Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Disney has released the 2015 Pixar film 'Inside Out' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. No new extras are included but the bundled Blu-ray discs, which are identical to those that released in 2015, bring over a fine assortment of extra goodies.

Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

The HDR color makes for a fairly sizable leap in tonal intensity. It takes no longer than the film's first two minutes to appreciate what's been done here. The escalation in contrast, the leap in luminance, and further vitality and vibrancy can be seen the first time Joy enters the picture and makes baby Riley make a joyful noise. The blue hair finds a rather significant increase in all of those aforementioned color qualities, and the glow that surrounds the character appears far brighter and more complimentary to the image. The movie is endlessly colorful throughout. Each character is of course of a different core color -- yellow (Joy), blue (Sadness), red (Anger), green (Disgust), and Purple (Fear) -- and each one is abundantly rich in saturation and each enjoys a fairly sizable boost to core intensity and depth. The world of Riley's mind is filled with incredible color variations, each of which displays a radical improvement thanks to the added color spectrum. Everything from fiery hot lava to rainbows shooting out of a make-believe rocket look wonderful. This is one of the most purely enjoyable HDR color applications yet.

The image's textural qualities are not quite so radically enhanced but there's a good feel for firmer details on character hair, clothes, and "skin" (as muppet-y and occasionally semi-transparent as it may appear). There's a more tactile feel to it all, superior definition that brings out the finest details that define the characters beyond the Blu-ray's clarity and detail limitations. The film features a number of unique environments, from San Francisco exteriors to the deepest recesses inside Riley's mind, all of which are treasure troves of tiny trinkets that are revealed with more expertly precise definition even at some distance. Certainly this is talking degrees rather than leaps in all but the most detailed close-ups (and even then, mostly degrees) but it's relatively easy to see and appreciate the added total clarity and sharpness that the UHD brings with it. One might spot a very fine hint of aliasing that could legitimately bring the score down by half a point, but it would be a shame to knock what is otherwise a total UHD/HDR delight.

Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

inside Out's Dolby Atmos soundtrack won't create any core audio memories but it's a passable facsimile of a good soundtrack. It's a bit thin, unfortunately, lacking the weight and detail throughout the entire range that one would rightly expect to find. The track is certainly not lacking width and surround integration; the world inside Riley's mind -- and that which exists outside of it, for that matter -- comes to life with impressive stage engagement and few missed opportunities to create an expansive, healthy, fully-realized environment. The low end does lack weight and depth, and the track is shallow overall at reference volume; it requires an upward volume adjustment to approach a more traditional listening experience. Some of the more intensive moments do offer a good generalization but range in quality of low end extension; a clown's large footfalls midway through fail to make a difference, a train crash in chapter 20 finds a little more oomph but not much, and some of the collapsing memory structures occasionally produce something approaching essential depth. Music does enjoy good stage presence and clarity, dominant across the front but unafraid of folding in the rears and overheads, too. Dialogue is clear and center positioned. It is always well prioritized.

Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Inside Out's UHD disc contains no extras, but the bundled Blu-ray discs include the following extras. For full supplemental content reviews, please click here. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

Feature Film Disc:

• Lava
• Riley's First Date?
• Paths to Pixar: The Women of Inside Out
• Mixed Emotions
• Audio Commentary

• Story of the Story
• Mapping the Mind
• Our Dads, the Filmmakers
• Into the Unknown: The Sound of Inside Out
• The Misunderstood Art of Animation Film Editing
• Mind Candy
• Deleted Scenes
• Trailers

Inside Out 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Inside Out is a terrific film that gets to the heart of what it means to be human, to feel, to experience, to understand oneself and the world. The film has earned a terrific UHD presentation, boosted primarily by some of the best HDR colors around. The increase in clarity is less but no less welcome and the Atmos audio is fairly typical of a Disney track. No new extras are included but the bundled Blu-ray discs contain plenty of carryover content. Highly recommended.