Joker 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Joker 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Sympathy for the Devil.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 5, 2020

NOTE: All screenshots in this review are sourced from the included Blu-ray disc at their original 1920x1080 resolution. For an additional 20 images, please refer to my review of that title.

It's taken long enough, but we finally got a Batman movie without...well, Batman. The Caped Crusader isn't seen or mentioned even once during Todd Phillips' Joker, and that's perfectly fine by me. The franchise's most iconic villain is a strong enough character to stand on his own two feet, even as the star of another origin story tossed onto a rather large pile. Plenty of Batman stories have explored Joker's earlier years in a variety of media, from The Killing Joke -- and by that I mean Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's comic, not the awful animated adaptation -- to Tim Burton's iconic 1989 film and Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. I'm not a big enough DC nerd to know which version (if any) is considered canon, but I'll take a decent origin story any way I can get it. Does Joker deliver the goods?

Yes, at least from the perspective of an outsider to the heavily saturated genre of comic book movies. Joker takes a strong left turn -- almost a complete 180°, even -- by delivering a modestly-budgeted character study that weaves a dark narrative in the less-traveled territory of pre-Batman Gotham City, circa 1981. (Yes, even before Year One.) Our titular anti-hero begins as Arthur Fleck (Joaqin Phoenix), a mentally unstable man who lives with his eccentric mother Peggy (Frances Conroy) in a massive, run-down apartment complex. Taking odd jobs as a clown-for-hire, Arthur has dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian but struggles with anxiety, depression, and violent thoughts that stem from being bullied and abused during most of his life. Arthur's environment is almost literally toxic: crime runs rampant, his job is pitiful, and Gotham's citizens are on edge due to a garbage strike. The only bright spots in his life are single mom Sophie Diamond (Zazie Beetz), who shares his hatred of their awful apartment building; and watching a late-night talk show starring Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), who he dreams of meeting in person someday.

Thematically, Joker shares a lot of similarities with films like Taxi Driver: mentally unstable loner, unlikely love interest, run-down city streets, seething contempt for a local politician, and of course the appearance of Robert De Niro. A more cynical version of myself might even call it "Taxi Driver for dummies", as it takes a number of lazy narrative shortcuts to drum up sympathy for its main character. Yet Joker remains more than just a compelling character study: it's truly well-crafted and has extremely strong technical merits, looking almost as good as Christopher Nolan's Batman films -- despite being shot digitally and on a much more intimate scale -- with an outstanding original score that provides a perfectly dark and somber backdrop. The sudden outbursts of violence and volatile third act earn Joker a rare "R" rating for its genre -- and while I am not 100% on board with the film's message or politics (especially given America's current social climate), Joker feels no more out-of-character here than he does in The Killing Joke, A Death in the Family, or The Dark Knight. Of course, that's not even taking another important thing into account: Arthur Fleck is clearly an unreliable narrator, so there's the distinct possibility that not everything is as it seems.

For these reasons, Joker can at least be considered a compelling alternate-universe take on established DC characters and history that deserves to be watched, re-watched, and argued about. Warner Bros. presents the film in two flavors: a respectable Blu-ray and this more visually impressive 4K edition, which preserves the film's native 4K resolution but is otherwise the exact same experience. Both options arrive more than a few weeks later than expected (due to Joker's phenomenal box-office success) and are very light on bonus features, which is easily their weakest point.

Joker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Joker was shot entirely on digital with a variety of high-res Arri Alexa cameras, some as high as 5.1K (5120x2880), and finished at a true 4K digital intermediate. This means that Warner Bros.' 4K disc is a near-perfect representation of the film and, as such, boasts an extremely detailed and impressive 2160p transfer that gets the added boost of HDR color enhancement. While the separate Blu-ray edition is by no means a distant second, this disc clearly offers the tighter image in direct comparison and stands as one of the format's best-looking non-film releases to date. Though somewhat desaturated by design, Joker absolutely pops with color in all the right places: warm era-specific interior decorations (Murray Franklin's set is a particular standout), moody lighting, costume designs, and Arthur Fleck's clown makeup stand out strongly among the colder and more muted color choices that dominate most backgrounds. High Dynamic Range contributes to the transfer's most impressive color-related moments, from an early chase sequence to a deadly subway encounter and its immediate aftermath. Even if your current 4K television is not equipped to decode the full HDR10 signal, you will notice an obvious difference when compared to the Blu-ray's SDR image.

