Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles 4K Blu-ray Movie

Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Eagle Rock Entertainment's old 1080 release. This release does not include a 1080 disc, which is why there is no 2K video score above.

Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Mercury Studios with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.90. (I'll note that I have no simple way of measuring pixels on 4K discs where "unusual" aspect ratios can sometimes be altered from their 1080 releases, but I marked my display where the black bars were on the 1080 release and they were the same on this release.) There's no online data that I could find mentioning whether this was captured at source resolutions over 4K, so I'm frankly not sure whether this is native or upscaled 4K, but the look here is definitely sharper and offers some generally more precise fine detail than the already excellent 1080 release from years ago. The tendency toward very slight instability issues with regard to some of the display material behind the band is largely ameliorated here, and since this doesn't offer an Eagle Rock masthead, the really bad banding that was on display during that logo on the 1080 release is also commendably missing. The biggest issue for some videophiles here may be the absence of HDR. That means that the palette for all intents and purposes looks pretty much identical to the old 1080 release, and some of the passing deficits in shadow detail in the less well lit sections of the stage are still in evidence.

Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This 4K UHD disc offers the same two audio options as the older 1080 release from Eagle Rock Entertainment. I'm just a little conflicted about Mötley Crüe: The End Live in Los Angeles' LPCM 2.0 and (especially) DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, since, while fidelity is excellent and clarity also great, it seems that whoever mixed this wanted to give it more of a sense of how things sounded in the Staples Center, leading to a somewhat diffused and even phased ambience (especially in the surround track). There's a kind of peculiar "distance" that includes what I consider to be an overly wet (i.e., reverb heavy) sound for Vince Neil's vocals, and the audience sounds are often pretty overwhelming and some might consider intrusive. Take a listen over the band's exit and closing credits for this concert, when a cheeky use of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" is utilized. The phasing and distance are quite marked in the surround version, though it's notable that amplitude spikes noticeably once the Sinatra pre- record starts up. I have to think this was done purposefully, and some may actually like the "real" sounding ambience, but I found I had to crank my receiver up pretty high (much higher than I typically do) in order to fully enjoy the sonics on display here. Others' mileage may of course vary. Interestingly, Mercury Studios has ported over the many subtitle possibilities for the special features (see below), with English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese options available.

Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 1080 release offered a CD of the concert, which is not included here, though the disc offers the same bonus features as the 1080 disc did:

• Interviews (1080p; 35:53)


• Nikki's Flamethrower Bass (1080p; 3:54)


• Tommy's Drum Rig (1080p; 5:32)

Mötley Crüe: The End - Live in Los Angeles 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

To kinda sorta paraphrase one Jim Morrison, this may or may not be "the end", but it finds Mötley Crüe in fine fettle, giving a huge and rapturous audience both an eyeful and an earful. This 4K UHD release may not be a "must buy" for fans due to the fact that it doesn't offer HDR and has no audio upgrade, but the increased resolution of this format does offer some noticeably improved fine detail, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.