Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 10, 2026

Twice now in recent years as the site has assembled its annual Top 10 lists from reviewers, I've singled out audio Blu-rays for special emphasis, and among those have been the generally splendid new Atmos offerings from Rhino. Rhino has commendably offered fans of Seal both Seal and Seal II on audio Blu-ray with absolutely superb Atmos mixes, along with "standard" surround and stereo mixes. For pure listening purposes, it's probably those two discs that aficionados may want to concentrate on, but for a nice example of Seal in performance, this kind of "recap" of those first two albums certainly proves to be entertaining on its own merits. Best of all, Seal's incredibly distinctive voice is really resplendent, and the band and backup singers deliver some impressive performances as well. As with the audio Blu-ray remixes, Trevor Horn was intimately involved here as well, and his production expertise shines through the live performances, which are often really beautifully layered much like the original albums (though with some interesting changes in arrangements at times). It's kind of interesting to see Seal in performance since he often seems to be such a remote, enigmatic figure, and he's completely engaging and energetic throughout, interacting with the large, appreciative audience at The Venetian in Las Vegas. Despite the location, there's frankly not an overabundance of "glitz" in the staging, and the emphasis is wisely on the music. Some okay interviews are offered as interstitials, but some may feel the disc may have been better served by shunting those off as supplements and just letting fans revel in Seal's frequently gorgeous songcraft.

The concert section contains the following songs:

• 1. Crazy
• 2. The Beginning
• 3. Deep Water
• 4. Future Love Paradise
• 5. Bring It On
• 6. Prayer for the Dying
• 7. Killer
• 8. Kiss From a Rose
• 9. Get It Together
• 10. Love's Divine

Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Seal: Purpose is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Mercury Studios with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.78:1. Mercury just doesn't seem to have figured out the 4K UHD market yet, frankly, as evidenced by yet another disc without HDR, which probably instantly makes this less appealing to prospective consumers (I'd argue that that misunderstanding of the 4K UHD market pervades to how the audio codecs are authored, addressed in the audio section, below). Technical information on this capture is relatively sparse (from what I've been able to glean, anyway), but this is seemingly a native 4K source, which at least offers some really excellent detail levels throughout, though I'd frankly not argue that the uptick here is mind blowing. You can see some improvements in things like somewhat rubbery texture of the orange jacket Seal wears, or some of the outfits on other players, and close-ups can offer more precision on faces and bodies. But the fact that despite the absence of "arena style" stagecraft this concert does offer some really evocative lighting choices in particular makes the absence of any HDR grades a real disappointment. The progressive presentation may arguably offer better fluidity but I really didn't notice many egregious combing artifacts on the 1080i presentation.

Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Seal: Purpose offers DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1 options, though it's perhaps salient to note Mercury has authored the disc to default to the stereo track, with the lossy Dolby track offered as the second option, when my hunch is anyone opting for a 4K UHD presentation is going to choose the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The surround track is really nicely immersive, and some of the Horn production expertise helps to regularly engage the side and rear channels with some really wonderful layered instrumental effects. There are some intrusive crowd noises at times, something that may have only been elevated (in more than one way) had an Atmos track been included, but that said, I for one would have loved an Atmos option for this concert.

Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mercury Studios' standalone Seal: Purpose 1080 release offers a CD of the performance, but this package simply offers the 4K and 1080 discs featuring the concert.

Seal: Purpose 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Seal is on record as stating he really wanted to reconnect with an audience after years of proving his technical expertise in the studio, and this performance is really a visceral example of how well he achieves that goal. This is an unusually well produced live concert from a purely musical standpoint, and the absence of in your face stagecraft may strike others as it did me as being a definite good thing. It's a shame Mercury is once again offering a 4K UHD disc without HDR, and my advice is to probably stick with their standalone 1080 presentation, which at least gets you a CD. If 4K SDR video is your thing, though, this is probably worth checking out, especially if you're a Seal fan.