon of color explosion. But in many ways the core accuracy and stability are where the image can really delight. Look at a dinner scene around the 16-minute mark. Sure, the colors don't jump off the screen, but the core accuracy and stability really help drive the scene to a very pleasing overall look and feel, especially Jenny's shirt and apron and Lane's yellow shirt. Black levels are impressively deep (especially nighttime exteriors), white balance is clearly better than the old Blu-ray for brilliance and accuracy, and skin tones look good, if not a little pale and pasty in a few places.

Paramount's UHD shows no serious print troubles or encode issues. The end result is a stable, pleasing image. It's not going to blow away anyone watching for sheer visual delight, but this is a good upgrade from the Blu-ray, even if in the larger realm of the UHD sphere it's pretty pedestrian. While both the Blu-ray and the UHD earn identical 3.5/5.0 scores, one should not take that to mean that the images are equals; the scores are reflective of varying factors independent of one another.

Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For this UHD release of Better Off Dead, Parmaount has followed standard practice and simply recycled the existing soundtrack from the original Blu-ray. For a full review of the included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, please click here.

Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Better Off Dead contains no extras on the UHD disc. The included Blu-ray only includes the film's Trailer (1080p, 4:3, 1:33). It's disappointing, and somewhat perplexing, that the studio did not use the occasion of the film's 40th anniversary to add any new extras. On the positive side, Paramount has included a digital copy code and a non-embossed slipcover.

Better Off Dead 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Better Off Dead is better off on the UHD format than it ever was on Blu-ray. That is not to say that the UHD image is perfect -- it's perhaps best described as "solidly bland" -- but it does offer a nice jump up in quality from the previous VC-1 Blu-ray and generally satisfies as a good, basic UHD catalogue release. Unfortunately, Paramount has not done anything else to sweeten the package. The disc includes the same audio as the BD and there are no new extras in the package, either. Fans will want to upgrade, but my recommendation is to wait for a very good sale to do so.