Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The horror of the Boston Marathon bombing is recounted in Peter Berg’s Patriots Day, his second film with Mark Wahlberg which documents a domestic tragedy (the other being Deepwater Horizon). Lionsgate is releasing the film both on 1080p Blu-ray and 4K UHD.

Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Patriots Day is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. I still haven't been able to track down any authoritative source as to whether this digitally shot film was finished at a 2K or a 4K DI (I suspect the former), but one way or the other, there's a noticeable uptick in both detail levels and palette reproduction in this UHD version. From the very first on screen image of Tommy in a fairly dark hallway there's better shadow detail and fine detail (like the pores on Wahlberg's face) are more precisely rendered. Later, establishing shots of Boston during the sunrise on the day of the bombing have a rather nice new gamut of tones in the pink and yellow arenas. When the film gets into the long nighttime sequences in its later going, there's at least some (and at times rather substantial) new visual information available, whether it's in the cloistered confines of Dun Meng's hijacked car, or even out and about in Watertown as the police close in on Dzhokhar. The one place where the increased resolution of UHD doesn't do any favors to the presentational aspects are in the archival video taken the day of the race. It didn't look great in 1080p and it looks downright shoddy at times in 2160p.

Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This 4K UHD release has the same excellent DTS:X track that was assessed in our original Patriots Day Blu-ray review.

Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lionsgate has smartly started offering the same supplements on its 4K UHD releases that are included on the 1080p Blu-ray releases of the same film. This 4K UHD release sports the same supplementary content that is detailed in our original Patriots Day Blu-ray review (and the 1080p Blu-ray included in this package of course also features the same supplementary material).

Patriots Day 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even several days after I wrote about my mixed feelings regarding "recreating" terrorist attacks for film in our original Patriots Day Blu-ray review, I'm still a little conflicted about this outing. That said, the 4K UHD presentation is excellent all around, with great looking video and an astounding audio track. Lionsgate is also wisely providing supplements on its 4K UHD discs now, so that couch potatoes can remain comfortably "intact" and not have to switch discs to enjoy bonus material. Recommended.