Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Nearly two years ago, my colleague Randy Miller covered the Warner Bros. US Blu-ray of Luca Guadagnino's Bones and All (2022). For Randy's thoughts on the film and his evaluation of Warners' a/v presentations, please click here.

Lee and Maren.

Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bones and All makes its global debut on 4K as part of this Ultra HD Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray combo courtesy of Scream Factory and Shout! Studios. The boutique label states that the 4K presentation derives "from the original elements." The BD-100 supports Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). The movie appears in its originally composed and theatrically exhibited aspect ratio of 1.85:1. As Randy notes in his review, cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan shot the picture on Kodak VISION3 35 mm 500T Color Negative Film 5219 stock (for the whole shoot). Ron Prince reported in the November 2022 edition of Cinematography World (CW) that Khachaturan utilized two Panaflex Millennium XL2s 35 mm cameras and an ARRI Arriflex 235. Primo zooms, Ultra Speed and Super Speed lenses were chosen for a majority of the shoot.

According to Helen Parkinson of British Cinematographer magazine, Bones and All was filmed across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and the expansive grassland landscapes of Nebraska. Khachaturan told CW's Prince that he and Guadagnino made a mutual choice to employ 500T film because of the inherent texture, grain, and natural colors it produces. This is the palette I generally saw in the daylight scenes on Scream's transfer, particularly on the UHD. Khachaturan observed to Prince that the 500T is "gentle on faces." I would concur and have incorporated several screen captures of close-ups on faces. If one compares the close-ups of Maren (Taylor Russell) in Screenshot #s 24 and 32 on the 4K (images downscaled to 1080p) with identical frames on the regular Blu-ray (#s 23 and 31), s/he can see the enhanced color and added texture on the former's UHD presentation.

Khachaturan spoke about the magic hour shots and prodigiousness of their colors to CW. For example, you'll notice the beautiful shades of color in the skies as seen in frame grab #s 5 and 20. The DP also stated that the 500T helped to maintain highlights in harsh lighting situations. Khachaturan remarked that the film stock performed especially well where there's low-key light with scenes implying "what might be hidden in the darkness." For instance, the viewer may not be able to pick out Sully (Mark Rylance) until Maren's second POV extreme long shot of him alongside a street enshrouded in mostly darkness (Screenshot #s 39-40). Black levels in #40 are crisper and more solid than they are on the Blu-ray. Ditto for the medium shot of Maren seated in a movie theater (cf. #36 with 35) and the silhouetted image of her in medium shot from the side (cf. #38 with 37).

According to Prince, the 35 mm film was processed at Kodak Film Lab in New York. 4K scans and dailies were completed at Technicolor Postworks New York. Final grading was done at Frame by Frame in Rome. Khachaturan described the final color grade as "extraordinary." He was astonished by the wide range of colors on the screen in the grading suite. Khachaturan, colorist Claudio Del Bravo, and technicians at Frame by Frame expanded the color palette more than was captured in the camera. I believe you'll be able to see these perceptible differences on the 4K disc.

The UHD sports a mean video bitrate of 79.1 Mbps while this triple-layered disc delivers an overall bitrate of 92.8 Mbps. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 carries an average video bitrate of 29966 kbps. Scream has provided a dozen chapter selections for the 131-minute movie.

Screenshot #s 1-20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, & 40 = 4K Ultra HD (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = Scream Factory 2024 Blu-ray

Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied three audio track options to watch Bones and All with on UHD and the Blu-rays: a previously issued Dolby Atmos mix (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible with a standard bitrate of 4206 kbps) encoded at an average bitrate of 4846 kbps and a maximum bitrate of 6534 kbps; a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (3707 kbps, 24-bit); and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (2022 kbps, 24-bit). I echo all of the observations Randy made about the Atmos track in his review. I listened to that mix and the DTS-HD MA 5.1, which isn't present on the WB disc. On both the Atmos and 5.1, sounds of nature and general ambience are delivered in abundance on the height channels and rear surrounds. I could really hear the wind howling along the satellite speakers. When Lee's (Timothée Chalamet) pickup truck is parked at a gas station in Minnesota, I could distinctly make out the panning motion across my height speakers.

The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is well served on both tracks. Musician Edward Bond conducted an analysis of their score for a piece in the British e-zine Sound of Life and observed that one of the main themes is anchored by a nylon string acoustic guitar. It's a slow, plaintive guitar melody that underscores the bond between the film's two main characters. By contrast, the music for Sully is dark and discordant. The best piece on the soundtrack album and in the film is "The Great Wide Open" and its reprise.

I watched the film with the optional English SDH turned on. The subtitles track is accurate and complete.

Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream has ported over the very brief featurettes to its 1080p disc that appear on the WB Blu-ray:

• A Look Inside (2:23, 1080p)

• The Vision of BONES AND ALL (1:32, 1080p)

• Meet Lee (2:06, 1080p)

• Meet Maren (1:32, 1080p)

• Outsiders in Love (1:52, 1080p)

Bones and All 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The strength of David Kajganich's screenplay is how well-drawn Maren is and the arc her character takes throughout the film. Mark Rylance is his usual brilliant self but in an eccentric and disturbing way. Timothée Chalamet channels some of Nic Cage's performances from the early to mid '80s for some of his scenes. The 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray release of Bones and All has come out at a perfect time for Chalamet fans so you can compare one of his darker roles with one of his dramatic turns in A Complete Unknown. Scream Factory delivers an excellent 4K transfer to go with a strong encode on the UHD. It's nice to have a 5.1 option. RECOMMENDED.