7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.6 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers and a single passenger is awakened 90 years early.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy GarciaAdventure | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 84% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Castilian and Latin American Spanish
English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai, Vietnamese
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In an ever-connected and "smaller" world that is supposedly bringing people closer together than ever before, it seems like stories of isolation, and the emotional consequences thereof, are becoming increasingly more popular. One of the genre's grandaddies is The Shining, a film to which Passengers gives a respectful nod that runs throughout the entire film. Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis explored the concept in Cast Away. But lately it's the Science Fiction (or Science Fact, as the case may be with some of them) genre that's taken the reigns and taken charge of telling stories not only about living alone, but exploring the repercussions thereof. Oblivion, The Martian, and Moon have, in recent years, placed man much farther away from others, the former taking on a more action-heavy approach and the latter two more impactful, and better, films that take the focus away from guns and special effects and find greater purpose in their more dramatically oriented approaches. The genre seems a natural fit, allowing the exploration of concepts and environments and physical challenges to which the audience cannot easily relate to add greater tension while at the same time digging into the core human condition that translates no matter the time or place, be it in an isolated hotel or island, a nearby celestial body, or in deep space some decades or maybe even centuries into the future. Passengers pits two laymen, essentially, against the scale, scope, technology, and fundamental emotional turmoil of operating and maintaining a deep space cruiser, akin to taking today's average guy off the street and tasking him to to do the same onboard a space shuttle. It's not easy (although de facto cavemen have been known to pilot Harriers in battle against an advanced alien civilization, so maybe anything is possible). Passengers certainly doesn't live up to the character building and problem solving excellence of The Martian or the hefty dramatic impact and beautifully balanced complexity-simplicity of Moon, but it's a mostly enjoyable time killer that demands some suspension of disbelief and that plays with a bit of romance and excitement amidst an almost painfully predictable plot.
Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc and do not reflect either the UHD or the 3D presentations. Watch for 4K
screenshots at a later date.
This release of 'Passengers' contains three unique presentations: the 4K UHD, the 1080p Blu-ray 3D, and the 1080p 2D Blu-ray, reviewed here. The 4K and 3D are exclusive to this set.
3D:
Passengers' Blu-ray 3D experience opens with a positive sense of wide open space as the Avalon approaches the screen and
subsequently drifts away from
it. Space extends as far as the 3D depth allows and as wide and high as the frame around the film. The asteroid field that causes all the problems
shows excellent
space between the rocks, tangible volume and shape to each of them, and appears appropriately dense but not packed. The ship is small in scale,
appropriately, but close-up shots show its interesting shape and volume. Interiors stretch far, revealing the true scale that wasn't quite so obvious in
2D. And even smaller spaces, like the inside of the pod as Jim awakens, are likewise nicely defined in terms of volume and distance between
objects. Objects that looked and felt flat in 2D reveal
their true shape in 3D; the coffee machine, for example, has a raised panel that stands quite a bit out in front of the icons behind it. On the
downside, colors are less rich and dense and details are a bit smoother. The image on the whole is a little bleaker, too. Some shimmering that wasn't
apparent on either the Blu-ray or the UHD is introduced here. Look at the thin circular light fixtures in the theater at the 7:35 mark. Waving and
jaggies are
readily evident and straight lines throughout (some, not all) show similar issues to varying degrees of intensity. However, no major crosstalk effects
were noted during review.
UHD:
Passengers was reportedly digitally photographed at a resolution of 6.5K and finished
at
4K. And the results speak for themselves. There's no mistaking that the image is so clean and clear that it sometimes almost looks animated, in a
way,
artificial rather than organic. It goes with the nature of the movie and all of the slick, clean lines around the ship, but some close-ups definitely have
a mildly unnatural sheen about them. Still, details under the 2160p presentation are robust, with facial textures -- pores, stubble -- noticeably more
complex even without the
benefit of direct
comparison.
But doing just that revels just how much of a leap this is. Even as the image is "digital smooth" in 4K, there's an abundance of textural complexities
that
practically put the excellent Blu-ray to shame. Take a look at Aurora around the 40:50 mark, sitting alone and dictating her story to a computer. On
the
Blu-ray, color saturation is actually rather poor in direct comparison, leaving her skin looking garish and, worse, excessively smoothed over. On the
UHD, the HDR
enhanced colors are
much more
stable
and natural, the lighting reflecting off her skin in a more complimentary, intimate manner and skin textures much more bountiful. Such holds true
throughout. The level of refinement in color depth and intimacy of detail is always obvious, with the Blu-ray frequently falling well behind the UHD. It
ranges from subtle to drastic and is even obvious beyond skin, going to the ship's various surfaces as well. The increased color saturation is obvious
everywhere but nowhere more so than the deep reds and ambers around the bar. Add in Arthur's sharper details and the contrast between the
formats is significant.
