6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Matt Jones (XLVIII), Meredith HagnerHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 59% |
Mystery | 5% |
Drama | 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)
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish VO, Spanish DTS=Castilian, Spanish DD=Latin American
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Brightburn tells the story of a 12-year-old super villain named Brandon (Jackson A. Dunn), an alien boy whose space ship crash landed in Kansas and who was adopted by loving parents but who listens to a calling to use his powers for evil rather than good. One of the film's most interesting shots shows one of Brandon's first victims, a classmate whose hand he crushed with his superhuman strength, writing an essay entitled "The Decline of Truth and Justice in the Modern Era.” It's the story's anti-Superman sentiment put as succinctly as possible. Director David Yarovesky (The Hive) and Writers Brian and Mark Gunn have taken a rock-solid anti-genre, anti-hero concept and done little of interest with it. The movie is a madhouse of blood, sound, and special effects but feels rather empty, too introductory and lacking a hook beyond establishing the character in unimaginative, trope-laden ways.
The call.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Brightburn arrives on the UHD format with a 2160p/HDR transfer. This is a fairly standard-issue UHD upgrade for a digitally shot movie and an
upscaled 4K resolution from a 2K digital intermediate. Textural clarity and raw detail increases are minimal. Viewers will note ever-so-slightly sharper
hairs, skin, clothing material definition, and environmental sharpness. Whether inside the family home or around the barn, whether dense
sweaters or light material T-shirts, whether hair or skin, nothing stands out as more than mildly sharper, never mind greatly enhanced by the added
resolution in
direct A-B comparisons.
The HDR color spectrum brings the biggest change to the experience, and while it's more obvious than the minuscule uptick in fine detail and clarity,
it's still not a radical departure from the Blu-ray. It doesn't look like much more has been done than
turning the brightness down and pushing the
contrast up a bit. There is definitely more color punch and depth to be enjoyed in bright scenes and deeper blacks at night, even if the net difference is
not drastic. Orange hunting vests, the red ink Brandon uses to draw his Brightburn depictions on white notebook paper, natural greens, and various
other clothes bear the fruits of a modest increase in color density. Skin tones are a little more full and healthy and deep and black levels enjoy greater
stability and overall depth without absorbing and overwhelming low light details. This is certainly the better of the two physical presentations on the
market, but fans expecting a mammoth shift from one format to the other or a striking museum-quality UHD will not find it here. It's fine for what the
movie gives it to work with.
This is a very potent Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Bass is intense as the film opens. The ominous beats build in volume and low end intensity. The low end is the dominant force throughout, both in its defining of music and effects alike. Music enjoys large posture and generous positioning, resulting in a more stage-filling presence supported by the overhead channels that were obviously missing from the Blu-ray's 5.1 configuration. Action and Horror effects are also given an abundance of life by way of the Atmos configuration and its prodigious bass. The climactic action scene yields serious rumble and incredible elemental and directional detail as a house is shredded to awesome sonic effect. On the flip side, more subtle elements are equally precise. Whispers emanate from all over the stage in chapter three when Brandon is first called to his ship and to evil, and again in chapter seven, this time accompanied by some seamlessly integrated rainfall and thunder effects. Light country ambience effortlessly balances the track in its more serene moments. Dialogue is perfectly clear and well prioritized from a natural front-center position.
Brightburn's UHD disc carries over the audio commentary but otherwise leaves all extras to the bundled Blu-ray which also contains that
same
commentary and three featurettes (it's also worth noting that the Blu-ray included with the UHD features more generic disc artwork compared to the
standalone BD/DVD release). A Movies Anywhere
digital copy code
is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
Brightburn feels like an incomplete movie. There is essentially no third act, at least not within a more traditionally structured story. The film introduces the character and sees him grow into his powers while cutting ties with everything that once loved and could love him, but it leaves it at that. There's no challenge, no conflict, no opposition on his plane. Perhaps the opposition is emotion, but there's also no pull between right and wrong, and the family ties are not strong enough to even tempt Brandon to step away from mayhem. The picture is passably entertaining, at least, and it's technically sound, but it needs more. Sony's UHD offers little video upgrading over the Blu-ray -- slightly improved color and contrast are really about it -- but the Dolby Atmos soundtrack is a clear step up from the Blu-ray's 5.1 lossless track. Recommended.
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