6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Feature film based on the children's book about a crocodile that lives in New York City.
Starring: Javier Bardem, Winslow Fegley, Shawn Mendes, Constance Wu, Scoot McNairyFamily | 100% |
Comedy | 32% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The most commonly shared word amongst various movie reviews today may very well be "book" as in "the movie is based on the book..." That is true of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile...sort of. The movie based on the books (plural) The House on East 88th Street, first published in 1962, and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, first published in 1965, both by acclaimed author Bernard Waber. That's a long time for a film adaptation to materialize, but it took that long for the technology to be available to make the film look and feel right. The picture blends live action and digital animation and is much in the same family-friendly style as last year's Clifford The Big Red Dog. This is not a particularly robust film, but it's a satisfying little escapist jaunt through essential human emotions and stories, here with a crocodile rather than a person taking center stage.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Sony's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile is certainly not a format showstopper, but it does offer a fundamentally sound
and visually solid image that delivers the material well enough. As with the companion and concurrently released Blu-ray, there's an obvious push to warmer shades of gold, yellow, and red
here;
the palette often, though not always, looks mildly to moderately desaturated with color temperature tuned to the warmer side of the ledger. Color
depth and density have been fine-tuned, not to a
radical degree, but the Dolby Vision grading does offer more stability and punch to the various vivid tones seen throughout the movie, whether
natural
green (or Lyle green, for that matter), and more flashy examples of vivid color, like Florida Gator blue and orange, both of which present with
improved
depth and pop over the Blu-ray. Shadow detail and black levels are better here, especially in key low-light areas like the home's attic space. Look
around the 88-minute mark for a good example of where the UHD's Dolby Vision grading outclasses the Blu-ray for black richness and accuracy.
Likewise, white
balance is superior here, with improved pop and clarity, while skin tones look healthier and more lifelike.
The UHD offers mild gains to sharpness and clarity as well. The 2160p resolution presents a modest boost to textural accuracy. The UHD reveals finer
definition to faces and clothes, but never to any extreme upgrade over the Blu-ray, boasting instead a series of minor fundamental gains that
altogether
do add up to a sharper, crisper picture. Darker shots and scenes present with more stability and grace, while brighter daytime exteriors offer the
most
obvious gains to sharpness and fine definition, though certainly the gains are to be discussed in degrees, not leaps, even in the best examples.
Overall
image clarity is bolstered, and the UHD manages to tame what little bit of noise was visible on the Blu-ray. There are no encode issues to report. This
is
a fine looking UHD. The movie is not visually dynamic to begin with, and the Blu-ray looks great, so while this is clearly the definitive home version of
the film, it's not necessarily at the top of the UHD class, either, just for the film's inherently meager visual stylings and sensibilities.
The Dolby Atmos track, which is exclusive to the UHD (the Blu-ray includes a 5.1 lossless track), plays well, even if there is not a major sense of overhead engagement at work. The top end offers more of a support structure rather than a playground for discrete effects, which is fine considering that the film is more concerned with musical numbers and less dynamic audio cues. To be sure, music filters through the top and surround back channels, allowing for a more enveloping sense of sonic style, but these adds are more of a nice to have rather than a critical component to the listening experience. Even city din or crowded school hallways and cafeterias only take marginal advantage to create a fuller sense of place. Dialogue is clear and centered for the duration.
This UHD release of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile contains a fair number of extras, though most of them are fluff. All extras are on the bundled
Blu-ray disc. No extras appear on the UHD disc. A
Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
This is not a groundbreaking film, not narrative and not technically. It's just another in a recent string of live action-digital hybrids like the aforementioned Clifford as well as The Smurfs and Paddington that are showcases for what modern movie technology can do. The film itself is not necessarily a classic, but it is a winner. It will please its target audience and, in this day and age, that's about par for the course. Sony's UHD delivers solid video and audio along with an average assortment of extras. Recommended.
2022
Collector's Edition | Soundchip O-Ring | Book
2022
w/ 5 Music Downloads
2022
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