Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Hostiles reunites star Christian Bale with writer and director Scott Cooper in a tale of violence and salvation, and offers some of the most jaw dropping scenery of any relatively recent western, something that may make it an appealing choice for those with 4K UHD setups.

Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Hostiles is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. I must confess I was a little trepidatious as I popped this disc in my player, since I haven't always had the best reaction to what I would term Lionsgate's "grain management" on their 4K UHD releases. While things aren't perfect here in my estimation, they're manifestly better than some other Lionsgate 4K UHD releases I've reviewed. Grain still looks slightly artificial to me throughout this presentation, especially against brighter backgrounds (watch, for example, toward the top of the frame in the opening sequence when blue skies are prevalent, and there's a slight tendency toward swarms of black dots that just don't look organic to my eyes). Interestingly, later in the film (starting with the stopover at the fort, where Rosalee briefly considers staying), things look better, though when the story moves to Montana, there is more of the same ever so slightly noisy look to the grain when lighter backgrounds prevail. Again interestingly, the forest scene featuring a lot of mist and fog, as well as the torrential rain sequence, offer no problems whatsoever in terms of resolution. Other than this perhaps niggling grain appearance anomaly, the 4K version of Hostiles is a real stunner in terms of detail levels and palette saturation. I frankly didn't notice a whale of a lot of difference in tonal qualities courtesy of HDR, but there is more suffused look throughout this presentation which includes everything from the frightening red painted face of a Comanche warrior to the dusty blues of the soldiers' outfits to some of the gorgeous hues that are present in scenes featuring sunsets. Fine detail on elements like the pattern on Yellow Hawk's shirt also look more precise in this version. Some of the grading does feature some new richness, particularly some of the yellow tinged scenes like the introductory chat between Blocker and Metz in a candlelit barracks.

Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This 4K UHD version features the same excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track described in our Hostiles Blu-ray review. Some audiophiles may wish that Lionsgate had upgraded the audio to either Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, but the "standard" surround track does offer excellent immersion and fidelity, as I discuss in the linked review.

Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lionsgate has ported over the sole (if lengthy) supplement from the 1080p Blu-ray, detailed in our Hostiles Blu-ray review.

Hostiles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hostiles arguably makes a couple of missteps in its journey toward grace, as I discuss in the above linked review, but that really doesn't materially detract from an incredibly impressive effort that touches a lot of raw emotions and also provides some really stunning scenery. There's some fairly disturbing violence in this film, so those affected by graphic depictions should probably steel themselves. This 4K UHD version offers superior video and the same excellent audio that was on the 1080p Blu-ray. Highly recommended.