Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the 1999 Tim Burton film 'Sleepy Hollow,' starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless audio. No new extras are included, but the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the very antiquated 2006 MPEG-2 release, contains the legacy content.

Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Paramount has released Sleepy Hollow to the UHD format with a positively striking 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation that offers a magnificent and substantial boost over the very old 2006 Blu-ray. I watched a good part of the film on Blu-ray, drawn into it simply to check to ensure that the disc was identical to the old one, and the many areas for improvement were immediately evident: the Blu-ray image required a more stable filmic look, less digital processing, fewer encode artifacts, superior detailing, cleanup work, and firmer colors within Burton's trademark noir-inspired and chilly palette. These represented only the most obvious and immediate areas of concern. The UHD has not only assuaged those concerns, it has absolutely redefined the film for home viewing with one of the finer presentations on the market today and easily the best the film has looked since theaters, if not maybe even better.

Even on the old MPEG-2 Blu-ray, viewers can see the base of a very nice looking film. That look is fully and faithfully realized on the UHD. The picture is handsomely organic, natural, and true to the film source. Burton's world aesthetics blended with Emmanuel Lubezki's striking cinematography make for a handsome image indeed, here presented without any significant filtering, tinkering, noise reduction, or anything of the sort. The picture's grain is light, consistent, and complementary. Textural elegance abounds, offering wonderful, pinpoint detail to faces, wigs, natural elements, and various manmade locales, not to mention the various scientific trinkets and instruments that Crane uses throughout the film. Gore effects are nicely rendered, too, with the headless bodies ripe for internal exploration down into the neck. The level of detail on this disc far outweighs that seen on the Blu-ray, and the gain of the faithful cinematic look breathes necessary, much needed, and very satisfying new life into the experience.

The Dolby Vision grading brings what life it can to Burton's depressed palette. The film is deliberately cold, built on grays and blacks, primarily, with even flesh tones looking almost ghastly pale. There are moments of more flush and full color, but even in warmer locales the image takes on a decidedly cooler look and never offers anything resembling vivid, full, bright colors. But this is exactly as Burton wants the film to look. The Dolby Vision grading brings much more depth, accuracy, and stability to the limited spectrum. Certainly, black levels teeter on crush -- look at Crane's black attire at the courtroom scene around the five-minute mark -- but such appears to play in-line with Burton's vision. Whites are not brilliant, whether clothing, accents, or on-screen titles, but they are much more pronounced and vivid compared to the Blu-ray. There appears to be a desire to tone them down, slightly, and give the titles a slightly airy or ghastly look. The movie's palette is difficult to judge given its visual proclivities, but all signs point to this being a faithful reproduction of Burton's vision. There are no encode flubs or serious source flaws to report. This is a stunner of an image from Paramount.

Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The previous Blu-ray contained a DVD-era Dolby Digital 5.1 lossy soundtrack. While Paramount has not remixed for Dolby Atmos, the newly included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack certainly, and finally, delivers the listen that the film deserves. The presentation is satisfyingly full and nuanced in every area. Score is triumphantly large and well detailed. Precision notes are commonplace (listen to the theme and the exacting presentation thereof over the opening titles) and the spatial immersion is perfect, yielding wonderful front end stretch and the perfect amount of surround uptake. Atmosphere is vital to the experience, and the 5.1 lossless track allows every subtle element to come to life with dynamic positioning and perfect fluidity. Intense action is deep and well positioned, too, with clarity through a myriad of elements. Dialogue is clear and precise with well prioritized and front-center placement.

Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This new UHD release of Sleepy Hollow contains all of the extras on the bundled Blu-ray disc, which is identical to the ancient 2006 release. No extras are on the UHD disc. For full coverage of the Blu-ray disc extras, please click here. This release ships with a digital copy code and a slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Tim Burton
• Sleepy Hollow Behind the Legend
• Reflections on Sleepy Hollow
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Previews

Sleepy Hollow 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sleepy Hollow is an engaging chiller with wonderful atmosphere and that special Burton flourish. It's the perfect movie to revisit this Halloween, and this new UHD release is definitely the way to go. The upgrade here is substantial compared to the old Blu-ray. The 2160p/Dolby Vision is a revelation compared to the watchable, but far inferior, MPEG-2 Blu-ray. The image is filmic and fantastic. The new lossless audio track is wonderful, too. It's a shame that there are no new extras, but what is here on the old Blu-ray is fine. Highly recommended!