Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Stranger in a Strange Land (with More Depth and Less Refined Sound)

Even as display manufacturers are abandoning support for 3D Blu-rays, the studios continue to issue them, perhaps hoping to prolong the format's life on legacy hardware. Warner's latest 3D release is the box office hit Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The disc boasts impressive 3D effects, but as discussed below in "Audio", an inexplicable omission by the studio will probably dampen sales of what might have otherwise have been a popular title with 3D enthusiasts.

As for the film itself, Fantastic Beasts is the latest entry in the expanding Harry Potter universe, inspired by J.K. Rowling's slim 2001 volume of the same name published under the pen name of "Newt Scamander". Newt's guide to mystical creatures is one of the textbooks assigned to young Harry in his first year at Hogwarts. Rowling's publication purported to be a copy of that very bestiary, with marginal notations by Harry, Ron and Hermione.

For the filmed version of Fantastic Beasts, Rowling wrote an original script delving into the origins of Newt Scamander's textbook and recounting the exploits of its author many years before Harry's fateful birth. Produced by Potter veterans David Heyman, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram, and directed by David Yates, who helmed the last four Potter films, Fantastic Beasts was released in November 2016 and was promptly devoured by Hogwarts veterans suffering from five years of Potter withdrawal. Four sequels are planned, and Fantastic Beasts' impressive world box office of $812 million guarantees that they'll be made.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

(Note: All screenshots accompanying this review were captured from the 2D Blu-ray. Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)

Fantastic Beasts was shot by the esteemed French cinematographer, Philippe Rousselot, a newcomer to the Potterverse but an experienced hand at photographing alternate realities, both antique and mystical. His credits include Guy Ritchie's two Sherlock Holmes films, Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire and Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For Fantastic Beasts, Rousselot's lighting and the production design establish clear distinctions between the magical world and that of Muggles (or, as they say in America, No-Majs). The palette of 1920s New York is muted and subdued, with an often dusty texture and just an occasional flash of bright color, usually associated with wealth (e.g., the red bouquets on the tables of the Shaw banquet). Whenever magic enters the picture, the palette shifts. The Goldstein sisters' apartment is suffused with a warm glow; Newt's inter-dimensional creature preserve and its inhabitants are a rainbow of bright, saturated hues; and the many levels of MACUSA are alternately marked by flashes of color (e.g., the central dial that registers mystical threats) and expanses of brightness (e.g., the punishment chamber from which Newt rescues Tina).

The presentation on Warner's 1080p, MVC-encoded 3D disc is a product of post-conversion, but it is apparent throughout Fantastic Beasts that Rousselot and director David Yates designed the film with 3D presentation in mind. The depth effects begin immediately with the opening newspaper montage providing an introduction to the world of Grindelwald, MACUSA and the Second Salem movement. The papers don't just flip over; they turn and twist, so that the camera's perspective often seems to be looking up or down the page from a dizzying height. Similar effects occur whenever an opportunity occurs to look down from overhead, such as when Newt and Tina first enter MACUSA headquarters and a pullback reveals many descending levels of the mystical building (see screenshot 2). Frames are routinely composed with one or more objects in the foreground (a column, a wall, a doorway), enhancing the perception that the remainder of the frame is set farther back; examples can be found in screenshots 5, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 19. Bricks, glass and masonry fly out of the screen toward the viewer when displaced by the Obscurus or by Newt's misbehaving creatures. The majestic wings of the Thunderbird sweep with greater scope in 3D, and massive beasts like the Erumpent and the Occamy gain in perceptible scale and power.

The 3D enhancements do come at a small cost. The image remains as sharply detailed and textured as on the 2D disc, but the conversion has introduced occasional instances of aliasing that are absent from the standard Blu-ray. They're so minor and fleeting that many viewers may not notice, especially once they are caught up in the immersive depths of Fantastic Beasts' visual inventions.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Standing on its own, the lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack on Fantastic Beasts' 3D disc would leave no room for criticism. The mix offers all the bells and whistles (and also roars, chirps and stampedes) that we have come to expect from a major studio tentpole, with standout sequences like the Obscurus' rampage, which immerses the listener in falling masonry, shattering glass and the fearsome spirit's enraged roar. Each of Newt's many varieties of creature has its own distinctive voice, ranging from high-pitched staccato chatter to a deep, sustained bellow, and the film's sound design has expertly pitched these animal expressions midway between the familiarly organic and the delightfully otherworldly. Acts of magic inspire a symphony of effects both obvious and subtle, with every room and corridor of MACUSA headquarters a unique sonic experience. The dialogue is clear and well-prioritized throughout, and James Newton Howard's orchestral score is energetically rendered. All in all, it's a great track.

However . . .

As noted, in the review of Fantastic Beasts' standard edition, the lossless DTS presentation isn't the best available version of the film's soundtrack. That would be the Dolby Atmos encode that Warner has provided with the standard and UHD editions but, for unknown reasons, has omitted from the 3D disc. As good as the DTS track is, the Atmos track is better, with consistently superior positioning, directionality and clarity in reproducing the film's multi-layered mix.

To cite a few examples: When Tina takes Newt to the Wand Permit offices, the entire scene is accompanied by the sound of enchanted pieces of paper whooshing through the pneumatic tube system connecting the various clerical stations to the rest of the complex. In the DTS-HD MA mix, these background noises move from left to right and from front to back, but in the Atmos mix they move across and diagonally as well, enhancing the sensation of an all-encompassing network. When Newt introduces Jacob to Frank the Thunderbird, the creature's giant wings swoop from overhead in the Atmos mix, whereas the sound of their beating is more generalized in DTS lossless. When Newt and his companions capture the giant Occamy, the Atmos mix localizes the slither and scrape of each of its numerous coils, whereas the DTS lossless mix is less specific in placing the beast's extensions. When the Obscurus begins its climactic rampage, the Atmos mix renders the crash and clatter of glass, brick and masonry with specificity and precision, where the DTS lossless mix offers a more homogenized sonic wave of destruction.

Let me repeat: The DTS lossless mix is a great track, especially when combined with the enhanced 3D visuals. But if one is going to omit a redundant soundtrack, either to save space or for other reasons, why not retain the very best option with the most finely rendered effects? In scoring the 3D disc's audio, I have ranked the soundtrack lower than I might otherwise have done, solely because of this puzzling omission.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3D disc contains no extras. The included standard disc contains the extras discussed here.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It seems almost a cruel joke for studios to be releasing such impressive 3D presentations at a time when the hardware manufacturers appear to be phasing it out. It's an even crueler joke for Warner to deprive 3D purchasers of a film's best available soundtrack. Such purchasers are already faced with a Hobson's choice between 4K and 3D editions, and the omission of Atmos from Fantastic Beasts' 3D disc puts a heavy thumb on the scale. I can recommend the disc for its effective and entertaining dimensional effects, but I wouldn't be surprised if repeat viewers end up leaving their 3D glasses in the case so that they can enjoy the 2D version's superior sound.