Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Stand by Me 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Sony has released Director Rob Reiner's 1986 classic 'Stand By Me' to the UHD format. The new UHD disc includes 2160p/HDR video, Dolby Atmos audio, and a new collection of deleted and alternate scenes presented in 1080p. The bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to that which Sony released in 2011, carries over all of the legacy BD supplemental content.

Stand by Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Stand by Me shines on UHD courtesy of Sony's brilliant 2160p/HDR presentation. The HDR color enhancement reinvigorates the movie. White luminance is striking right out of the gate. "Columbia Pictures Presents" and the film's title blast good, clean intensity against a richly dark background. The Blu-ray looks comparatively milky and flat, both these white titles and the entirety of the picture to follow. Gone here is that creamy look, replaced by a more stabilized, crisper, brighter, more intense palette that brings out extreme blues from skies and greens from nature. Period clothes and rewarding 1950s locales, whether the Lachance home or a local convenience store, are amongst the newly improved color highlights, but it's really the natural world that is the HDR's greatest fine-tuning accomplishment. Skin tone depth is greatly improved, as are black levels. There's a vibrance to the picture that renews it without altering it. Colors are more intense, more deep and true, reinforcing the movie's color structure rather than redefining it.

The 2160p resolution brings a new dimension to the movie's sharpness and textural presentation as well. Clarity of rocks along the tracks, period attire, grasses and weeds, rusty old odds and ends around the junkyard, everything finds a more agreeable, organic feel for tactical definition. Facial textures enjoy more agreeable clarity and visibility of various prosthetics, like Teddy's burned ear or a scar around the eye belonging to one of Ace's friends. There's a depth to the picture that's missing on the Blu-ray (particularly evident in long, expansive shots along the boys' journey), a natural, filmic sharpness that is accentuated by the added resolution. Grain is maintained for the duration, admittedly a bit dense and noisy at times but largely healthy and flattering to the production. This is another knockout UHD presentation from Sony.

Stand by Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Stand by Me features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which one might consider to be overkill for a film with few opportunities to sonically shine, but it's actually quite a nice and well-rounded complimentary presentation. The first notes of Jack Nitzsche's score, the theme arranged from the song from which the film derives its title, are wonderfully detailed and gently immersive, folding in rear and overhead usage in a tasteful manner that adds to the airy quality rather than overwhelming it. The track is without many opportunities for major stage expansion or detailed, low end effects. A train rumbles by in chapter four, the one Teddy is eager to dodge. There's not a feel of massive weight but there is good movement through the stage as it approaches, rushes by, and fades off to the right, an effect that is essentially recreated in chapter seven. There is not a mammoth subwoofer engagement here, but there's enough low end push to enhance the drama in both instances. The Atmos configuration helps to better define the various environmental effects -- singing birds, rustling leaves, crackling fires at night, light blowing winds as the boys cross the train track bridge in chapter seven -- that give a critical feel for the wooded environments through which the boys travel. There are few truly distinct overhead components but the added opportunity to expand the stage helps to subtly, gently draw the listener into the surrounding serenity. Dialogue is the sonic driver; it's true to its natural front-center position. Clarity and prioritization delver without flaw or failure.

Sony has also included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and mono English presentations in addition to a myriad of additional dubbed language and subtitle options, both greatly expanded from the previous Blu-ray.

Stand by Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Stand by Me's UHD disc includes several new deleted and alternate scenes. The bundled Blu-ray is identical to that which Sony released in 2011. Below is a listing of the new deleted scenes and the extras from the included Blu-ray. For full Blu-ray supplemental coverage, please click here. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

UHD:

• NEW! Deleted & Alternate Scenes (1080p): Included are End of Scene 6 'Through the Fence' (0:18), Scenes 8-12 'Boys Get Ready to Leave' (2:36), Scene 40 'Am I Weird?' (0:42), Scene 40 'Chris' Final Speech' (0:31), Scene 45 'Train Trestle' (1:25), Scene 49 'Smell Hit the Crowd' (0:11), Scene 94 'Goodbye Looks' (0:26), and Scene 98 'Ending' (0:47).

• 25 Years Later: A Picture-in-Picture Commentary Retrospective
• Audio Commentary
• Walking the Tracks: The Summer of Stand By Me
• Stand By Me Music Video
• Previews

Stand by Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stand By Me stands as one of the giants of the 1980s, a quintessential coming-of-age classic that is also one of the rare examples of a film besting the source story, a particularly noteworthy accomplishment considering it comes from the mind and pen of Stephen King. Sony's new UHD is terrific, delivering stellar 2160p/HDR video and a quality Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The UHD disc adds a few deleted and alternate scenes on top of the carryover extras found on the bundled Blu-ray, which is identical to the 2011 disc. This UHD release of Stand By Me earns my highest recommendation.