Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The Sorcerer Enchants in HDR

Someone at DC seems to have an outsized influence over Warner's 4K strategy, because DC's feature-length direct-to-video releases consistently receive UHD versions while too many of Warner's theatrical films are limited to 1080p. Even a massive success like Crazy Rich Asians gets skipped over. (Who knows how The Meg managed to slip through with a 4K blessing?) And as far as Warner's back catalog is concerned, what can one say about the studio's UHD strategy except that it's more of an abdication than a strategy.

But at least DC and Warner have finally managed to produce a UHD of a direct-to-video animation that's worth the upgrade. Whether it's because the HDR colorists are gaining in skill or because City of Demons provides unique opportunities for visual enhancement, the disc's image is a distinct improvement over the standard Blu-ray. John Constantine's soul may be damned, but his 4K debut offers some small hope of redemption.

(Note: After this review was published, a 4K edition of Crazy Rich Asians made a belated appearance.)

Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the standard Blu-ray. Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)

As has been consistently true with DC's direct-to-video animations, Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD of Constantine: City of Demons reveals no more detail than the 1080p Blu-ray, because there isn't any more detail for the 4K up-conversion to resolve. But the HDR enhancement tells a different story. Constantine's world is filled with dark spaces, and the improved contrast provided by HDR's expanded dynamic range endows such scenes with greater visibility without compromising their darkness. So, for example, when Constantine first meets the demon Beroul in his basement lair, or summons the Aztec god Mictlantecuhtli in a slaughterhouse surrounded by slabs of hanging meat, or confronts Beroul's demon "competitors" in an abandoned church (see the main review's screenshots for 1080p images from these sequences), the Blu-ray gives you shapes in the darkness, but the UHD offers separate and distinct figures, each one clearly visible despite the lack of illumination. Images that were flat on the Blu-ray have acquired a subtle sense of depth on the UHD without any of the distortion imparted by edge enhancement or similar electronic manipulations that were tried on DVD and Blu-ray. Everything is just more . . . vivid.

The film's more intense colors have been refined and slightly intensified, whether it's the red of demon eyes and Constantine's ever-present cigarette (surely there's a metaphor in there someplace) or the blues, purples and yellows associated with Constantine's spells. There's less difference on display in brighter segments like the daytime scenes in Los Angeles or the brief flashbacks to Chas's and Constantine's early days as kids and then bandmates. The hues of the historical tour on which Angela takes Constantine during a memorable embrace are more differentiated and textured.

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight was often as dark as City of Demons, but its 4K version didn't reveal a similar degree of textural enhancement. As I suggested in the introduction, maybe the HDR colorists are getting the hang of what's possible with this particular style of animation, at least in the darker scenes. Whatever the reason, City of Demons' UHD image is a worthwhile upgrade over the 1080p Blu-ray, which is a first in my experience of reviewing DC's animated universes in 4K.

[System calibrated for UHD using (a) a Klein K-10A Colorimeter with a Custom Profile made in CalMAN using a Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectroradiometer; (b) Murideo Fresco SIX-G UHD signal generator with HDR10 and Dolby Vision capability; and (c) SpectraCal CalMAN Software v. 5.8.2.85. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]

Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The UHD features the same bass-heavy DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack previously reviewed. In an odd quirk, the disc has fewer language options, both spoken and subtitled, than the 1080p version. Warner's UHDs typically have at least the same options as the standard Blu-ray (and usually more).

Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The UHD disc has no extras. The included standard Blu-ray has the extras previously discussed here.

Constantine: City of Demons: The Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Now that Warner has given us a surprisingly noteworthy 4K version of Constantine's animated adventures, how about a reissue of the live-action version starring Keanu Reeves (which has a devoted following)? Or how about the Lethal Weapon films, Executive Decision, Interview with the Vampire (which turns 25 next year), the Under Siege films, Twister, The Fugitive, Tim Burton's Batman films, the original Ocean's trilogy (you know, the one that's been released three times on Blu-ray)—or Million Dollar Baby and The Departed (both of them Best Picture winners)?

Does it really require the clout of DC or Christopher Nolan or J.K. Rowling (and presumably Peter Jackson, when he's good and ready) to get Warner to release more catalog titles in 4K? Warner's UHD catalog slate for 2018 is limited to the Matrix trilogy, 2001 and the theatrical version of Superman: The Movie. The studio can't even manage to keep up with its theatrical successes, but meanwhile it's allowing DC to quietly force "upgrades" of prior animated movies through the UHD pipeline (I count three to date, e.g., this one from 2014). Warner's handling of this format, which is now approaching its third anniversary, is an embarrassment, and I wish John Constantine were here to put a curse on whoever is making these decisions. Meanwhile, enjoy the 4K/HDR rendition of the sorcerer's latest outing, which is the first DC animation on UHD of which I've been able to say "recommended".