Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Paddington 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The bear necessities: sandwiches and family.

NOTE: As of this review, Paddington 4K is only available as part of Studio Canal's Paddington 3-Film Collection.

Finally debuting on 4K over a decade after its theatrical release, Paul King's Paddington was the first of three films starring that fuzzy brown icon of children's literature. Co-written by King with comedian and actor Hamish McColl, the film's charming story and colorful characters translated into box office gold and, of course, those inevitable sequels. Taken on its own, this is an irresistible family adventure that will continue to hold up for decades to come, even if its direct successor Paddington 2 sharpened the formula to an even more enjoyable degree. Long available on various home video editions such as Anchor Bay's 2015 US Blu-ray, Paddington's UHD arrival is a welcome one indeed.

Paddington 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced directly from the 4K disc but have been downsampled to 1080p/SDR and thus should not be considered an accurate representation of quality in terms of brightness level, color, and detail.

Paddington has been given a rather subtle but appreciated facelift on Studio Canal's new 4K edition which, like the other two films in the 3-Film Collection, is authored on a triple-layer disc and runs at an extremely high bit rate that regularly reaches 80Mbps+ territory. Like most 2K-finished films, though, actual fine detail hasn't really been improved upon but perceived detail gets a tangible boost thanks to the benefits of high dynamic range including deeper blacks, brighter whites, steadier contrast levels, and strong color representation. This doesn't translate to a more consistently vivid presentation but bold primaries can be seen on occasion and specific hues now stand out when adjacent to darker values. Much like its sequel, Paddington simply looks like a more ideal version than what came before so, when seeing the old Blu-ray's 1080p/SDR transfer after watching this 4K disc, fans will be able to spot problem areas in that older disc that weren't as apparent before including slight black crush, boosted contrast, and an overall less stable and thick appearance. I was able to compare several portions of the film in HDR10 and Dolby Vision and found both to offer an overwhelmingly similar presentation, but depending on your setup you may favor one over the other.

Perhaps my only slight reservation about Studio Canal's new UHD facelift might be its somewhat warmer tone overall; it's certainly not egregious and thus wouldn't fall headfirst into "color revisionism" territory and, for all I know, earlier Blu-rays (including Anchor Bay's disc, linked above) could have been too cool. Either way, the positives far outweigh the negatives here -- from the numerous strengths of HDR to its substantially higher bit rate, I couldn't imagine anyone feeling like this new 2160p transfer is anything but a solid upgrade from just about every angle.

Paddington 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Created to match the other two films in the franchise, Studio Canal has included a new Dolby Atmos mix for this 4K edition and the results are very much in line with Paddington 2, given many of their shared environments including the Browns' house, their occasionally quiet neighborhood, and events like Paddington's forays into slapstick-fueled disaster. There are clever uses of the height channels as well as plenty of discrete effects and channel pans, though admittedly much of the film is as front-forward as you'd expect. Simply put, this is a charming and at times extremely active mix that's nonetheless largely dialogue-driven with no real flaws to speak of. Those not equipped for Atmos can still enjoy the automatically folded-down Dolby TrueHD 7.1 option, which will still overwhelmingly get the job done.

Also included is the original DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix from other releases including the 2018 Blu-ray.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are offered during the film only.

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

The bonus features on this disc are largely similar to the ones found on Anchor Bay's 2015 US Blu-ray edition... that is to say there ain't much, and two of those legacy extras -- a music video for Gwen Stefani & Pharrell Williams' "Shine" and an accompanying behind-the-scenes featurette -- have not been carried over.

• Meet the Characters (2:18)

• From Page to Screen (3:02)

• When a Bear Comes to Stay (1:49)

• NEW! Gallery (2:05) - The only "new" supplement here, although it's hardly worth getting excited about, is this self-playing slideshow of roughly two dozen posters, stills, and promotional photos.

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

Paul King's Paddington is the first and arguably second best film in the franchise, and stands tall as a charming family adventure that wonderfully introduces audiences to faces and places that would broaden in future installments. Simply put, it's still a great time at the movies and thus a strong cornerstone for Studio Canal's 3-Film Collection, which as of right now is the only way to get it on UHD. The disc certainly makes a case for itself with nicely upgraded A/V merits including a new Atmos remix, and its only weak spot is a rather limp collection of bonus features. It's still well worth owning in 4K and thus one of three reasons why the 3-Film Collection is Highly Recommended.