Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 15, 2017

Note: The "movie" score is higher for this release than for the 1080p Blu-ray release to reflect that the movie plays better on the UHD format.

Director Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk tells a complex story of a young man first caught in the firestorm of war and subsequently caught in the firestorm of celebrity, all the while internally fighting to find his place in the world. It's more a statement than an exploration, less a detailed analysis and more a snapshot of emotional turmoil, but it by-and-large succeeds in delving deep into the psyche of a soldier who finds that war has changed him and that war has changed the perception of him beyond the comfortable confines of his brothers-in-arms. The film is notable for its technical execution as well, shooting at 120 frames per second (presented at a standard 24 for the Blu-ray release but 60FPS for this UHD release). Viewing the film at 24FPS yields an interesting perspective, presenting less a hyper-real take and more a fairly bland, straightforward, almost stage-production-quality picture built on close-ups and perspective shots that call attention to the emotion of the moment and the underlying character analysis playing at its center. At 60FPS, as with this release, it's an entirely different experience, and in a good way.

Texas native Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) is leaving Iraq and returning home on leave to a hero's welcome. His bravery in war was inadvertently caught on camera, a camera left behind by a fleeing journalist but left rolling, capturing Lynn's heroics when he risked his life to save a wounded brother on the battlefield. He and his squad are being treated to celebrity status on their way to attending a professional football game on Thanksgiving day where they will play an integral role in the halftime show featuring the popular Pop group, Destiny's Child. As Lynn's day unfolds, the film explores his relationship with his disfigured sister (Kristen Stewart), his burgeoning romance with a cheerleader (Makenzie Leigh), and his business dealings with the team's owner (Steven Martin) and a movie producer (Chris Tucker), all the while flashing back to what really happened on that day when both his instincts as a soldier and a man made him a hero and fate and culture made him a celebrity.

The story proper is handled with adequate care and attention to detail. Lee and Screenwriter Jean-Christophe Castelli, working from a source novel of the same name by Ben Fountain, dig deep to explore the inner turmoil that defines its title character while more broadly, and a little less pointedly, commenting on the perception of the war at home and how returning veterans are treated in contemporary society. They're rightly hailed as heroes and men of courage, but at the same time coddled and forced into neat little prepackaged clusters for easy mass consumption of hero worship that may not be entirely empty but that tends to feel routine at best and disingenuous at worst. It's a stark contrast to the treatment of many returning Vietnam veterans and makes for a fascinating study in war, culture, publicity, and the like, but the film doesn't quite find enough dramatic muscle, doesn't spend the appropriate screen capital, to truly get into the cultural significance of the returning 21st century war veteran. It does adequately explore Lynn's own reaction to that world, which is the film's primary driving force; it just seems the counterbalance could stand a little more attention to detail.

Everything Lee tries to accomplish with the film is boosted by the 60FPS UHD. There's more emotion, a greater sense of character intimacy...he certainly knows what he's doing with the style, and it becomes clear fairly quickly. It's much easier to grasp the central narrative focus, find the characters' centers, and mesh the greater story with the intimacy of the man at its center. That said, some of the peripherals still feel a little off. Stadium sequences, which comprise the majority of the film, never capture a sense of authentic place, struggling to look or feel full or alive or sound as if they're such. Unimaginative make-believe team logos, never showing "Beyonce's" or the group's faces: there are all sorts of interruptive elements that fracture the movie rather than unite it and keep the audience's attention on Lynn's story and his emotional journey through the film. Lee and his filmmaking team do find the appropriate depth to Lynn's relationship with his squadmates, but it never strikes the right tonal or dramatic note to properly sell his burgeoning romance with a cheerleader or, just as important, his home life and relationship with his sister in particular. The film never feels fully fleshed out, properly explored, seeming to leave necessary exposition behind in favor of focusing on the technical merits, which don't translate over into a version most who see the movie are ever going to experience, anyway. Performances never ignite the screen. Even the venerable Steve Martin is robotic, but there's enough easy-come camaraderie between Lynn and his brothers-in-arms to overcome any technical shortcomings in the performances, capturing an essence of brotherhood that's vital to the story and, arguably, its single most important piece. None of the criticisms are negated by the 60FPS presentation, but they're less of a concern. The movie does play with an almost surreal sense of intimacy and character that brings the focus to the individual and the moment, not anything surrounding, which just becomes necessary support for the greater whole.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date. No 3D screenshots are available.

This release of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk contains two presentations of the film not available anywhere else: The Blu-ray 3D and the UHD. The 1080p/24 Blu-ray is also included. For a review, please click here.

3D:

The 3D presentation is quite good, presented at 24FPS and at a 1080p resolution. Basic depth is very impressive. Whether looking back up into the stadium, down the field, or along a row of soldiers or cheerleaders, there's almost always a palpable sense of dimension and space. Even space between bodies is clearly evident at a press conference around the 27-minute mark, showing an impressive, practically measurable distance between the cluster of bodies in the reporter's seating area as they stand while the troops and the team owner arrive. The film's many close-ups don't find much dimensionality, though, favoring more of a static appearance. Black levels are a little deeper here, colors a hair less punchy, but detail remains exceptional: faces, uniforms, and the like maintain remarkable textural quality. The presentation does add some artifacts. Look at the hood of a Humvee at the 1:04:28 mark. Some jagged edges and light aliasing are introduced. Still, the presentation is quite good overall, not to the quality of Lee's intended appearance but a worthwhile watch in 3D.

