Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released 'Clear and Present Danger,' Director Phillip Noyce's 1994 Jack Ryan film, and the second of two to star Harrison Ford, to the UHD format. The disc, which is currently exclusive to a five-film Jack Ryan box set, features new 2160p/Dolby Vision video. The UHD disc carries over the 2008 Blu-ray's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack and adds no new supplements.

Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Clear and Present Danger's original 2008 Blu-ray transfer was one that time has not been kind to. Looking at it a decade after release, there's no mistaking the severe noise reduction, frozen grain, and the pasty textures that come with extreme processing. It's at times barely watchable by today's standards, but the UHD rectifies those problems, delivering a healthy, finely textured and highly filmic 2160p presentation that is also Dolby Vision enhanced. The new UHD delivers a significant increase in clarity, stability, crispness, and filmic bonafides. Long gone are smoothed-over faces and less-than-organic grain overlays. Fine facial and clothing textures enjoy significant improvement over the aged Blu-ray, and various locations seen throughout the film, whether dense jungles, crowded Bogota streets, or the Oval Office all deliver strikingly clear and finely rendered details. Grain can be a little uneven, appearing much more dense in some scenes and far less of a prominent visual component in others, but never does the image appear plagued by any unnecessary noise reduction. Additionally, there are a few inherently soft shots scattered throughout the film, which appear at the source and are but brief encounters within the otherwise gorgeously crisp native 4K presentation.

As was the case with the UHD releases of both The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger's Dolby Vision color enhancements render the film much more drained of color compared to the Blu-ray release. Again, there's a plainly evident push to gray, and the most intensely desaturated scenes leave all but the most essential colors appearing without any kind of punch. The palette does enjoy enough depth and saturation in more intensive colors, such as shades of green seen during jungle military ops partway through the film. But clothing colors are drained and faces certainly appear somewhat ghastly, obvious when watching and doubly so when comparing to the old Blu-ray. Whites are presented with more brilliant intensity, though, and black depth is very strong, improved without crushing out details. This is a color scheme that may prove somewhat controversial. The film lacks anything resembling color dazzle, but the gray-dominant and desaturated palette do seem to compliment the movie's tone and tenor fairly well.

Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Clear and Present Danger's UHD disc includes the same Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack from the 2008 Blu-ray. For a full audio review, please click here.

Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The UHD release of Clear and Present Danger contains no new bonus content. The disc's menu offers only options for "Play," "Settings," and "Scenes." The bundled Blu-ray does include the scant collection of previously released extras, which include a featurette and a trailer. For convenience, below is a list of what's included. For full supplemental content coverage, please click here. An iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Behind the Danger
• Theatrical Trailer

Clear and Present Danger 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Clear and Present Danger lacks the raw character beats that make Patriot Games the second-best film in the Jack Ryan cinematic series, but the in-depth political intrigue and increasingly complex narrative arcs make this a rewarding film in its own, very different right. Paramount's UHD release delivers a 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation that is texturally a greatly improved image, but the desaturated color scheme may prove controversial in some circles. Audio remains unchanged from the decade-old Blu-ray, which is a shame given this film's dynamic sound design (and, a little trivia, the film's LaserDisc release was the first to include a Dolby AC-3 surround track). No new extras are included, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the 2008 release, houses a featurette and a trailer. Recommended.