Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Brave 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released the 2012 Pixar film 'Brave' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. No new extras are included but the bundled Blu-ray discs, which are identical to those that released in 2012, bring over a fine assortment of extra goodies.

Brave 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

If any Pixar movie screams "HDR!" it's got to be Brave. Merida's flowing, curly, voluminous red locks can only be described as the movie's visual focal point and the color intensity, even on the Blu-ray, is unmistakable. The hair is dramatic, dynamic, and a perfect opportunity for HDR to strut its stuff. Add plenty of natural greenery, luminous blue wisps, and variety of eye-popping clothing colors and Brave must be an HDR showcase. And it is. It is perhaps not quite a transformative experience when comparing it to the Blu-ray, but there's no mistaking the adds that HDR brings to the table. The red hair doesn't magically transform into some otherworldly tone, the greens won't gain gargantuan pigment, and the blue wisps don't suddenly become something else entirely. But there's no mistaking that the HDR color spectrum does bring out an added stability, a finer feel for nuance and pop, greater color clarity, superior saturation, and, yes, a more dramatic and dynamic feel for pop and punch. The image does jump off the screen with those intense reds, blues, greens, and everything else on offer. It's brighter, more intense, more stable, more visually invigorating. White balance gain is appreciable and the adds to black level depth are unmistakable. This is a solid HDR application.

Likewise, improvements to clarity and texture are not drastic, but they are welcome and begin to feel critical the longer one watches and the more deeply and intimately one compares this UHD to the previously released Blu-ray. It's often the finer things that reveal the firmer upgrades. Take a look at a throne in which Merida sits in chapter seven as various suitors appear before her and her parents in the court. The wooden seat shows scratches and dents with greater clarity and a feel for real, tangible depth that the Blu-ray cannot quite reveal to the same level of efficient intricacy and total clarity; there's a comparative look of mild fuzziness with the Blu-ray. Clothing fabrics and frays are another point of interest, with the period and flavorful costumes enjoying more tangible definition that practically begs to be touched. Merida's hair is sharper and has more body to it. Environments are cleaner and more precise. Character close-ups show greater finesse to freckles, hairs, and eyes. The improvements to overall clarity and the feel for depth are tangible. While the 2160p resolution does not reorder the movie's visuals in any way, the collection of mild boosts add up to a fairly impressive overall difference. Add in those HDR colors and an absence of any debilitating source or encode flaws and this is a very nice and welcome UHD upgrade for Brave.

Brave 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Atmos track offers a good, full presentation. An early song and montage featuring Merida exploring the land -- riding horseback throughout the forest, climbing a mountain -- finds terrific stage saturation to music, whooshing effects while riding, and an immersive sound of waterfalls cascading alongside a mountain. There is some strong, cavernous reverb -- and a fair bit of depth -- when a heavy wooden dinner table topples over in chapter four, one of several good, deep low end moments that may not demonstrate the total range one would expect (it's a Disney track, after all) but that does get the point across, particularly with the volume knob adjusted upward from reference levels. Surrounds are regularly involved. A fracas in chapter seven when the suitors brawl for Merida's hand fills the stage with an authentic feel for space and detail and chaos, all of which swoops around that stage and engages with every speaker -- including the top end channels -- with satisfying detail for both one-off effects and elements traveling through and around the listening area. Add in the bagpipe music and it's one of the more agreeable sonic moments in the entire movie. The track finds a good, again not great, feel for depth and heft in bear growls, which do enjoy some added, fruitful spacing for effect. Additional action scenes are detailed and exhaustive in surround integration. Music is clear and finds good balance through its total stage engagement. Atmospherics are rich and satisfying and surrounding. Dialogue is well prioritized, center positioned, and highly detailed for the duration.

Brave 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Brave's UHD disc contains no bonuses, but the bundled Blu-ray discs, which are identical to those originally found in the 2012 release, contain the following extras. For full supplemental content reviews, please click here. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

Blu-ray (Feature):

• Short Films: La Luna and The Legend of Mor'Du.
• Behind the Scenes
• Audio Commentary

• Fergus & Mor'Du An Alternate Opening
• Fallen Warriors
• Dirty Hairy People
• It Is English... Sort Of
• Angus
• The Tapestry
• Promotional Pieces
• Art Gallery

Brave 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brave may not rank in the top five of Pixar's best films, but it may be the most action packed and feature the most instantly recognizable character in the canon. It builds together a good blend narrative familiarity and visual delight and unique characters and music. And it's a whole lot of fun. Disney's UHD is good. It's hardly transformative, but the video improvements are enough to warrant an upgrade and the audio isn't at all bad with a volume adjustment. Supplements are simply recycled from the old Blu-rays, which are included. Throw in a digital copy code and it's hard to say "no" to this release. Recommended.