6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the lands over which she presides, the scorned fairy Maleficent places a cruel curse upon the human king's newborn daughter, Aurora. As she grows and comes of age, Aurora is caught in the center of the dangerous conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom which is to be her legacy. Maleficent realizes Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced into bold action which may change both of their worlds forever.
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda StauntonAdventure | 100% |
Family | 96% |
Fantasy | 90% |
Romance | 16% |
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
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
German: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Italian: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Spanish = Latinoamerica, French DD+ 7.1 = Parisian
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Disney's live action 'Maleficent' released to Blu-ray in November 2014 to excellent technical result. Disney has re-released the film to the UHD format ahead of the sequel's release. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio. The bundled Blu-ray is identical to that which launched in 2014 and no new extras appear on the UHD disc.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Maleficent's UHD upgrade is a pleasant surprise. The movie was reportedly per IMDB digitally photographed at a resolution of 2.8K and
finished at 2K. Disney's upscaled UHD is quite nice altogether, delivering a fairly sturdy boost to textural clarity and color reproduction alike. The 2160p
resolution brings a new feel for total image clarity and textural finesse to the movie. Skin details are much more accurately pronounced, with clarity
boosted by quite a bit and visual firmness and razor-sharpness increased to plainly obvious levels, even without conducting a comparison; anyone with
eyes accustomed to 1080p limitations will immediately notice young Maleficent's skin clarity and the dazzling detail evident in the movie's first close-up
in the opening minutes. It's an eye-opening and very auspicious beginning that carries through the film. As noted, overall clarity is on the rise within
the
UHD's presentation. It's a very smooth, well defined picture that manages to bring out the best in the ornate costumes and complexly designed set
pieces, not just skin and makeup. The UHD does have the drawback of showing a few of the digital seams; some of the creatures and other special
effects have a noisy look about them, but for the most part this world sparkles with a clarity and sheen well beyond Blu-ray's capabilities.
The HDR color gamut is also of benefit to the presentation. It brings with it the usual adds to depth and contrast, punch and intensity. The color gamut
appears more accurate across the board, from bright red lipstick to beautifully honed natural greenery. The movie is very dark at many points, and
blacks hold deep with impressive tonal accuracy, maintaining a strict level of output without veering towards crush or, perhaps even worse for a movies
of this sort, appearing too washed out or gray/purple. Additional benefits include perfectly dialed grays and blues, expertly presented skin tones that
are a product of surrounding lighting and atmosphere, more intensely luminous bright light sources (look at the purple points of light in chapter 10),
and impressively brilliant whites. Factor in the absence of distracting noise in quantity and other source or encode artifacts and Maleficent
looks marvelous on UHD.
Though a typical Disney soundtrack with the usual issues, Maleficent's Dolby Atmos soundtrack makes for a fairly good compliment to the movie. The lack of range is not a death sentence, and with the volume upwardly adjusted the proceedings are adequately pleasing, with good, healthy musical spacing and clarity. Surrounds engage as needed to support both music and effects, which can be fairly fluid and large in support of the more intensive action scenes, including a ferocious dragon attack in chapter 18 which brings with it a solid low end output, well defined and seamlessly fluid surround integration, and a good overall feel for the raucous chaos that ensues as people scream and flee, fires rage, and structures collapse, combined with a prominent but balanced musical explosion, itself full of stage-saturating goodness and intense low end usage. Overhead channels are mostly complimentary in output, never really standing apart with plainly discrete effects but serving the track's more fluid essentials with suddenly vital flavoring. Dialogue is clear and detailed from a well prioritized front-center channel. Despite some limitations the track is very enjoyable with the necessary tweak to volume from reference level.
This UHD release of Maleficent contains no supplemental content, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to that which released back in
2014, contains the following extras, a paltry package then and particularly now. For full supplemental content coverage, please click here. This release also includes a Movies Anywhere digital copy code
and ships with an embossed slipcover.
Fans will find Maleficent's UHD well worth the upgrade. Both the increases in clarity and the boosts to color make for noticeable gains. The Dolby Atmos track isn't half-bad when it's all said and done. Extras are rather scant and nothing new is included, but at least Disney has made the previously issued content available to UHD buyers. Highly recommended, and there's also a SteelBook packaging variant aimed at collectors.
2019
2018
2015
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2019
2013
2010
2015
Lenticular Faceplate
2012
2005
2010
2016
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2013
Anniversary Edition | The Signature Collection
1959
2007
1987
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2010
2019
Limited Edition Collector's Set
1986
1981
25th Anniversary Edition | The Signature Collection
1991