M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 10, 2023

Universal has released the 2022 film 'Megan,' or 'M3gan,' to the UHD format less than seven months after the film's initial Blu-ray release. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio. The included Blu-ray disc is identical to the previous issue. No new extras are included.

When young Cady's (Violet McGraw) parents die in an automobile accident, she is left to live with her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), a robotics engineer who has no understanding of how to raise a child, never mind the time to do so or learn. In order to better care for Cady, she puts plans into motion to create a lifelike robotic companion for her which she dubs "M3GAN" (Amie Donald, voiced by Jenna Davis), a lifelike doll that is fully self-sufficient. The doll is both teacher and friend to Cady, and the two hit it off quickly. But when M3GAN comes to realize that there are things in the world out to harm Cady -- whether emotionally or physically -- the doll turns to violent means to quell any possibility of danger befalling the girl in her care. Meanwhile, Gemma's work earns the reluctant praise of her boss, David (Ronny Chieng), putting her and her design on the fast-track to success. M3GAN might have other plans for the company, however.

For a full film review, please click here.

M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Universal upgrades M3gan to the UHD format with a pristine new 2160p/HDR UHD presentation. Of immediate note is the newfound level of brilliance to colors. The opening toy pet commercial offers a significant gain to vividness and tonal saturation. It's one of those "wow" HDR moments that dazzles for the sheer intensity of color on the screen, and veteran Blu-ray viewers will immediately note how these HDR colors fly beyond anything that traditional SDR colors can offer. The rest of the film offers much the same, with a livelier, more fully saturated, more impressively brilliant and bold palette. The film's multitude of colors all benefit; there is no color not upgraded in every way. This includes black levels, which are deeper and truer without disturbing the quality of shadow detail; whites, which are more brilliant and lifelike; and skin tones, which are healthier and more faithful.

Textural gains are a bit less dramatic. To be sure, the image is plainly sharper and overall clarity is wonderful, but the added resolution only pushes the source material so far. Viewers will note and appreciate very fine improvements to fabrics on couches, clothing definition, facial features, and various structural and environmental elements, but these are not drastic. This is more of a fine-tuning rather than a more significant gain as seen with the HDR color spectrum. The picture is excellent, very cinematic and looking wonderful, but don't expect substantial gains on this side of the ledger. The image handles noise extremely well and there are no compression issues of note. This is just about best-case scenario for M3gan.

M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Previously, Universal released M3gan to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack. For this UHD release, the studio has upgraded the audio experience to the Dolby Atmos configuration. The upgrade is not significantly noteworthy in terms of raw performance; the track holds to the same excellent core characteristics that defined the 7.1 track, and that track's review certainly suffices for the vast majority of this audio experience (please click here to access that review). The newly added overhead channels add some satisfying atmospheric elements to the track and a handful of discrete details, too, details that are more complementary rather than obvious, but with enough top end spacing and clear points of origin to make the listener notice and smile. Mostly, however, the top is used in subtle support mode to bring more impactful spacing and flair to the proceedings.

M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of M3gan includes the same supplements found on the Blu-ray, which is also included. See below for a list of extras, and please click here for full coverage. Note that like the Blu-ray, the UHD disc includes two cuts of the film: Theatrical (1:41:56) and Unrated (1:41:50). A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is also included with purchase, as is a slipcover.

• A New Vision of Horror
• Bringing Life to M3gan
• Getting Hacked

M3GAN 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

M3GAN finds some value in exploring the personalized dangers of A.I. in the home run amok. The film feels eerily plausible in 2023 given the radical advances in the world or synthetic life, but of course the film tailors the story and the dangers to build a Slasher film. The picture does a good job of toeing the line between thoughtful commentary and brainless entertainment, but it's ultimately better suited to an experience favoring the latter. Universal's new UHD release offers a nice upgrade from the Blu-ray, especially in the area of the HDR color grading. The new Atmos track is solid though not significantly differentiated from the previous 7.1 track. Supplements remains the same. The Blu-ray is still excellent, so this upgrade is for serious fans of the film or first-time buyers only.