Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Chappie 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The future is here! Sony has released its first wave of UHD Blu-ray (4K/3840x2160p resolution) discs. We've posted a companion article detailing the UHD upgrade experience here. Watch for more reviews for these Sony UHD Blu-rays in the coming days and, of course, Blu-ray.com will be covering every UHD release in the future.

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Chappie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Chappie was digitally photographed and finished at 4K, presumably the source for this very impressive UHD Blu-ray.

Sony's 2160p/HDR UHD release of Chappie looks terrific, but the movie's initial playback fell victim to the severe red push outlined in the article above. What should be an orange beam at the 20:25 mark pushed severely red. Chappie's "antenna" suffered the same fate. Fiery reds looked like overzealously colored cartoons. The entire movie took on a grossly over stylized appearance. Banding was introduced at the 4:00 mark, so severe that it literally overwhelmed the visible portions of sky. Another bright sky sequence around the 48:00 mark brought less severe banding but excess macroblocking. Ringing was clearly visible around a tall tower seen right at the beginning of chapter two. It was the worst of the combined efforts of both early (and incorrect) returns on The Martian (way too red) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (way too dark), with the added layer of severe artifacts on top. There are still handshake issues galore as well, but that's neither here nor there, though here's hoping it's ironed out via firmware update(s) sooner rather than later.

Fiddling with turning equipment off and back on again finally yielded what is supposedly the correct image, at least one that's free of all the aforementioned issues and in-line with what one would expect of a Sony title, and one that's already been the beneficiary of a tremendous 1080p Blu-ray release at that. The banding was gone. Ringing remained, but was substantially reduced. Colors looked correct compared to the 1080p Blu-ray. Of course, "correct" on UHD means fuller, richer, and deeper. The disc's HDR (High Dynamic Range) color scheme offers a significantly increased level of vibrancy and depth. Those orange beams are appreciably more densely saturated. Chappie's blue-highlighted chassis offers more pop and a greater sense of intimate color depth compared to the Blu-ray. One of the best moments for comparison comes at the 4:32 mark, a close-up of the robot's chest and head. The coloring on the blue and gold police shield and the blue dots on the "eye" panel are deeper. The 1080p image is noticeably brighter but lacks the subtle color depth. That same shot is excellent for comparing details. While the UHD doesn't offer a serious uptick -- at least not on a 65" monitor -- there's no mistaking a refinement of the dirt and wear on the surface and the increase in pinpoint detailing on things like the mouthpiece and, really, all of the little odds and ends visible in the frame. Another good point of comparison comes at the 6:29 mark, and a little beyond via an overhead shot that reveals all sorts of fine pebbles and smooth stones on the ground below. The UHD disc offers improved definition and also a more refined color, evident even on the muddy browns that permeate the terrain. Skin textures also receive refinement that allows more lifelike, practically tangible definition. Many of the close-ups a striking. Delineation is off the charts, with the absolute finest pores and tattoo markings intimately visible throughout the movie.

Furthermore, skin coloring appears precise across the movie's wide spectrum of characters and under a number of lighting conditions, including the darkened warehouse interiors, brightly lit exteriors, and a number of more neutral artificially lit interiors. Black levels hold deep as well, never crushing out detail and never appearing too pale. Of note is an issue at the beginning of chapter 16. The camera pans down to a building, and it looks like it's in the throes of an earthquake, the juddering is so bad. That's probably more on the hardware side than the UHD disc side, but it was one of the most distracting and headache-inducing moments in the movie and a good test of how well or poor each user's own hardware handles the shot.

Chappie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's UHD Blu-ray release of Chappie arrives with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, leaving behind the previous Blu-ray release's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. This review is based on a 7.1.4 setup, which is the "traditional" seven-channel plus subwoofer configuration with the addition of four "object" or "overhead" speakers to the mix. The Atmos track is strong, but the overhead effects are more finely integrated than they are individually pronounced, never "hitting the listener on the head," so to speak, and at least not in the more obvious way some effects seem to emanate from the ceiling in tracks like those found in Goosebumps and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, both of which were extensively sampled prior to this review in order to create something of a listening baseline for the new experience. That experience will of course continue to evolve as more Atmos tracks are reviewed, much the same way the UHD picture quality judgment will evolve as more titles become available for comparison. The Atmos presentation, as noted, offer a less aggressive and more subtly immersive sensation. The track sounds a bit fuller, overall, though the traditional speakers and sound placements along the 7.1 floor standing setup (as the case may be with this reviewer's speaker array) still dominate. Atmos highlights include a helicopter buzzing through -- and above -- the listening area in the first battle and several moments in the climactic battle scene, particularly in one shot where bullets seem to ricochet off the metallic antagonist high above the traditional speaker setup. Gentle rainfall features good pronouncement from above at the 1:09:00 mark. Alarm klaxons are more aggressively spread towards the top at 1:30:35. Some of the quieter warehouse scenes that are dialogue-heavy reveal a well defined sense of spatial ambience that seems to gently pull the listener into the location.

Otherwise, the track proves very aggressive but sometimes not quite as full and hard-hitting as one might expect. Gunfire pops from every direction, but there's never a real sense of realistically ear-piercing authority to it. Ditto explosions, flying debris, shattering glass, and other action specific details. Where the track excels, however, is making near-constant use of every traditional speaker in the configuration. There's regular activity, whether battle chaos or more general environmental details and voices spread widely throughout the listening area. Musical delivery is appropriately clear and weighty when necessary. The movie's electronic/industrial style music offers tremendous definition throughout the range and is supported by a boomy but balanced low end. The 1:02:30 mark is particularly impressive in that regard. Dialogue delivery is firm and center focused with positive reverberation during an opening ceremony. It threatens to become lost under surrounding effects at a few junctures, but there's no problem with baseline clarity.

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

While Chappie contains no new "supplements" on the UHD disc, it does offer a slick new menu system (and presumably the early standard for Sony UHD releases) in which different pages are selected by scrolling up and down and side-to-side. Beyond the usual scene selection and language tabs, there's also an option to watch character-specific highlights for Chappie (11:02), Deon (12:41), Ninja (14:36), and the more generically titled Action (11:34), which offers a highlight reel of both 2160p and Dolby Atmos goodness. There's also a Cast & Crew tab that appears to only offer a still image accompanied by character and actor name (where applicable). All of the previous edition's supplements carry over on the included 1080p Blu-ray disc (click here for more information). A UV digital copy code and a 1080p Blu-ray copy of the movie are included with purchase.

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

Chappie isn't the best work from Director Neill Blomkamp, but it's a well done picture that offers a touching core story about what it means to be alive -- to have an identity and conscience -- mixed in with some of the most impressively seamless digital effects ever found in a film and several strong action scenes along the way. Sony's UHD Blu-ray release of Chappie delivers striking 2160p video, a good Atmos soundtrack, and all of the supplements from the previous 1080p disc. Recommended.