6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.4 |
Robbed of his birthright, Arthur comes up the hard way in the back alleys of the city. But once he pulls the sword from the stone, he is forced to acknowledge his true legacy - whether he likes it or not.
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, Eric BanaAction | 100% |
Adventure | 84% |
Fantasy | 57% |
Drama | Insignificant |
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)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English DD=narrative descriptive
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Warner Brothers' 4K strategy continues to baffle. There's little rhyme or reason to their selection
of titles. Box office successes like The Conjuring
2 and Lights Out go begging,
while bombs like
Storks are handed a free pass to UHD.
Comedies like The Nice Guys and
The Intern are skipped,
even though Vudu has them available in 4K with Dolby Vision. (How War Dogs ever slipped
through remains anyone's guess, but maybe we should be thankful that Warner's UHD comedy
embargo spared us 4K versions of Fist Fight
and CHiPS.)
Even being a native 4K production is no guarantee: Sully and Fantastic Beasts and Where to
Find Them got UHD versions, but Live by
Night was abandoned. And the latter's omission can't
be explained by poor box office; if ticket sales were the deciding factor, we wouldn't have UHDs
of Point Break and In the Heart of the Sea. In a recent
head-scratcher, Warner has announced
4K versions of a direct-to-video DC animated film, Batman and Harley Quinn, as well as UHDs
of three Peanuts TV specials
originally created for broadcast in standard definition. How much
can any of these benefit from super-duper high-resolution treatment?
The latest film to join Warner's roster of clunkers on UHD is Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of
the Sword. While the film's 4K presentation provides an upgrade over standard Blu-ray, courtesy
of HDR, the difference is slight enough that it's hardly worth the extra investment, especially
since the film itself remains problematic. King Arthur has also received a 3D Blu-ray release,
which I have been told is impressive, but Warner chose not to provide any screeners. When they
start doing the same with UHD, we'll know they're abandoning the format.
(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the standard Blu-ray.
Additional captures from that disc can be found here.)
According to the best available information, the digitally acquired King Arthur was finished on a
digital intermediate at 2K, so that Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD is yet another
product of upconversion. Lacking an original high-resolution source, the 4K treatment derives its
principal benefits from HDR encoding, which refines the differentiation of critical elements in
the film's frequently dark frame. As is often the case with HDR, crowd scenes are a major
beneficiary, both with digitally generated figures and with extras multiplied by CGI. For
example, the horde that masses in front of Vortigern's palace to witness Arthur's execution is a
sharper, more detailed and more individuated sea of faces on UHD. Improved contrast and
highlights clarify many of the CG-enhanced action sequences, e.g. Uther Pendragon's daredevil
attack on Mordred's front line in the film's opening; the UHD's image makes it easier to
distinguish Uther from the chaotic surroundings and to follow his perilous progress. Other dark
scenes are similarly enhanced; in Vortigern's meetings with the squid-like creature with which he's
made a devil's bargain, the figures of the three witches who emerge from the tentacles are more
vivid and better defined, and the sea of tentacles slithering around the illegitimate king are more
visible and assertive.
The HDR colorist has retained King Arthur's generally dull palette of earth tones and grays, but
several enhancements stand out. The film's frame is occasionally enlivened by reds and blues
that provide contrast with the prevailing dimness, and these have been subtly intensified on the
UHD. A recurring example is the blue cloak worn by the unnamed Mage dispatched by Merlin to
assist Arthur in his hero's journey. (The cloak matches the glow of her eyes when she summons
mystical forces.) Reds and purples at Vortigern's court or among the Vikings with whom he has
struck an alliance are deeper and more pronounced. Yellow flames, both mystical and natural,
burn more brightly, and HDR colorists seem to have mastered the trick of applying such
improvements without generating the kind of artifacts that appeared in early efforts like Mad
Max: Fury Road.
In short, King Arthur's UHD treatment accords with the results generally obtained from 2K
sources: better, but not dramatically so.
[System calibrated using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with a Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered
by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7, using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich from AV Top in
Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]
The UHD of King Arthur features the same Dolby Atmos track previously reviewed.
The UHD disc contains no extras. The included standard Blu-ray contains the extras listed here.
Some films have a visual style that lends itself to HDR, so that even without a 4K source, the
advantages on UHD are eye-catching. A recent example is Sony's T2: Trainspotting, where HDR
pumps up the expressive and hallucinatory colors and imparts finer and more complex textures to
the urban landscape. King Arthur is a more typical UHD effort, demonstrating improvements that
are noticeable but not striking. And the film itself remains a dud. UHD collectors should look
elsewhere.
2017
2017
with Instawatch
2017
2017
Limited Edition
2017
2016
2016
Director's Cut
2007
2014
Extended Edition
2012
2013
2014
2011-2019
2022
2016
2018
Extended Edition
2016
2012
2010
Theatrical Edition
2001
2011
Extended Edition
2014
2011
2011
Unrated Director's Cut
2007