Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Blackhat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 28, 2023

Ridley Scott's Napoleon is getting some critical backlash as this review is being written, with several people mentioning how erratic Scott's output ostensibly has been. Something at least a little similar has often accompanied responses to the oeuvre of Michael Mann, and in fact the critical backlash to this film may have resulted in Mann taking a rather long (and perhaps forced) break from filmmaking, with Ferrari set to debut on Christmas day of this year, some eight years after Blackhat infiltrated cineplexes. Blackhat would have seemed to have been a rather prescient barometer for a world many of us find ourselves ensconced in, whether or not we want to be, but in 2015, and perhaps due at least in part to perceptions of what a hacker should look and sound like, as well as a certain lack of tolerance for some of Mann's well advertised stylistic flourishes, this tale of cyberterrorism just failed to connect. It's a flawed exercise, to be sure, as even some of the many supplements Arrow has aggregated for this release seem to hint at, but it's a fascinating one nonetheless and may actually spark more interest now that awareness of cyberterrorism has only grown.

Blackhat received a prior release on Blu-ray courtesy of its parent studio Universal way back in 2015, and my colleague Martin Liebman's Blackhat Blu-ray review of that release provides an excellent plot summary as well as Marty's reaction to the film and his technical analyses. Based on Marty's comments, I'll cut to the chase and say this version seems to offer better overall technical merits, and it certainly offers a more generous supply of bonus feature content than the Universal release did.

Blackhat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Blackhat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps their 1080 and 4K UHD presentations together in its verbiage about the transfer(s), as follows:

Blackhat is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 with 5.1 sound.

For the 1080p Blu-ray release, the high definition digital masters of both the US and International versions of the film were sourced from NBC Universal.

For the 4K Ultra HD release, the 2K DPX master data files of both versions were sourced from NBC Universal and are presented in 4K resolution with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The 4K remastering and color grading was completed by David Mackenzie at Fidelity in Motion.

The above may beg the question, "hey, what is the Director's Cut, chopped liver?", and in that regard per the above information, it's perhaps salient to note that Arrow includes the Director's Cut on a 1080 disc in its 4K UHD release of this film as well, though that said, I didn't notice any huge differences in overall video quality between all three 1080 presentations included in this package. This looks very similar to Universal's old 1080 release, as may be hinted at by the provenance provided by Arrow, above, but there are some occasional differences, I'd say especially with regard to some of the most aggressively blue graded material, which definitely struck my eyes as a bit darker and more saturated in this version. I also noted no noise per Marty's original review, and to my eyes even the digital grain is a bit more subliminal in this presentation than in Arrow's 4K UHD version. As I mentioned in my review of that version, there's a built in heterogeneous quality to some of the visuals here based on the different cameras employed and due to so many tweaks that were added in post, but given that, detail levels are surprisingly consistent throughout. My score is 4.25.

Blackhat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blackhat features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that I evidently found a bit more satisfying than Marty did with regard to the old Universal Blu-ray, but that said, some of the things Marty addressed in his review I noticed, too, though I may not consider them the obstacles that Marty did. There is a rather strange moment circa 4:36 that Marty thought was a dropout, but which actually sounds to me like a kind of inartful foley effect meant to indicate some new level of disaster is kicking in at the nuclear plant, but it is kind of sonically lurching. Some of the ADR that Marty alludes to is also quite evident. But overall I found the track nicely immersive, with some fun panning effects during the "fly overs" of circuit boards and the like. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Blackhat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• US Version (2:13:27) and International Version (2:12:55) are accessible under the Choose Version menu.


• Audio Commentary by Bryan Reesman & Max Evry


• Firewall (HD; 18:44) is a newly produced interview with cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh.


• Zero Day Threat (HD; 30:33) is a newly produced interview with production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas.


• Archival Extras (see Marty's review linked to above for more information on these):

  The Cyber Threat (HD; 13:02)

  
  

  On Location Around the World (HD; 9:30)

  
  

  Creating Reality (HD; 17:01)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Disc Two

• Director's Cut (2:12:08)

Additionally, Arrow offers a keepcase with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller. An illustrated collector's booklet is also enclosed with an interesting essay by Andrew Graves, stills, and technical information. Packaging features a slipcover.

Blackhat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Speaking of Ridley Scott, it's kind of interesting to note the three versions of Blackhat included in this package and to think about Scott's own "revisionist" tactics with regard to any number of his films like Kingdom of Heaven in particular, though it may be more salient to compare these particular edits to Oliver Stone's repeated attempts to wrestle Alexander into manageable shape. What's kind of funny about the three versions is they all differ from each other by only a few seconds, seconds which arguably don't make all that much difference and which fail to address some issues in plot mechanics and characterization, not to mention what I'm sure some will feel is over length. This is a release of a probably problematic film that nonetheless offers generally secure technical merits and some outstanding supplements.