The only real issue of note was a trace bit of shimmering introduced at about the 52:50 mark on a straight-line light fixture positioned in about the
middle of
the
screen. It stood out like a sore thumb on the UHD but wasn't listed in the notes for the Blu-ray review. It's seen in a seconds-long moment that
could have
been missed the first time around, but double-checking back on the Blu-ray and the problem isn't there. Also, deep
space or shadowy interior black levels might be a hair less rich, but it's a small price to pay for an otherwise reference UHD transfer.
1080p Blu-ray/3D:
While Sony's UHD release of Passengers contains a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the
studio's standard Blu-ray release features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack (other studios don't have a problem with this...come on, Sony). That said, the 5.1 track is fine, excellent,
really, though even, as with the video quality, as the track excels, there are moments when the opportunity for a greater sound field are obvious.
Music
is terrific, effortlessly spaced and nuanced where the finest airy notes or the heaviest low end pulses are equally
balanced and detailed. Wrap into the back is seamless, too, and the track's immersive benefits are obvious. There's strong transitional heft as the
starship lumbers across the screen and through space early on and there's a range of activity as she traverses through that fateful asteroid field. The
low end can get a little rattly at the bottom, but the sheer scale and mass more than makes up for it. Additional powerful chaos dots the final act,
too,
and the track has no problems throwing its weight around. While the Atmos track offers a more aggressive posture and fullness in the biggest action
scenes, its in the smaller moments where its would-be benefits seem lacking. Even as ship wide announcements or other larger interior effects like
alarms are diffuse about the stage, the 5.1 track can't quite recreate the vastness of the ship's common areas and make the sound seem to emanate
from a wider and higher location. Smaller, localized effects fare well, such as swooshing doors or smaller little computer beeps and bloops. Dialogue
carries much of the film, and it's reproduced with a lifelike sheen and plays with natural center-front positioning and effortless prioritization even
through some of the third act action din.
UHD:
The Atmos soundtrack carries over all of the core characteristics but adds a few features of note. The extra channels -- both around the listener and
above -- help to better diffuse sound, whether the shove of the ship as she hurtles through space, intercom addresses, or various big crashes and
bangs and general mayhem in the final act. Bass seems a bit bigger and better pronounced, too, more intense and rumbly, though certainly not by
any
significant margin. The
added surround-back channels help to provide a more seamless sound transition while the overhead channels create a greater sense of spatial
immersion into the ship's larger areas. Unlike the often significant jump from Passengers' Blu-ray to UHD, the improvements between the
dueling DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless
soundtrack and this Atmos presentation are noticeable, but they aren't drastic. It's clearly the superior listen, but it's not a revelation.
Passengers contains no unique true supplemental content on the UHD disc, but it does include the usual standard-issue Sony collection of
categorized
Moments (2160p, HDR, Atmos): Jim (11:51), Aurora (20:59), Arthur (7:39), and The Avalon (15:26). The
still photo Cast &
Crew tab is also included. The 3D disc contains no content beyond the film. All of the extras are featured on the 2D Blu-ray disc. A UV digital
copy
code is included with purchase.
Passengers is a good movie that offers an interesting proposition: it demands that the audience both engage the brain and leave the brain at the door. There's some very good exploration here, a fairly deep analysis of the human condition in isolation in its opening act. Act two is much of the same with a big, obvious turning point looming large, and act three is the usual action-oriented turn that's well staged but so predictable it's practically boring and all but erases the first act's excellence from the audience's mind. Still, Passengers makes for a decent watch and a movie that could have been spectacular had the writers let the creative juices flow a bit more freely. Sony's Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and UHD combo pack offers the best of all worlds. The UHD disc is the standout with the best video and audio of the bunch. The 3D presentation adds some interesting spacial awareness to the movie (shame it wasn't paired with the more spacious Atmos soundtrack), and the Blu-ray is the nuts-and-bolts inclusion and home to all of the supplements. Recommended.
2014
Extended Edition
2015
Includes "Silent Space" version
2013
2013
45th Anniversary Edition
1978
2019
2016
15th Anniversary Edition
2002
45th Anniversary
1979
The Star Beast / Wild Blue Yonder / The Giggle
2023
1995-2001
2020-2023
2006-2007
1966-1969
2009
Budget Re-release
2001-2005
2016
2017
2002
1998