Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the acclaimed 2002 film 'Catch Me If You Can,' starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Steven Spielberg, to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video. This UHD carries over the same audio presentation and supplemental content from the 2012 Blu-ray. See below for a few words on the new video presentation and a brief look at what else this package has to offer.

Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Catch Me If You Can looked great on Blu-ray some 13 years ago, and it looks great...at times...on the UHD format today. Paramount's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation delivers an image that captures the film roots with clarity and well realized detail, delivering sharp environments, well defined faces, crisp and tactile clothing, and clearly defined odds and ends around the frame. Grain retention is evident, and the grain field is consistent and flattering throughout. This UHD is definitely a boost in overall clarity and sharpness compared to the Blu-ray, but I cannot help but to be somewhat disappointed with the image overall. While it looks nice at a glance, closer scrutiny reveals some problematic compression. At times it's barely noticeable, at others it just leaps off the screen. One minute, the viewer is enjoying the film and gawking at the clarity, stability, and filmic essence on display. At others, the mouth is also agape at the way the image just seems to digitally crumble. Now, the compression problems never approach some of the worst I've seen (especially in some older Mill Creek releases), but there is no mistaking that this transfer is frustrating at best, with superior imagery here and inferior imagery there, shape elements here, softer elements there. And these compression issues are not limited to just those hazy, dreamlike shots (look in the 32-minute mark) found here and there; they creep in everywhere.

The Dolby Vision grading never seems to bring a consistency of tonal life to the image, either. It is at times rich and bright, at other times dull and drab. Again the movie does transition through different lighting schemes and at times has a diffuse, almost hazy look to it, but colors seem to be all over the map in terms of saturation and impact. This offers more punch and stability than the Blu-ray, but like the rest of the image there seems to be a disconnect from one sequence, scene, and sometimes even shot to another. Even white balance and black levels seem to lack stability.

Overall, I find myself disappointed with this one. It's not terrible -- hardly -- but it's certainly lacking the consistent finesse that the image shows at times but never maintains for the duration. There are also sporadic examples of print pops and speckles that may not interfere, or appear irregularly, but they appear enough to warrant a mention. At best, I would rate the image at a 4/5, at worst a 3/5, so I'll split the difference and award it a 3.5/5.

Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather than reformat for the Dolby Atmos configuration, Paramount simply retains the 2012 Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack for this UHD release of Catch Me If You Can. For a full audio review, please click here.

Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplemental content is included on the legacy Blu-ray disc. The UHD includes no supplements. See below for al list of what's included, and please click here for a deeper dive into the extras. This release does ship with a slipcover and a digital copy code.

• Catch Me If You Can: Behind the Camera
• CAST Me If You Can: The Casting of the Film
• Scoring: Catch Me If You Can
• Frank Abagnale: Between Reality and Fiction
• The FBI Perspective
• Catch Me If You Can: In Closing
• Photo Gallery

Catch Me If You Can 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had not seen Catch Me If You Can since I reviewed it back in 2012, and I found myself as captivated as ever, but the UHD is disappointingly flat. The picture quality is acceptable at best but often problematic. There is no Atmos track and no new extras. The Blu-ray remains a very good presentation and I would advise hanging into it until this release earns a deep price cut.