6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A dystopian fever dream action film that follows Boy, a deaf mute with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he is trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish imagination and become an instrument of death.
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Rothe, Michelle Dockery, Brett Gelman, Isaiah MustafaAction | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
There's one really intriguing sleight of hand (and/or mind) that takes place partway through Boy Kills World that reveals a certain commendable level of ingenuity, and that one moment may be enough to offset an otherwise pretty rote exercise that is another example of unbridled ambition to seemingly create a live action film version of a video game. It's maybe just a little ironic, then, that Boy Kllls World evidently actually sparked the creation of a video game, but even without that "sidebar" tie in offering, the film may engender a certain hopelessness in younger male viewers in particular who may momentarily wonder why they can't move focal character Boy (Bill Skarsgård) around with a PlayStation controller or something similar. It's probably salient to note that co-story writer and director Moritz Mohr pretty much identifies himself as a "gamer", which is probably all anyone really needs to know about the general outlines of this story, as well as its hyperbolic presentational aspects.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc included in this package.
Boy Kills World is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. As of the writing
of this review, the IMDb doesn't offer much in the way of technical data points, and the closing credits roll also don't disclose a camera, but this is an
appealing digital capture that perhaps due to the film's lackluster box office has not even been granted HDR in this format. As such, all of the detail
positives of the 1080 version are probably at least marginally improved in this increased resolution, but the palette is pretty similar looking throughout
(though I guess an argument could be made that suffusion at least looks a bit better here, even if highlights aren't materially altered). The
emphasis on "jiggly cam" as well as certain stylistic flourishes like those seen in screenshot 4 can lead to intermittent loss of fine detail, but that is
probably counterbalanced by an emphasis on close-ups, where fine
detail on facial features can be exceptional. Again, while not markedly different from the 1080 presentation, the palette pops nicely, though my hunch
is HDR might have helped elucidate a bit more shadow detail in some of the rainy forested scenes in particular.
Boy Kills World features a nicely immersive Dolby Atmos track that provides clear engagement of all surround channels in both the action scenes, but also in terms of nicely enveloping ambient environmental effects in some of the training material in particular. The hand to hand combat scenes offer some of the most noticeable emanations from the Atmos speakers, and both scoring and source cues also offer some good surround moments. LFE can be quite forceful. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
Lionsgate doesn't really seem to be promoting this release in any major (or frankly even minor) way, as I received absolutely no PR hype whatsoever about this film. It's probably not hard to see why, as it evidently tanked pretty badly at the box office, and despite lots of energy is probably simply too obviously reminiscent of any number of other properties to be able to attain its own distinctive identity. This 4K release might have been a real winner with HDR, since the visual are so stylish, but this may be a case where for fans the 1080 version should suffice perfectly well enough.
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