7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
John Wick is on the run after killing a member of the assassins' guild, and with a $14 million price tag on his head, he is the target of hit men and women everywhere.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark DacascosAction | 100% |
Thriller | 34% |
Martial arts | 26% |
Crime | 15% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (224 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Well, let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: there is no doubt going to be a John Wick: Chapter 4, at least as evidenced by the closing moments of this film where (minor spoiler alert, but only if you think it's a spoiler to reveal that the film's titular character and at least one other major character make it through the maelstrom to the end of the film) John (Keanu Reeves) and the so-called Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore (to purloin a quote from another famous film). And as odd as it may sound, there is in fact a kind of Network-esque madness running rampant through this so-called "third chapter" of the John Wick franchise (and is there any doubt that this is indeed a franchise by this point?). There's even a network of sorts running rampant through this film, namely The High Table, the super secret and super sinister organization that attempts to maintain order, if not always honor, among thieves. The fact that John Wick: Chapter 2 ended with John committing a major murderous faux pas means that much of this film is spent with John trying desperately to outrun the tentacles of an aggregation set on snuffing him out. Sound familiar?
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.
John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. When this
presentation is hitting on all cylinders, which it often is, it's a wonder to behold, with superbly crisp detail levels and a beautiful accounting of the film's
purple, teal and blue infused palette. Dolby Vision adds a number of interesting highlights to an already highly stylized sense of color, and it also
boosts shadow detail which helps define a number of darker sequences. "Little" items like the magenta clothing the Director wears in the ballet scenes
also benefit from addied tonal delineations. There are some really interesting kind of green-yellow tones in some of the scenes with Sofia in this
version and the underlying orange hue that is already evident in the 1080p presentation during the scene where a dog gets shot in this film
also looks slightly more buttery in this presentation. My only niggling qualm here is that some midrange shots look a bit less clear and well defined
than I had expected. These include the kind of hallucinogenic climax scenes where big projections run behind the combatants. I'm also not sure if this
is a case of effects being more "transparent" in this increased resolution, but the obviously computer aided hues appended to skyscrapers some of the
shots establishing a rain drenched New York flicker ever so slightly in this version, something that wasn't evident, or at least as evident, in
the 1080p Blu-ray version.
John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum features a stupendously energetic Dolby Atmos track that announces its "verticality" from the first moment, with a fantastically fun downward panning sound that immediately establishes the dimensionality of the sound design. The bustling, rainy urban environment provides a glut of opportunities for nice ambient environmental effects surrounding and occasionally passing over the listener, and the many bone crunching sound effects in the fight scenes are realistically spread throughout the sound stage. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly on this track, one that offers excellent fidelity and extremely wide dynamic range.
Both the 4K UHD disc and the 1080p Blu-ray disc sport the same set of supplements:
John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum gives passing lip service to establishing, or at least hinting at, John's background, but it's really not all that necessary. There are probably going to be more questions than answers on the part of some fans after watching this enterprise in terms of what exactly The High Table is and what its methods hope to achieve, but this third chapter does an effective job of setting the (high?) table for a showdown in what I have to assume is an already in development fourth foray. Technical merits are first rate, and with an understanding that this is after all a "John Wick movie" (so you know what you're in for), John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum in 4K UHD comes Recommended.
Mini SteelBook
2019
2019
2019
Limited Edition of 35,000
2019
Exclusive Adjudicator Coin
2019
2019
2019
2019
John Wick Chapter 4 Atom Movie Cash
2019
2019
2 Exclusive Replica Coins
2019
2019
2017
2009
Titans of Cult
2014
2023
2016
2014
2005
Unrated
2015
2018
2015
2017
Unrated Cut
2012
2017
2009
2014
2012
Rogue Assassin
2007
2016
2016
Extreme Cut
2009