Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The Death Eaters Attack, Even More Darkly

Reviewed by Michael Reuben April 11, 2017

To accompany the Blu-ray and 4K releases of the latest chapter in J.K. Rowling's wizarding world, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Brothers has begun remastering all eight Harry Potter films for UHD, adding yet another version to the series' plethora of existing editions. Harry's odyssey is being issued in two parts, with the last four installments appearing first. The reverse order is dictated by technical considerations, as the earliest chapters in the franchise were not completed on digital intermediates, which means that the negatives have to be rescanned and regraded for 4K and HDR.

All four of the films in this first group—The Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2—were shot on film with post-production on digital intermediates at 2K. Accordingly, all of them arrive on UHD as up-conversions, with visual benefits principally derived from HDR encoding (as well as some subtle, and not so subtle, tweaking of the palette). As a sweetener, Warner has remixed all four soundtracks from the original PCM, Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA 5.1 to the object-based DTS:X, providing an audio upgrade for those who have the appropriate hardware. Included with each UHD disc are two standard Blu-rays comprising the so-called "Ultimate Editions" of the Potter films that Warner began releasing in 2009. A digital copy completes each package.

For further discussion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, please see the previous reviews of the film's original release and "Ultimate Edition" by Kenneth Brown. The Feature score has been retained from prior reviews.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

(Note: Screenshots included with this review are 1080p captures from the standard Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.The Video score has been retained from prior reviews.)

According to the best available information, Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD presentation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has been sourced from a 2K digital intermediate, which limits the prospect that the format's superior resolution will reveal additional detail. Still, the HDR encoding provides subtle but noticeable improvements over the standard Blu-ray, courtesy of enhanced contrast, black levels and highlights. Deathly Hallows: Part 1 continues the dark, shadowy and desaturated visual style evident in all four of director David Yates's entries in the Potter series, which remained a consistent trend despite the involvement of three different cinematographers—Slawomir Idziak for The Order of the Phoenix, Bruno Delbonnel for The Half-Blood Prince and Eduardo Serra for The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2. Unlike in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, the UHD's creators do not seem to have accentuated the pervasive darkness in their rendering of Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Indeed, a number of sequences are actually a touch brighter with HDR encoding, e.g., the Dursleys' departure from Privet Drive and Harry's farewell to No. 4, or the rocky seaside heights where Harry and Hermione hunker down to consider their options after escaping their pursuers.

However, the most noticeable benefits of HDR in Deathly Hallows: Part 1 appear in its darkest sequences, courtesy of improved contrast and highlights. The entire early sequence at Malfoy Manor, which begins with Snape's teleported arrival and concludes with Valdemort feeding Charity Burbage to his snake, is rendered newly vivid by the UHD's ability to clearly delineate between separate areas of darkness. The shot of future puppet minister Pius agreeing with Valdemort while the snake Nagini watches him from the right of frame is noticeably more menacing, and the recurrent closeups on Snape are more affecting with the heightened contrast separating his pale features from their frame of jet-black hair. (Snape's reactions—or lack thereof—are critical to the scene.)

Another good example occurs later in the film, when Harry dives beneath the icy surface of a frozen pond to retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor. The Horcrux around Harry's neck hinders his effort, pulling him back, and Harry's struggles in the dark water are clearer, and the movements of the Horcrux necklace are more readily visible, with the benefits of HDR.

Except for eruptions of magic, colors on the UHD remain muted and desaturated, though not to the extent seen in The Half-Blood Prince. For this entry in the series, the UHD colorist appears to have hewed to the palette originally established on the Blu-ray of Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

[System calibrated using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with a Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7, using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich from AV Top in Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Previous releases of The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 contained a 5.1 soundtrack encoded in DTS-HD MA, but the UHD arrives with a DTS:X soundtrack that, on audio systems not yet equipped to decode that format, should play as DTS-HD MA 7.1. Kenneth Brown's review gave the mix highest marks, noting "the ungodly dissonance that opens the film", "the raging storm that gives way to the end credits", a bevy of surround effects that "turn[ ] forest chases and Horcrux battles into enveloping show-stoppers" and "thunderous elements [that] put the LFE channel through its paces and deliver the sonic goods, time and time again". Ken's audio score of 5 leaves me no room for increase, but the DTS:X encoding does indeed surpass its predecessor in numerous respects.

Start with that opening dissonance, as the Warner logo advances toward the camera, rusting, cracking and disintegrating as it goes. In DTS:X, the crackling and warping sounds are finer and more realistic, which makes them even more unsettling, and they move from front to back with increased precision. Harry's escape from Privet drive on Hagrid's flying scooter—a bravura combination of aerial acrobatics and demolition derby—is newly energized, from the overhead takeoffs passing Mad-Eye Moody to the flock of Death Eaters that attack Harry and his allies, with multiple flying objects precisely localized in an enveloping three-dimensional space. The multi-directional elevators in the Ministry of Magic clank and rattle more expansively, and Ron's explosive diversion to cover his entry into Dolores Umbridge's office is similarly expanded, with multiple jangles and pulses positioned throughout the listening room. When the Horcrux necklace is opened, Voldemort's voice darts deftly through the speaker array, as the dark wizard mounts his psychological attack against Ron (the 5.1 mix makes it a more generalized presence). None of these enhancements come at the expense of dialogue intelligibility or the reproduction of Alexandre Desplat's score.

It should be noted that "object-based" sound formats are designed to be adaptive, and DTS:X in particular touts its ability to adjust to a wide variety of speaker configurations. Still, the degree to which the new mix produces audible benefits in the home theater will no doubt vary depending on individual sound systems and speaker arrays. For reference, I listened to The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 on a 7.1.2 speaker configuration, consisting of front left, right and center, and two each of side, rear and "height" speakers, plus subwoofer.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The UHD disc contains no extras. The included pair of standard Blu-ray discs contains the same extras listed in the prior review of the "Ultimate Edition". The Special Features and Extras score from that review has been retained.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner's release of Harry Potter on UHD is a welcome addition to the format, even with the limits on resolution that are inherent in the source. But the most interesting potential lies ahead, as parts 1 and 2 of the series, The Sorcerer's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets, undergo new 4K scans that should yield even greater benefits, compared to their Blu-ray counterparts. In the meantime, the UHD presentations of the series' back end is a worthwhile and recommended upgrade, especially for anyone who doesn't already own the "Ultimate Editions".