Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Third time's a curse?

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 24, 2022

Soldiering on through cast and crew drama (including the replacement of now-exonerated Johnny Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald, which is kinda ironic considering the presence of Ezra Miller), David Yates' Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore continues the flailing Harry Potter prequel series that began well enough in 2016 and dipped downward two years later. Originally set as a five-film saga by J.K. Rowling, the series' stubbornly bleak atmosphere and diminishing box office returns may signal an early finish and, as of this writing, no active script for a fourth film has materialized and director Yates has already committed to the upcoming thriller Pain Hustlers, his first non-Wizarding film since 2016's similarly dour The Legend of Tarzan. Ladies and gentleman, let's get this over with.

Attempting to brighten up the punishingly dark atmosphere established in The Crimes of Grindelwald, this third entry largely follows the efforts of that title character (Mads Mikkelson, admirably replacing Depp) and his attempts to rule over Wizarding World in an upcoming election and eliminate all Muggles. Grindelwald's ace in the hole just might be the Qilin, a magical creature with the ability to see future events, but standing in his way is professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and "magizoologist" Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), not to mention a brave team of witches, wizards, and Muggle Jacob (Dan Fogler), who's given a magic wand to aid the resistance. It's fairly standard good-versus-evil with a few wild cards added to the deck, further adding spice via magical advantages on both sides (like Grindelwald's use of the Qilin to dodge assassination attempts) and, of course, a few "future nods" for Harry Potter fans.

The Secrets of Dumbledore is nothing if not a small step in the right direction, as its slightly more palatable tone at least attempts to side-step a few ugly turns taken during the series' second outing. (At least one cute little creature is brutally killed, but at least a baby isn't murdered this time.) Too little, too late? Probably. For what it's worth, though, Dumbledore should at least be credited for its workmanlike attention to detail and a few thoughtful turns, as well as the admirable performances of its returning cast members. Even so, I've got a not-at-all original feeling that the recasting of Depp's character was the tipping point for most: Mikkelson does well enough filling the central role on short notice, but it's always near-impossible for a franchise to continue smoothly after the sudden replacement of a key face. The fact remains that this series' ever-dwindling fanbase just needed one good reason to evacuate a sinking ship... and besides, the last few years have basically killed just about everything else that used to be fun.

Despite its shortcomings, Warner Bros. has assembled a solid home video package for The Secrets of Dumbledore, which is available on 4K and Blu-ray combo packs as well as few store-exclusive variants. Although the film's still-bleak visuals make this a tough one to judge picture-wise, its Atmos mix is excellent and the studio has boosted the number of extras this time around. If you actually love the film, you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of this one.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: This review's screenshots are all sourced from the included Blu-ray disc. For 20 more images, as well as my thoughts on that disc's 1080p transfer, please see my separate Blu-ray review.

UHD discs, especially those with native 4K source material enhanced by HDR in its various forms, often one-up their Blu-ray counterparts in several different ways: (a) better fine detail and textures via higher resolution, (b) stronger, more nuanced color and contrast values, and (c) better compression due to more efficient codecs and disc space. All three hold true here, but some are easier to spot than others. The Secrets of Dumbledore is a dark film dominated by shades of gray and muted colors, which doesn't allow for many eye-popping moments of razor-sharp detail or scenes where vivid colors carry most of the load. In fact, while the more nuanced color levels and deeper blacks afforded by its Dolby Vision / HDR10 grading make a difference where deep shadows and monochromatic depth are concerned, it doesn't make a huge difference in the broader sense of this visual presentation. Nor does the higher resolution come into play during all but a handful of scenes, as well as more obvious moments like close-ups or rare scenes shot in medium to bright light. Nonetheless, the image appears very accurate to the film's intended look so, while it's rarely a showcase effort, this is still a very solid transfer with almost no tangible room for improvement.

Where The Secrets of Dumbledore's 4K transfer shines most is in its disc compression, as this triple-layered (100GB) disc clearly outpaces the Blu-ray, which is limited to 50GB and also features the same multiple Atmos audio tracks plus almost 90 minutes of bonus features. Whereas that disc ocassionally struggles with compression artifacts, banding, and posterization, this UHD plays smoother in comparison. It's still not exactly a go-to disc for pure eye candy... but given the Blu-ray's shortcomings, I'm glad the 4K is available for fans who want to go one step higher.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There's only so much you can say about audio tracks, even ones as impressive as the Dolby Atmos mix included here. It serves up a similar sonic atmosphere to those made for the previous films, combining clean and crisp dialogue with ample surround activity that supports action scenes, cavernous locations, deep rumbles, and magical flourishes with energy to spare... including from the Atmos-exclusive height channels, which are reigned in to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix if your equipment doesn't support the newer format. Simply put, it's another rock-solid mix that leaves basically no room for improvement, offering fans pure sonic spectacle that clearly outshines the less energetic visuals.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the film and all bonus features.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a dual-hubbed keepcase with fiery cover artwork and a matching slipcover; a Digital Copy redemption code is also inside. Bonus features are well-rounded and included on the Blu-ray disc only.

• The Dumbledore Family Tree (8:38) - This short featurette examines the relatives of Albus Dumbledore, beginning with his two siblings and going back several generations.

• Dumbledore Through the Ages (7:23) - Director David Yates, producer David Heyman, actor Richard Harris, J.K. Rowling, Jude Law, and others speak about the character's long history.

• Magical or Muggle (4:32) - A light-hearted guessing game with members of the cast and crew.

• The Magic of Hogwarts (5:47) - Actors Jessica Williams, Jude Law, Callum Turner, Victoria Yeates, and several others share their memories of the iconic set as seen in different Wizarding World films.

• Even More Fantastic Beasts (6:24) - A quick look at the new creatures and old favorites seen in the film.

• Newt in the Wild (4:48) - Actor Eddie Redmayne, producer David Heyman, and others speak about finally getting the chance to see Newt explore an environment he's most comfortable in.

• The German Ministry of Magic (4:57) - Returning participants talk about the location's place in the film.

• A Dumbledore Duel (4:00) - A short featurette about the showdown between Albus and Credence.

• The Candidates' Dinner (4:46) - Another scene examination, this brief piece features actor Dan Folger, VFX supervisor Christian Manz, producer Tim Lewis, and others as they discuss the titular sequence.

• Erkstag Jailbreak (4:51) - Several familiar faces dissect yet another key scene in the film, specifically its practical construction as well as visual effects and other challenges in bringing it to life.

• Battle in Bhutan (5:42) - The final scene examination, this piece features producer David Heyman, VFX supervisor Christian Manz, producer designer Neil Lamont, and other returning participants.

• Deleted Scenes (5 clips, 7:15 total) - Presented in low-bitrate 1080p with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, these short (and mostly self-explanatory) scenes are worth a once-over for fans of the film.

• Hogwarts Owlery (1:08)
• Newt's House (3:50)
• Credence Kills Auror (0:57)
• Wands Checked (0:41)
• Vogel at Nurmengard (0:54)

• The Secrets of Cursed Child (4:51) - A promo for the ongoing Harry Potter stage production.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David Yates' The Secrets of Dumbledore corrects a few mistakes made during the last Fantastic Beasts film, 2018's tonally bleak The Crimes of Grindelwald, but still may very well be the series' unplanned conclusion thanks to more behind-the-scenes casting drama and diminishing box office returns. The momentum and fanbase are just not there in the same way as Harry Potter's pop culture dominance, but at least Warner Bros.' home video package still carries a torch for this series: featuring another good to great A/V presentation and roughly 90 minutes of extras, established fans should consider this worth buying over the Blu-ray edition. New viewers: proceed with caution.