Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 30, 2019

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, well-received by critics and audiences alike in 2006, has been released in a variety of formats since then: a Special Edition DVD, competing HD DVD and Blu-ray discs in 2007, and Criterion's 2016 Blu-ray that doubled as part of a deluxe boxed set the same year. Warner Bros.' new 4K edition serves up a 2160p transfer that predictably beats those previous versions while coming up a little short in other departments. It's still a decent release, but one that falls victim to several oversights that prevent it from being definitive. Worse yet, the included Blu-ray is recycled from 2007...so if this review's screenshots look a little unimpressive, there's your answer.

Speaking of 2007, please refer to former Blu-ray.com reviewer J.C. Ribera's write-up of that disc for an analysis of the film. I share his sentiments for the most part and, while Pan's Labyrinth doesn't affect me quite as deeply now as it did a decade ago, it's still an outstanding production that stands as one of Guillermo del Toro's best efforts to date.

Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Previously on Pan's Labyrinth: Those who have bought this film on earlier formats (DVD, HD DVD, and/or Blu-ray) likely know that Warner Bros.' 2007 Blu-ray and Criterion's 2016 Blu-ray offered fundamentally different 1080p images. The former was a decent early-format presentation unfortunately slathered in digital noise reduction, while the latter contained a few director-approved color tweaks and more prominent black levels...but was also slightly hampered by a few mild compression-related issues. Pound for pound, Criterion's disc still easily came out on top.

The quickest summary of Warner Bros.' new 4K disc is that it looks like a more ideal version of their previous Blu-ray. The film was finished at a 2K digital intermediate (likely because of its often lower-res VFX, whose seams now show a bit more), so don't expect any kind of quantum leap forward in regards to fine detail and texture. Still, this new 2160p transfer clearly serves up a more crisp and satisfying presentation overall, thanks as much to its lack of DNR as the format's higher resolution. Outdoor daytime scenes obviously fare the best, with dense foliage and close-ups revealing subtle details not nearly as noticeable in 1080p. Other moments are absolutely bathed in black, but even these are afforded a boost by the slightly more refined shadow detail. Compression artifacts are also not an issue, especially due to the disc's generous bit rate which often peaks at or above 95Mbps. Overall, this 4K presentation marks a solid step up from both earlier Blu-rays, but for entirely separate reasons. And while those director-approved color tweaks from the Criterion disc have not been fully applied to this transfer, the format's HDR grading does predictably boost depth and saturation in key scenes; that's a good thing, as having both would have likely been overkill.

As mentioned earlier, the included Blu-ray is the same as Warner Bros.' 2007 release, for better or worse. While its 1080p transfer is serviceable at first glance, I am a lot more critical of certain flaws -- namely, the excessive noise reduction -- and thus the "Video" rating above reflects a lower score than what it originally got in 2007.

Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In perhaps this release's most baffling oversight, Warner Bros.' 4K disc lacks the DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio mix present on both previous Blu-rays, opting for a slightly scaled-down DTS-HD 5.1 MA track instead. (Adding to the confusion, the recycled Blu-ray included in this two-disc set does include the 7.1 track.) To be fair, the missing two channels don't represent a huge loss even if you own the proper equipment, but that still warrants a half-point deduction. For an evaluation of the 5.1 and 7.1 tracks, please refer to our review of Criterion's 2016 Blu-ray, which contains both.

Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Pan's Labyrinth arrives on 4K in a two-disc keepcase with new cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. As the included Blu-ray is identical to Warner Bros.' 2007 Blu-ray, the extras from that edition are all intact and listed below. (Unsurprisingly, the supplements from Criterion's 2016 Blu-ray are not included.)

Please note that the commentary is the only extra on both discs; everything else is on the Blu-ray only.

• Director's Prologue

• Audio Commentary with director Guillermo del Toro

• Enhanced Visual Commentary

• Featurettes - "The Power of Myth", "Pan and the Fairies", "The Color and the Shape", and "The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale"

• The Director's Notebook - "Del Toro's Notes and Sketches", "Storyboard / Thumbnail Compares", "VFX Plate Comparison", and "Galleries"

• The Charlie Rose Show featuring Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro Iñárritu

• Comics - "The Giant Toad", "The Fairies", "Pan", and "The Pale Man"

• Marketing Campaign - Theatrical Teaser, Trailer, and TV Spots

Pan's Labyrinth 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pan's Labyrinth is a wonderful grown-up fairy tale and one of Guillermo del Toro's best films; it's ambitious in scope, near-flawless in execution, and features outstanding production design and visual effects. It's been well-represented on Blu-ray thus far with a decent edition from Warner Bros. in 2007 and a more lavish upgrade from Criterion a decade later, both highlighted by a wonderful mix of extras and outstanding 7.1 audio. Sadly, the latter is absent on Warner Bros.' new 4K disc (but present on the Blu-ray, recycled from 2007), although the 4K's excellent new transfer will probably be enough reason for die-hard fans to upgrade. But newcomers and those not equipped for 4K yet should give this a hard pass; with a few simple tweaks, it would have been a much more accessible and definitive release.