Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Jupiter Ascending 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 24, 2017

It’s Thanksgiving weekend as this review is being written, and so I thought it was only appropriate to deal with one of the biggest turkeys in recent film history, the Wachowskis’ largely lambasted Jupiter Ascending. It’s fascinating to compare and contrast the build up and release of the film that put the Wachowskis on the map, The Matrix, with Jupiter Ascending. The Matrix more or less appeared out of nowhere, fully formed as a cultural phenomenon, kind of like the cinematic equivalent of Venus on the half shell, without a ton of pre-release buzz and without frankly much information about the Wachowskis themselves. The intervening years have of course elevated the sibling filmmakers to legendary status, due in no small part to the entire Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix / The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions). The rest of the Wachowskis’ output has been at least slightly more variously received, with films like Speed Racer (which I personally loved) and Cloud Atlas often garnering praise for their visuals, but just as often drawing brickbats for narrative excesses. Both of those qualities are more than evident in Jupiter Ascending, a film which simply may be too overblown for its own good, despite some staggering special effects work that helps to distract from other deficiencies with a near nonstop array of shiny objects. Perhaps because there was such a similarly overblown marketing effort trying to hoist this film over its putative finish line, reactions to Jupiter Ascending have arguably been a bit "dramatic", given the fact that the film at least offers some impressive technical achievements.

For those not yet acquainted with the overblown antics of this film, my colleague Ken Brown gives a thorough account of Jupiter Ascending's plot dynamics in his Jupiter Ascending Blu-ray review.

Jupiter Ascending 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Jupiter Ascending is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. Despite being captured at resolutions as high as 5K (according to the IMDb), the film was finished at "only" at 2K DI (again, according to the IMDb). This 4K UHD version is consistently in line with many other 2K "up-rezes" that we've been reviewing since this new format premiered, with noticeable if at times rather subtle upticks in detail levels. Many of these tend to be most noticeable on "practical" items like sets or actual humans (as with regard to things like facial pores or even wounds), but I have to say this is one of the rare sci-fi spectacles I've personally reviewed in 4K UHD where even some of the CGI achieves at least arguably more information at times. There can still tend to be an overall softness and even a relative lack of detail in some of the CGI establishing shots, which tend to be of wider vistas, but there's even some uptick in some of these shots as well, as in the rings circling the planet seen in screenshot 2 accompanying this review. Some of the most noticeable changes, though, come courtesy of HDR. The film has a rather aggressively graded ambience a lot of time, and unfortunately much of it tends to reside in the ever popular cool blue and gray tones (as Ken mentioned in his Jupiter Ascending Blu-ray review). While I'd be hard pressed to argue that the film looks remarkably more varied in the 4K UHD version, since there's still a somewhat monochromatic feeling to much of the presentation, there is definitely a more nuanced accounting of some of the interstitial tones, especially in the bluer end of the spectrum. Fine detail is also improved in some of the heavily blue graded shots, where in the 1080p Blu-ray version things can look slightly smooth and textureless. I personally wish contrast could have been more aggressive in some of the darker scenes (many of which, again, are graded toward the blue end of things), and in fact while many of the darker scenes do boast better shadow detail than in the 1080p Blu-ray version, I (again) wouldn't have minded even more improvement in this regard. All in all, though, this is a winning 4K presentation that offers noticeable improvements while steering clear of any compression issues.

Jupiter Ascending 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 4K UHD disc sports the same impressive Dolby Atmos track that Ken assessed in his Jupiter Ascending Blu-ray review. However, much like on many of 20th Century Fox's tandem 4K UHD and 1080p Blu- ray releases, the audio and subtitle specs are different for the two formats. The specs above are for the 4K UHD disc. See Ken's review for the specs on the standard Blu-ray disc.

Jupiter Ascending 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, the 4K UHD disc contains no supplementary material. The standard 1080p Blu-ray disc also included with this release of course contains all of the supplements Ken details in his Jupiter Ascending Blu-ray review. The score above reflects the deficit of bonus material on the 4K UHD disc.

Jupiter Ascending 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe Thanksgiving weekend should be the new default release date for behemoth science fiction (perceived) disasters, since Lionsgate just released Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 4K this past week. As my colleague Josh Katz joked about the Luc Besson film, the best strategy may simply be to press the "mute" button anytime anyone is about to speak, relying instead on the visual wonderment that routinely fills the frame in that film. Much the same advice could be proffered with regard to Jupiter Ascending, and in fact I'd personally argue that the dialogue is even more turgid in this film than in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. However, like the Besson epic, the Wachowskis offer one incredible cinematic vision after another, and this 4K UHD version offers a subtly improved viewing experience in terms of both detail levels and the overall palette reproduction. While the Atmos track of course is going to deliver that aforementioned turgid dialogue, it also offers a glut of incredibly nuanced surround activity. The film itself has problems which many others (including Ken) have detailed and which I won't repeat here, but for anyone looking for a 4K UHD disc to impress your friends and family with over the holidays, at least with regard to video and audio if not with regard to inherent quality, Jupiter Ascending comes Recommended.