Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Cinderella 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released 2015's live action adaptation of the classic 1950 animated film 'Cinderella' to the UHD format. This new disc includes the film on a featureless UHD disc, complete with 2160p picture and HDR color. The disc includes a new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The included Blu-ray is identical to that released in 2015 and contains the entirety of the package's supplemental content.

Cinderella 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Director Kenneth Branagh and Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos shot Cinderella on film. It was reportedly finished at 2K and the UHD thereof yields a very attractive presentation that bests its Blu-ray counterpart noticeably, and oftentimes significantly, for overall sharpness, clarity, and color. The UHD offers an obvious, and borderline significant, increase in overall sharpness. Look at the film's first shot, a downward pan towards the house, far back and bringing trees and grasses into focus. Those foreground elements appear almost smudgy on the Blu-ray while the UHD offers much more distinct and discrete clarity to individual leaves and strands of tall grass. Throughout, skin details appear sharper, hair is more organically defined at the strand level, and environments -- from Ella's dusty wooden attic living space to regal appointments seen at the grand ball -- all bear the fruits of the 2160p resolution's muscle to fine-tune and deliver sharper elements and appointments in every shot. Grain is retained with a handsome evenness of distribution and depth; the picture is very filmic, a bit more so than the Blu-ray and a pleasure to behold.

The HDR colors offer a strong boost in contrast and depth to natural greens and deep blue skies. There's a much greater color solidification when the stepsisters arrive in chapter two: deeper skin tones, more dense and dazzling red hair, more prominent yellow and pink fabrics, better defined stony grays and natural greens in the background. It's a fine example of the wide spectrum of the benefits the HDR color enhancement brings to the presentation. Cinderella's blue dress sparkles during the transformation process with incredibly rich and deep sparkling magical hues enveloping it, giving way to a less dramatic, but no less impressive, shade that jumps off the screen in contrast to the warmer tones and darker backdrops and accents around it. The blue is obviously the big splash color for the movie, and the dynamic HDR presentation compliments it to its fullest. Skin tones are rich and heathy and black levels appear more fully deep and detailed throughout. This is a very strong upgrade from Blu-ray and a well-rounded UHD that will enchant fans and newcomers alike.

Cinderella 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The UHD's Dolby Atmos track replaces the 2015 Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless presentation. Unfortunately, this is another Disney low volume output track. At reference level it's not particularly engaging or loud. An upward adjustment of several decibels alleviates that issue, revealing a more engaging, natural listen that is still not without some shortcomings. There is a nice feel for location details, whether rustling leaves and grasses out in the wide open spaces throughout the kingdom, modest dialogue reverb within the home's larger spaces, playful elements through the backs when Cinderella meets her Fairy Godmother, and popping fireworks around the stage minutes later. The latter is weightier than the others but not quite so dominant and full as one might expect. Indeed, the feel for low end depth is always a little more wanting than is ideal, particularly later in the film when a pumpkin transforms into a carriage in chapter 10 and as the carriage makes an escape to the strokes of midnight in chapter 13. While these moments offer some tastefully engaging overhead channel components, the entirety of the effects fall a little flat. Music is appropriately wide with modest surround integration and capable clarity. Dialogue propels the film and finds agreeable clarity and prioritization from a natural front-center position.

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

Cinderella's UHD disc contains no supplemental content, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the 2015 release, brings over several extras. See below for a list of what's included and click here for full coverage. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• A Fairy Tale Comes to Life
• Costume Test Fun
• Staging the Ball
• Alternate Opening: Ella's Childhood
• Ella's Furry Friends
• Frozen Fever

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

Cinderella stands as amongst the best of Disney's animation-to-live-action transformations, and the UHD is, visually, a resplendent treat that serves the movie well. It's like a Fairy Godmother granted a bit of UHD magic for this one, offering impressive increases to detail and color over the Blu-ray. Unfortunately, all her might is not enough to best Disney's sound engineers who are at it again with another low volume and limited low end Atmos soundtrack. The bundled Blu-ray carries over all the supplemental content from the 2015 release. Recommended.