6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Robert Langdon awakens in a hospital room in Florence, Italy, with no memory as to what has transpired over the last few days. He suddenly finds himself, again, the target of a major manhunt. But with the help of Dr. Sienna Brooks, and his knowledge of symbology, Langdon will try to regain his freedom, and lost memories, all whilst solving the most intricate riddle he's ever faced.
Starring: Tom Hanks, Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan, Sidse Babett KnudsenThriller | 100% |
Mystery | 18% |
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)
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Castilian and Latin American Spanish; Polish VO
English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Inferno is the third film based on a Dan Brown book starring Tom Hanks as the iconic Robert Langdon and directed by the equally iconic Ron Howard, following The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. Inferno serves up much of the same in terms of approach and character construction and utilization, but it's also the darkest film in the series, tonally and thematically alike, pitting a weakened Langdon against his most difficult adversary and with the fate of the globe hanging in the balance. Beyond a few twists and turns and Langdon's knowledge as his most prominent weapon, it's a rather routine Thriller that works a bit better than average thanks to the source's quick speed and tale of interest, Langdon's superb development and Hank's performance, and Howard's firm grasp on what makes the series tick, both visually and structurally alike (despite the series' transition from film to digital). It's arguably the strongest film in the series, perhaps not the most fluent in terms of demonstrating Langdon's intellectual prowess (though admittedly by design) but certainly in terms of story's depth and Howard's craftsmanship.
Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.
This one's pretty clear-cut. Take everything that made Sony's 1080p Blu-ray release of Inferno an excellent one and make it all a bit better. The studio's
2160p/HDR-enhanced UHD
presentation is terrific, and even as the digital source was reportedly finished at 2K (a downscale of the source photography)
and subsequently upscaled back up to 4K for this release, the improvements over the Blu-ray are clear, not radical, but certainly appreciable and
appreciated. First, the HDR colors are a simple refinement. There's more depth and nuance evident across the board -- skin tones, clothing, the earthy
architecture around Florence and Venice -- but never does the HDR process significantly alter the film's natural look. It's an excellent use of the tool.
Details are finer. Skin textures are more even, more naturally revealing, besting even an already outstanding Blu-ray in that department.
Environments, too, show a nice boost in complexity. Black levels are strong, if not a hair more pale here. This seems like a classic UHD: an
improvement in every way, more than subtle and less than spectacular. Fans will find it worth the extra cost of admission.
Unlike the standard-issue 1080p Blu-ray, which features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack, Sony's more premium UHD release contains a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The improvements are obvious and make for a much better and far more engaging listen. While the 5.1 track is certainly effective and of a very high quality in its own right, the Atmos track brings much more nuance and engagement that makes it both refined and distinct from its counterpart. Overhead engagement is obviously the big draw here, and the track doesn't disappoint. Though the top level is obviously not engaged in every moment, a couple of scenes that make use of it do stand out. Only minutes into the film, Langdon experiences one of his hellacious hallucinations. One of the effects is an arc of eerie sound that moves like a forming rainbow from right to left and simultaneously above the listener. It's a great effect and one of the best yet from an Atmos track. The drone that appears around the 38-minute mark has some terrific top-layer zip and hover, and movement is much more precise in the Atmos track. But the added back-middle channels are also helpful in creating a much richer, fuller listen, allowing for more precise movement, larger space, and positional accuracy in music, environments, and sound effects alike. Music, gunfire, and various atmospherics are more alive and detailed here, too. Dialogue is excellent, grounded in the center and very well prioritized in every moment. This is a terrific track in every area of concern.
Inferno contains deleted and extended scenes and several featurettes on the included Blu-ray disc, and are reviewed below. The UHD disc
contains only the usual
Sony format extras: cast and crew stills and a series of Moments (2160p, HDR, Atmos): Robert Langdon (21:16), Sienna
Brooks (15:32), Zobrist's Plan (13:23), and Puzzles (14:47). A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.
Inferno doesn't quite capture the very real urgency of its plot, nor does it connect any dots to any real-world conspiracies in any meaningful, eye-opening ways, but it does do what the series does best: use basic knowledge to expand on itself and open up new ideas and interpretations of established truisms and understandings of the way things work. There are a couple of decent, though fairly transparent, plot twists, and Langdon's mental disarmament for parts of the film is a great device. The film moves well and sits as the best of what is currently the three Robert Langdon films, with, hopefully, at least one more to come. Sony's UHD release of Inferno offers an honest, but not substantial, increase in clarity and color over the Blu-ray. The Atmos sound is a much more pronounced upgrade. Extras are fine, though the UHD adds nothing of significance. Recommended, and UHD owners should definitely splurge for this over the regular Blu-ray. It's a good one.
10th Anniversary Edition
2006
2009
2010
2016
2018
2012
2011
2011
2015
2018
2017
2014
Unrated
2015
Extended Cut
2013
2015
2016
2015
2013
Limited Edition
2007
Universal 100th Anniversary
2004