UHD:

Sony's UHD release presents the film at 60FPS, a first for the format. Coupled with a reproduction of the film's native 4K resolution and HDR colors, it's certainly closer to Lee's original vision than either of the other two home format options, though it still lacks the 3D capability. It's a novel viewing experience to be sure. Whether one wants to call it hyper-real, surreal, or just real, it's nothing if it's not unique. It's much more video-y than the 1080p or 3D presentation. It's almost silky, feeling like a hybrid of the "soap opera" effect and a documentary. It suits the movie very well; Lee clearly knew what he was doing -- this is certainly no gimmick -- and even without the "full" experience the movie plays a fair bit better in this state. The movie offers an entirely different textural quality than one is accustomed to viewing. It's much smoother without losing any detail. In fact, it's just the opposite, finding a significant boost in detailing with the native 4K imagery. The frame rate boost doesn't simply enhance motion, it seems to bring out more nuanced detail than ever before, even glistening tears and reflections in the eye, which are critical in capturing the title character's inner feelings contrasted against outer surroundings in key scenes, particularly during the halftime show. The close-up shots transition from dull and mundane in 1080/24p to a breathtaking experience here, revealing much more character nuance that's not necessarily lost on the other version but certainly lessened by a significant amount. Basic detailing increases by a wide margin as well, including pores and pimples, crisp military uniform lines and decorations, and even the sandy, pebbly terrain in Iraq, boosted even well beyond the fantastic 1080p Blu-ray. The HDR color enhancement is wonderfully complimentary. Everything is notably richer, brighter, more nuanced and better saturated, including blood in a critical scene. It's an amazing display of the format's capabilities and, as with everything else, only enhances the total viewing experience. Black levels could stand to push perhaps a shade darker, that same humvee mentioned above in 3D shows its own burst of shimmering, and there are a few small stutters or jumps in the picture (which might be hardware related), but everything else in this transfer is spot-on. Regardless of what one thinks of the film -- which is a better experience on the UHD -- everyone equipped to play this disc back should add it to their collections and do so; it's currently a one-of-kind experience and Sony's UHD nails it, at least as far as current home technology allows.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This release of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk contains two presentations of the film not available anywhere else: The Blu-ray 3D and the UHD.

3D:

The 3D presentation contains the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack from the 2D 1080p Blu-ray. For a review, please click here.

UHD: Sony's UHD disc earns a premium status, the only one of the three to feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. And it's a significantly richer experience. Stadium atmospherics are fuller. PA announcements are more diffuse, larger, boomier, more prominent. The halftime show is a sonic marvel. Sound engulfs the listener with a precision rarely found in home (or even theatrical) listening. It's completely immersive at 360-degrees and with a capable, but never forced or needless, overhead support. The listener feels completely surrounded by the performance. Instrumentals, lyrics, bass, fireworks, everything saturates the stage and engulfs the listener with practically seamless and lifelike presence and volume. The battle sequence is boosted, too, enjoying more pronounced gunfire that's deeper, snappier, and more energetic from all over the stage. Explosions, shouts, and other bits of chaos are perfectly immersive; with the 60PFS visuals (and even without the added 3D effect), this is currently as close as one can come to a firefight by watching a movie. The stage is not just active, it's also precise, surrounding the listener in the mayhem with striking realism in all areas. Dialogue is clear and detailed, too, always well prioritized and positioned in the center. This is a terrific track and of a much higher and more immersive quality than the comparatively mundane DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 presentation.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk contains several supplements on the included Blu-ray disc, including deleted scenes and featurettes. The 3D disc features no additional content. The UHD disc does contain one unique supplement. Technology As Art: Changing the Language of Cinema (2160p, HDR, 5:25) explores the benefits of the film's technology in enhancing the movie's drama and narrative. It focuses on high frame rate, the challenges of editing, problems with 24 FPS, expanding the cinematic medium, and more. Also included are several Moments (2160p, HDR, 60 FPS, Atmos): Billy (18:22), Making the Deal (13:47), Brotherhood (22:52), and Family (12:57). The "Cast and Crew" tab, which features still photos, is also included. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 10:18 total runtime): One Nation, Nine Heroes; Family Dinner; Old Enough to Die For My Country; What You've Seen; We're Just Messing With You; and Get Ready.
• Into Battle and Onto the Field: Stepping Inside Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (1080p, 9:21): A look at the source novel, story and themes, translating the novel to the screen, the technical details of the shoot, cinematography, editing, and what the filmmakers hope to achieve with the film and its presentation.
• Assembling a Cast (1080p, 11:29): As the title suggests, this piece examines casting the film's key roles and the qualities required for the roles.
• Recreating the Halftime Show (1080p, 6:27): Crafting the film's major set piece and sequence, which is based on a real 2004 halftime show at the old Texas Stadium.
• The Brotherhood of Combat (1080p, 4:24): A closer look at the actors' physical preparations and military training for their roles.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 4K + 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk may never be a truly great movie under any presentation parameters, but Sony's UHD release does see the movie play with increased intimacy and feeling thanks to the boost in resolution, color, frame rate, and sound. Neither the 1080p Blu-ray nor the 3D presentation do it justice. The UHD comes much closer, and hopefully, one day soon, the technology will be available for viewers to experience this movie as-intnded in the home. This is still a must-own for UHD format owners. It's perhaps the most unique experience currently available for home viewing and deserves to be a staple in the library of every home theater capable of fully playing it back. Highly recommended.