Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the big-budget Sci-Fi blockbuster 'Terminator: Genisys' to the UHD format. The 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation offers a satisfying, worthwhile upgrade over the previously released Blu-ray. The Atmos sound is potent and the studio has both ported over core extras while adding a new disc with several more. Read on for more.

Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Terminator: Genisys was digitally photographed, reportedly at resolutions of 2.8K and 3.4K and finished at 2K. The upscaled 4K presentation offers a marked improvement over the Blu-ray. The film is fairly dark in its first half, with bleak backgrounds and low light conditions aplenty, but even so the UHD's benefits are clear to see. Black levels are strong, yielding firm, well defined shadow detail that's dense and deep without crush on this format. The 12-bit Dolby Vision color palette handles battle scenes with dazzling intensity. Red laser prison grids, purple laser blasts, fiery explosions, red-eyed Terminators, and polished metallic endoskeletons (as well as the T-1000's silvery regenerating liquid metal) play with a refinement to color vitality and intensity over the Blu-ray. Likewise, brighter scenes find a greater white balance, much improved saturation and intensity to primaries, and healthier skin tones; hospital scenes midway through, and some more light-forgiving scenes and sequences to follow, offer a good example of the foundational boosts Dolby Vision provides. The Dolby Vision colors likewise handle more reserved background shades, in any of the film's timelines, with careful attention to detail and plenty of depth, allowing for a highlighting of foreground elements without ruining the composition and the focal point.

Textural increases are appreciable, too. The image is razor-sharp even under the constraints of its largely low-light first half and certainly in its more forgiving second half. Take look at John Connor in almost any scene in which he appears in close-up, one of the first opportunities coming at the 13:50 mark. The clarity of the skin, the depth of the scars, and the balance of the color defining his skin tone is superb, with all three elements playing a very positive role in shaping an image that's a firm foot forward form a Blu-ray that is comparatively murky and less dynamic, all without sacrificing the counterbalance of the dull gray background and the scene's grim (yet still hopeful) dramatic intensity. Such holds true for the duration. Detail is very firm and sure, particularly skin tones, wounds, and clothes, but dense city environments and sleek lines in various second-half locations as well as the war-torn, run-down set pieces in the open all enjoy a noticeable, and very welcome, boost forward in clarity and sharpness. The movie may not be a native 4K presentation, but it sure feels made for the 4K format. It's a winner.

Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Terminator: Genisys' UHD release contains a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which seems to be identical to that released on the Blu-ray back in 2015. The track is substantial. That Blu-ray review pertained only to the core 7.1 track, so here are a few additional insights as they relate to the film's use of the overhead channels. The film opens with some distinctly overhead use of missiles flying about and strongly defined low end concussive blasts that push through the stage with frightening depth and sound movement, also with plenty of top end engagement. The future battle sequence to follow follows suit playing with very enjoyable top end movement, hefty bass, and total stage saturation as blasts, explosions, crashes, anything and everything Terminator chaos roars with effortless and highly entertaining intensity. The teleportation sounds likewise extend their electric tentacles throughout the listening area with, again, a positive overhead presence. Essentially, for every opportunity for the track to extend above the listener, it does so, and it does so without overselling the effect. For as exciting and chaotic as this track may be, there's a beautiful sonic balance to it, an effortlessness of positioning, clarity, and immersion that ranks it very high on the current "best of" Atmos lists. Additional thoughts on more core, but still very expressive, sound elements can be found here.

Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Terminator: Genisys' UHD disc contains no extras, but the pair of bundled Blu-ray discs bring over both all of the original Blu-ray's content as well as a second disc with in-depth extras not included on the core release from 2015. A UV/iTunes digital copy code is included with purchase.

Blu-ray Disc One (Please click here for reviews):

• Family Dynamics
• Infiltration and Termination
• Upgrades: VFX of Terminator: Genisys

• Reset the Future: Constructing Terminator Genisys (1080p): An eight-part feature.
• Paradigm Shift (15:24): An interview-heavy piece that looks at making the new film relevant in the context of modern technology, Arnold's role in the film and series, crafting the story, Alan Taylor's direction, the film's look across its various timelines, and more.
• Family Dynamics (15:51): A closer look at casting and characters.
• Old. Not Obsolete. (15:38): An exploration of the new technology used in building the iconic endoskeleton with a closer look at the painstaking process of crafting additional physical components, including an artificial Arnold.
• Tactical Apparel (11:43): As thew title suggests, this piece explores the costumes worn by key characters.
• A Once and Future War (16:00): This piece explores some of the film's critical action scene components: special effects, stunts, and weapons.
• Infiltration and Termination (25:29): An in-depth piece that explores shooting in New Orleans and San Francisco.
• Manipulating Matter (30:00): A more intensive look at special effects and the lengthy and complex post-production process.
• Exiles in Time (10:16): James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and more discuss the film's finest qualities.
• Battle on the Bridge: Multi-Angle Scene Breakdown (1080p, 10:05 total runtime): A supplement which explores the film's iconic Golden Gate Bridge sequence. It offers three viewing options: Angle 1 - Previsiualization (storyboards), Angle 2 - On the Set (making-of), and Angle 3 - Final Film Composite (the final scene juxtaposed with storyboards).

Terminator: Genisys 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Terminator: Genisys plays as a serviceable big-budget spectacle with plenty of strictly recreated nods to previous entires in the franchise, but it's also lacking that spark that made the original two, and to a lesser extent the third and fourth films, superior. Nevertheless, there are some highlights and the film plays well as more of an homage to the series than it does a necessary entry into it. Paramount's UHD is excellent. The 2160p/Dolby Vision transfer is a highlight, the Atmos sound is exceptional, and the studio has included several new extras that were not included on the core Blu-ray release from 2015. Recommended.