Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Color Purple 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Spielberg, by the numbers.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 1, 2023

Warner Bros. usually only seems to time their catalog re-releases with anniversary years divisible by five, but Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple is a rare exception: with a new musical adaptation of Alice Walker's celebrated novel on the horizon for a Christmas release, now was as good a time as any to bring this well-known 1985 melodrama to UHD. Much like some of the studio's most recent 4K releases, this one arrives with a well-appointed 2160p/HDR transfer and no Blu-ray copy, but at least has the decency to port over almost all of that older edition's legacy bonus features.

For a synopsis and appreciation of The Color Purple, please see Kenneth Brown's review of the 2011 Blu-ray Digibook, which was reissued a year later as a standard keepcase edition with identical disc contents. I'm in total agreement with Ken's assessment that The Color Purple is necessary, well-crafted, and emotionally effective, even if it can't help but suffer from some of the sentimentality that typically crept into Steven Spielberg's work during that era.

The Color Purple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: The screenshots in this review are sourced from the 2011 Blu-ray, which is not included.

Warner Bros.' new 2160p/HDR10 transfer, which is not advertised as being sourced from a new scan, is a clear upgrade from the admittedly already impressive image seen on their 2011 Blu-ray Digibook. Aside from an obvious boost in fine detail and textures afforded by this bump to its native 4K, the key improvements arrive in midrange contrast levels and color representation. Unlike the wide majority of UHD transfers, The Color Purple looks surprisingly a bit brighter than the much older Blu-ray, revealing warm and subtle details in various backgrounds -- mostly indoor and under minimal lighting -- whereas the older 1080p transfer veered towards slightly less forgiving darker tones and near-solid blacks. This adds a tangible amount of depth to specific scenes, and what's more is that these refined contrast and brightness levels arrive without sacrificing fine detail or succumbing to crush or blooming. It's also aided by excellent encoding, as this triple-layer disc has more than enough real estate to ensure that this 154-minute, 1.85:1 production (another improvement over the Blu-ray, which was open-matte 1.78:1) plays smoothly from start to finish.

Colors are similarly a bit more robust, but still appear natural and they're certainly not overhauled with excessive color timing changes; a handful of scenes do seem a touch warmer than the older Blu-ray, as mentioned earlier, and some of the formerly saturated blues -- such as the chilly landscape outside the cabin where Celie gives birth to Olivia early on in the film -- are dialed back to more muted, neutral tones. But again, more often than not, the much greater variance of colors afforded by High Dynamic Range gives the majority of scenes a noticeably fuller, thicker, and more film-like appearance thanks to this supple saturation and, yes, greater levels of fine detail and textures. Truth be told, The Color Purple's routinely hazy cinematography and natural palette don't make it "pop" like most modern 4K productions, but that's a good thing in this case. If you have a purist's mentality, I can't imagine being disappointed.

The Color Purple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

On paper, this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix ought to be identical to the 2011 Blu-ray Digibook's lossless surround mix in the same format. But in key areas it sounds a bit more robust at comparative volume levels, wringing out a bit more sonic weight in all areas from dialogue and background effects to the Oscar-nominated original score by Quincy Jones, which also features more than a few original songs with guest musicians and vocalists. I can't image a Dolby Atmos track or other object-based surround remix would've added all that much to the proceedings, which means this is just about as close to a perfect presentation as it gets. I'd have loved to have the original 2.0 mix as it played in theaters, but it's hard to complain as what we get here is effective, accessible, and feels authentic to the source.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the film and all extras listed below.

The Color Purple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with new cover art (not terrible, but once again the original poster would've been ideal), a matching matte-finish slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. The extras from Warner Bros.' 2011 Blu-ray have all been ported over, save for a pair of photo galleries, and are listed below in name only.

• Conversations with Ancestors: The Color Purple From Book to Screen (26:40)

• A Collaboration of Spirits: Casting and Acting The Color Purple (28:39)

• Cultivating a Classic: The Making of The Color Purple (23:35)

• The Color Purple: The Musical (7:36)

• Trailers - Two teasers and the film's orginal trailer.

The Color Purple 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As fellow reviewer Kenneth Brown said in his review of the 2011 Blu-ray Digibook, Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple "isn't a perfect film, but an important one". I agree wholeheartedly but can appreciate this 1985 film even more thanks to the sensory support of Warner Bros.' new 4K UHD edition: its 2160p/HDR10 transfer further magnifies the palpable sense of atmosphere, which gives it an enduring amount of power. Add in a solid lossless audio mix and all of the Blu-ray's best legacy bonus features and you've got a well-rounded disc worth buying. Firmly Recommended.