7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Scientists, soldiers and adventurers unite to explore a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Cut off from everything they know, they venture into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery soon becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape from a primal world where humanity does not belong.
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John GoodmanAction | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 80% |
Adventure | 80% |
Fantasy | 57% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
English DD=narrative descriptive
English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Hebrew, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
Blu-ray 3D
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Warner Brothers claims that it is still supporting the 3D format, but how seriously can we take
that claim when the studio continues to shortchange 3D fans with inferior audio? Kong: Skull
Island (or "K:SI") is the third title from Warner this year for which the studio has offered a Dolby
Atmos track on the standard Blu-ray and UHD versions but removed it from the 3D disc.
Repeated inquiries to the studio have failed to yield a satisfactory explanation for this pattern of
omission. Either Warner is deliberately sabotaging its own 3D efforts, or the people making
these technical decisions have no idea what they're doing. (The two theories aren't mutually
exclusive.)
In the case of K:SI, the omission is especially galling, because the 3D presentation is so good and
because the Atmos track offers such obvious sonic improvement over the lossless DTS track with
which the 3D disc has been hobbled.
(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the 2D disc. Additional
2D captures can be found here.)
The image on Warner's 1080p, MVC-encoded 3D Blu-ray displays all the strengths in sharpness,
detail and color reproduction that are apparent on the standard Blu-ray. The 3D image, which was
generated by post-processing, employs familiar 3D tricks such as having objects fly out of
the screen at the viewer, including embers, rock fragments, seismic charges dropped from the air
and, in one memorable moment, an object that could fairly be described as an oversized portion
of calamari. The sense of depth enhances the illusion of multiple spatial planes in specific
sequences like the flight of Col. Packard's helicopter squadron, as they swoop and hover over
Skull Island in precise formation and are then scattered by Kong's attack. The giant spider that
approaches from above and announces its deadly presence with legs and webbing that shoot
down from overhead is even more threatening with the addition of the third dimension (and the
creature's demise is even gooier).
But the real achievement of K:SI's 3D image lies less in its obvious pop-out moments than in its
continuous expansion of the film's wondrous landscapes, especially those that weren't created in
a computer. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts routinely uses extreme long shots to emphasize the
smallness of the human figures making their hazardous way through beautiful but forbidding
terrain, and the 3D image gives these scenes such vivid depth that you feel as if you could step
into them and join the expedition. Kong's mastery of these environs through sheer size as he
towers over every creature around him is accentuated by the enhanced sense of space, and his epic battle
with the queen "Skullcrawler", who is almost as big as Kong, has even greater scale and impact
in 3D.
3D presentation is sometimes dismissed as a gimmick, and there have certainly been films where
it added little to the experience. But K:SI is a sustained demonstration in the format's ability to
enhance a film by drawing the viewer ever deeper into its imaginary world. It's just a shame that,
in the case of K:SI (as with LEGO Batman and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them),
Warner has required Blu-ray purchasers to sacrifice a superior soundtrack as the price of entry to
the 3D disc's magical realm.
If you have never heard K:SI's Dolby Atmos track (or it's Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), you are in a
better position to enjoy the 3D disc's DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix, which is appropriately loud, active
and aggressive and makes full use of all six speakers, including the subwoofer for low frequency
effects (the ".1" in 5.1). The rear channels receive a serious workout, with unseen activity
routinely announcing itself offscreen before whatever is causing the sound hurtles into view. Dialogue and music are clearly
and effectively reproduced.
However . . . if you've heard the Atmos track, you quickly sense that something is missing in the
5.1 presentation. Its sounds don't glide through the listening space with the same fluidity
provided by object-based processing. As active as the rear channels may be, their effects remain
firmly behind the viewer, whereas the Atmos mix routinely slides these off-camera sounds hither
and yon, so that you're less aware of specific speakers, because the sounds seem to be coming
from everywhere and nowhere. The difference is immediately noticeable in the aerial battle that
opens the film, which is heard but not seen, and the effect continues throughout the running time. K:SI's
sound mix is a feature-length demonstration of the Atmos format's strengths, but Warner has
refused to share it with 3D buyers. The 3D Blu-ray's audio score has been discounted
accordingly.
The 3D disc contains no extras. The included standard Blu-ray contains the extras discussed here.
K:SI is a thrilling adventure, and it's even more so in 3D. Unfortunately, if you want to see that
enhanced presentation, Warner forces you to accept a lesser soundtrack. Shame on them—and
buyer beware.
2017
2017
2017
Lenticular Packaging & Bonus Content
2017
2017
2017
2017
with Ready Player One Movie Money
2017
2017
with Godzilla: King of the Monsters Movie Money
2017
2017
2014
2019
2018
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2009
2018
2024
2021
2017
2013
2019
2011
2018
2018
2009
2013
2015
15th Anniversary Edition
2004
The Rogue Cut
2014
2014
Cinematic Universe Edition
2014