Of course, not all of Joker's visual strengths are color-related. Textures and fine detail are also extremely refined from start to finish, from those aforementioned costume designs to skin pores and caked-on clown makeup. While some of the perceived detail has been artificially produced via a fine grain filter over the digital image, it's a convincing formula that gives Joker an unusually film-like appearance. Modest to strong depth is achieved with various focal techniques, while black levels and shadow detail are both very stable with absolutely no flagrant signs of banding or compression artifacts. Warner Bros.' Blu-ray -- even with its surprisingly low bit rate -- received top marks in the video department, so it's no surprise that the 4K's much heftier 2160p transfer proportionally earns perfect scores by its own rating scale. This is simply a top-tier disc that likely rivals even the best theatrical experience just a few short months ago.

Joker 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Equally as impressive is Joker's Dolby Atmos mix, which unfolds to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 if your receiver doesn't support the format. Both tracks are as crystal-clear and enveloping as expected, with extremely crisp dialogue and plenty of discrete channel separation that gives the film a very wide overall soundstage. Music really carries a lot of weight here: composer Hildur Guðnadóttir's plaintive, cello-driven original score is an obvious standout, while diegetic music and a handful of era-specific soundtrack cuts (including songs by The Main Ingredient, Jackson C. Frank, Gary Glitter, Cream, Frank Sinatra, and more) also work their way in nicely. Joker also balances very insular, claustrophobic moments with much more expansive ones, depending on mood, location, or even reality vs. hallucination. LFE is more subtle and unsettling than sudden and punchy, effectively sneaking up rather than feeling like a traditional "demo disc". All told, this is a top-notch presentation that does more than enough work for a character-driven drama.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles have been included during the main feature, as well as a variety of foreign dubs and subs, all listed above. These are formatted perfectly with no sync issues and sit inside the 1.85:1 frame.

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

Joker arrives on 4K in a dual-hubbed keepcase with character-focused cover art and a matching, matte-finish slipcover. The extras, all on the included Blu-ray copy, are surprisingly limited and include a handful of short featurettes.

• Becoming Joker (1:23) - This brief, music-driven piece contains footage of Joaquin Phoenix before and after transforming into the title character -- more a tonal exercise than anything else.

• Joker: Vision & Fury (22:25) - Writer/director Todd Phillips, actor Joaquin Phoenix, production designer Mark Friedberg, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, and other key participants speak about the film's inception, working in a new genre, changing the character's accepted origin, humanizing villains, creating an alternate DC universe, turning modern-day New York City into 1980s Gotham, crafting the original score, writing for Joaquin Phoenix, losing weight for the title role, dancing choreography, the extensive editing process, and more.

• Please Welcome… Joker! (2:44) - This short piece slightly expands upon a segment of "Vision and Fury" (above), presenting multiple takes of a scene from the film with drastically different performances.

• Joker: A Chronicle of Chaos (3:04) - A quick-moving gallery of still images (some candid, others from the finished film) set to music by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir.

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

Todd Phillips' Joker is a movie America deserves, but not the one it needs right now. Yet while this volatile, beautifully composed character study will surely be misunderstood by some of its target audience and demonized by those who fear its fragile subject matter, it's inarguably a well-made and refreshing left turn for the over-saturated genre of comic book movies. Politics and social messages aside, my only real complaints are a handful of lazy plot developments; otherwise, Joker remains a compelling drama with extremely strong technical merits. Warner Bros.' 4K is a visual and sonic powerhouse, but the bonus features leave a bit to be desired -- that month-long delay afforded the studio ample time to put together a more complete package. It's still obviously recommended for established fans and curious newcomers alike, whether you opt for this standard 4K version or one of the many exclusive variants out there.