Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Rings 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Rings is the third installment in the Ring franchise. The third installment is arguably a soft reboot and it is not a direct continuation of the first two films in the horror franchise. Based on “The Ring” book series written by Kôji Suzuki, Rings is a new take on the concept of the cursed video – this time it’s gone digital and viral.

Rings come from a story concept by David Loucka and Jacob Estes. Produced by Laurie MacDonald (The Ring, The Ring Two) and Walter F. Parkes (The Ring, The Ring Two), Rings brings back the producers associated with the first two films. Rings stars Johnny Galecki, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Alex Roe, Vincent D'Onofrio, Aimee Teegarden, and Bonnie Morgan.

College professor Gabriel (Johnny Galecki) watches the mysterious videotape that is said to kill those who watch it seven days after viewing. Learning about the mysterious curse and videotape, Gabriel convinces his students to watch the video and help him on a quest to uncover the truth about the videotape. Can the mystery of the cursed Samara videotape be solved and new threads be solved?

Tensions build as a dangerous game unfolds and the cursed video has now gone digital. As the videotape goes viral, Samara is even closer to breaking out of her curse and being unleashed onto the entire world. Can the world survive a viral fury of Samara?

Can the students and their professor survive to see another seven days? Julia (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) and Holt (Alex Roe) have a difficult mission ahead – with the group known as “the Sevens” (a group of seven individuals who have been experimenting with the cursed video) being a problem. The curse of Samara isn’t slowing down. Samara might stick around forever if she cannot be stopped.

First thing: Rings doesn’t have Naomi Watts. Without Naomi Watts, Rings immediately has some hurdles to overcome. The cast includes some likable actors with Johnny Galecki, Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, and Alex Roe. However, the cast is only decent in Rings and the performances feel secondary to the film attempting to create tension and dread. The mostly-average acting quality in Rings doesn’t help anything – though it’s nice to see The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki included in Rings.  

The production looks both sleek and sophisticated: the production design by Kevin Kavanaugh (The Dark Knight Rises, John Wick: Chapter 4) and the art direction by A. Todd Holland (Top Gun: Maverick, Jumanji: The Next Level) are both better than expected for the horror feature. The costumes by Christopher Peterson (The Irishman, Dark Waters) add to the film’s artistic qualities, too. From a production standpoint, Rings delivers.

The cinematography by Sharone Meir (Whiplash, Monkey Man) is impressive overall and the visuals are effective during the film. The eerie gothic undertones work well for the franchise. The digital style of cinematography is a bit of a contrast to the shot-on-film aesthetic of the original films. It is worth noting that the digital aesthetic isn’t quite as enjoyable for the franchise – even though the cinematography is compelling overall.  

Edited by Steve Mirkovich (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze) and Jeremiah O'Driscoll (Allied, Welcome to Marwen), Rings is well-edited as a production. The editing capably highlights the tone of the filmmaking. A sold job by the editors.

The score composed by Matthew Margeson (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse) adds some reasonably engaging music for the horror installment. The score doesn’t reach the heights of the Hans Zimmer score composed for the original. Margeson provides a decent score, though. The score certainly fits the tone of the film and contributes to the eeriness established.

Written by David Loucka (House at the End of the Street, Dream House), Jacob Estes (Mean Creek, Don't Let Go), and Akiva Goldsman (Batman Forever, Lost in Space), Rings has an average- at-best script that fails to do much with the concept. The screenplay is a bit of a bore and it doesn’t do much with the mystery element. Even though Rings attempts to continue the investigative nature of the earlier installments to some degree, the script fails to make much of an impression on the whole. The characters feel paper-thin and the actors cast in Rings can’t bring forth the extra dimensionality of a star like Naomi Watts.

Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez (The Wait, Before the Fall), Rings feels like a student-film at times – the type of film meant to showcase the capabilities of a director who might show promise in the future. Unfortunately, director Gutiérrez made an uneven film. Though Gutiérrez made Rings entertaining the film lacks imagination. The filmmaking isn’t a total home-run and only sporadically impresses. Rings just can’t live up to the original or to the underrated sequel.

Rings 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on 4K UHD by Shout Factory, Rings is presented in 2160p HEVC / H.265 in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen. The presentation of the feature-film provides a new HDR (high dynamic range) presentation. The HDR is available on the release in HDR10 standard or Dolby Vision.

The 4K resolution is upscaled as this is not a native 4K resolution release and the bigger presentation difference is from the encode itself and the HDR implementation. The previous Blu-ray release already showcased an excellent encode of the native 2K master of the film. As a result, the resolution boost is "modest" at best with upscaling adding little to the clarity of the film.

The bigger difference is the HDR – and the HDR is sometimes significant on the 4K UHD. The HDR is well implemented here and makes the film look better with the new HDR grading created for the release. The HDR helps the cinematography to shine with an even more robust visual appearance.

Rings 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound. The release is presented with lossless, high-resolution 24 bit-depth audio. The lossless audio encoding is impressive an has an immersive quality that is undeniable. The surrounds are actively engaging and the sound design is exquisite. The sound effects play a huge role in the surround sound experience on the film and it manages to be one of the standout elements of the film. The clarity is astonishing.

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

Deleted/Extended Scenes (HD, 18:35)

Terror Comes Full Circle (HD, 12:37)

Resurrecting the Dead: Bringing Samara Back (HD, 9:19)

Scary Scenes (HD, 6:35)

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

Rings is the third installment in the popular Ring franchise. The third installment is the weakest to date and the film is modestly entertaining at best. The first time I viewed Rings, the film fared somewhat better without knowing the direction of the film, but only by a modest amount. Revisiting Rings, everything seems even less essential.

Rings doesn't add much to the franchise even if it's an OK installment for a rainy-day viewing. The 4K UHD delivers a superior 4K upscaled presentation. Improvements were mostly made by adding HDR grading as the native resolution is 2K.