Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.5

Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 18, 2018

There’s an old saying (or maybe an ad campaign, it’s hard to remember anymore) touting “Christmas in July”, but for some, um, diehard fans it may be Christmas in May, since Fox is releasing Die Hard on 4K UHD. Kind of amusingly, Die Hard has in fact become a Christmas staple of sorts for some viewers, but whether you’re watching in late spring or the dark days of winter, Die Hard still manages to provide a wonderful wallop of action adventure, sly comedy and expertly staged things going boom.

I can’t imagine anyone needing a plot summary of Die Hard at this late date, but for those wanting to at least peruse the many different previous releases of the various Die Hard films on 1080p Blu-ray, you can start with my Die Hard Collection: Nakatomi Plaza Blu-ray review, which includes a number of links to further releases (some of which contain even more links to other releases). Just think of yourself as John McClane crawling through an HVAC duct on your quest to complete your mission.

Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray.

Die Hard is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1*. The original Fox press release announcing this version stated it was an "all-new 4K Ultra HD™ re-master", and the results are consistently impressive in terms of upgraded clarity, palette saturation (and in some cases variances due to HDR), and grain resolution. This is in fact one of the first shot on film features that I've reviewed on 4K UHD where I've personally liked the look of the grain field. It can occasionally "swarm" just a tiny bit on lighter backgrounds, but some of that tendency happens during opticals, as in the opening credits sequence where a white railing on a balcony is seen for a moment. Overall, though, grain looks really wonderfully organic throughout the presentation. There is a wealth of excellent new detail here, some of it admittedly subtle on "typical" items like facial pores or even the fabrics of some of the costumes, but perhaps surprisingly even some of the old school composited effects look rather good as well. Some of the increased resolution occasionally provides some minor surprises, as what for me was a new noticing of how Bruce Willis backs his head just slightly out of focus in one of his first close-ups on the plane as the film is just getting started. The palette is nicely suffused throughout, with some incredibly deep blacks (which can mask shadow detail just slightly in a few selected moments) and some nice new nuances in repeated gray and blue tones utilized within the offices. Especially impressive is the whole opening sequence, which is almost bathed in a gorgeous pink-orange tone now that is subtly different from the 1080p Blu-ray version.

Note 2: This is really neither here nor there, and I may be getting to this particular party considerably late (as is my tendency), but it suddenly occurred to me as I watched Die Hard again that I could query the all knowing internets as to what is up with the decidedly odd, anamorphically stretched Fox logo that starts this film out on a somewhat skewed note. I'm not vouching for the veracity of anything, but I found one possible explanation here.

Note 3: The site automatically measures the aspect ratio of our screenshots, which in this case reported 2.36:1, the aspect ratio of the 1080p Blu-ray version. A member has private messaged me to report he physically measured the 4K UHD presentation and it is in 2.39:1.

Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately, Fox has not upgraded the audio on this release to either DTS:X or Dolby Atmos. Instead the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that has been on previous 1080p Blu-ray releases of this title is utilized here (the stereo mix is also presented in DTS-HD Master Audio). It's a solid mix on its own terms, with good, consistent engagement of the surround channels and some fun LFE when those aforementioned things go boom, but I'm sure there will be audiophiles who think this release would have benefited from a sonic upgrade.

Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 4K UHD disc ports over the three commentaries (two audio, one subtitle) that are listed in the Die Hard Collection Blu-ray review.

Die Hard 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I can't imagine there are too many folks who wouldn't be double dipping if they decided to pick up this new 4K UHD disc, at least in terms of the 1080p Blu-ray included, but the good news is this new release boasts a nicely upgraded picture even if audio is still the same and only the commentaries are included as supplements. With those caveats noted, Die Hard comes Highly recommended.