6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Starring: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan ArkinFamily | 100% |
Fantasy | 89% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French DD Plus 7.1=Canadian
English SDH, French, Japanese, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The Disney of the 2010s certainly seems comfortable living in the past while taking advantage of the luxuries in the present. These days, the company’s innovations are largely in the digital rather than the storytelling arenas, crafting movies of ever expanding scope and scale and dazzle across its acquired, longstanding brands -- notably Star Wars and Marvel -- while working overtime to transition many of its most iconic animated films from yesteryear into stout, living, breathing live action/CGI hybrid spectacles. To this reviewer’s eyes, anyway, there’s not much real, honest narrative innovation coming from the House of Mouse, but there’s obviously not a correlation between creativity and currency, what with a certain (at least perceived) dearth of the former and a wealth of the latter driving the company forward to box office dominance. But even so, the movies coming from Disney have been by-and-large good to very good, though perhaps only few of them seem destined to live on alongside the studio’s early animated classics, even if they're sure to always please the masses. With Dumbo, Disney has once again returned to the sweet water from the back catalogue well, tasking visionary filmmaker Tim Burton (Batman, Alice in Wonderland) with bringing the story of the big-eared baby elephant circus performer to life. Dumbo's screen origins are, of course, in 1941's film of the same name. Burton has livened the material with his trademark tones and textures and Disney's all-too-familiar want for spectacle, but does the extraordinary overwhelm the story's heart?
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc..
Dumbo was reportedly photographed at a resolution of 3.4K and finished at 2K.
Disney's upscaled UHD presentation offers the expected color and clarity improvements over the 1080p Blu-ray, though neither are astronomical. Better said, the improvements
amount more to tweaks than substantial alterations, with finer finesse and adds to sharpness, clarity, and contrast driving the presentation rather
than
wholesale
changes. That still makes this the superior presentation, particularly adding in the superior noise management and encode stability.
Viewers will find the UHD to reveal characters and environments with greater clarity and efficiency. The picture finds modest, but agreeable, adds to
object sharpness, most readily evident on clothing and facial close-ups that on the UHD present with sharper definition and superior clarity. The
picture's numerous locations additionally find more appealing detail, whether more rugged textures around Medici's carnival or the much cleaner and
sleeker but colder Vandevere attractions and offices. The subtle boosts to definition and clarity are welcome even if they are not considerable. Much the
same can be said of the HDR color enhancements. The picture finds a more agreeably robust palette, fine-tuning contrast and offering more tonal
stability and accuracy from the brightest hues to the darkest shadowy corners. Color depth is improved, rendering the image a slight bit darker in
appearance but healthier and more firm and stable. Black levels and lower light interiors are improved, and flesh tones appear more accurate and
naturally saturated. This is the usual stable of visual enhancements for an upscaled UHD release. It's nothing special in the big picture and against
competing UHD releases but it is a nice little boost over the Blu-ray that makes this Dumbo's definitive home video version.
Dumbo's Dolby Atmos soundtrack suffers from the same lack of low end extension as its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Blu-ray counterpart, and it is also volume-challenged as well. With the track adjusted to a higher volume setting, it handles basics well enough, minus bass. That hugely disappointing scene in chapter six (outlined in the Blu-ray review) is problematic here as well, and any differences are negligible, at least in terms of low end output. The scene still offers ample surround extension and front-side stretch, with a little -- though not significant -- extra top layer detailing rounding it out. Bass might be slightly more aggressive at a couple of points where it actually registers later in the film -- timestamps again outlined in the Blu-ray review -- but the need for mightier, beefier bass is evident here as well. It's a shame, because the movie certainly offers the opportunity for some significant subwoofer push. Otherwise, the track is fairly routine with little add in terms of overhead usage compared to the 7.1 offering. There's a slight feel for top end engagement via a few public address announcements in chapters 14, 15, and 19. Orchestral music is very immersive around the listener chapter 14 during a bubble wand performance leading up to Dumbo's debut at Vandevere's circus (and there's a slight feel for low end support). Musical and effects detail are fine, and dialogue reproduction satisfies. This track might be degrees better than the 7.1, but both of them are handicapped by the subdued bass.
Dumbo's UHD disc contains no supplemental content. The bundled Blu-ray contains the following extras. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code
is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.
Dumbo is not a dumbed-down version of the original animated classic, but it is a movie that emphasizes its scope and scale more so than its heart and soul. Burton has made a movie that doesn't dismiss its narrative center but that does see it play second fiddle to spectacle. Disney's UHD delivers solid 2160p/HDR video, subdued Atmos audio, and a decent smattering of extras. Worth a look.
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