7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The last of the Gelfings, Jen and Kira join forces and embark on a dangerous journey to "heal" a precious Dark Crystal and restore order to their planet.
Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Kathryn Mullen, Dave Goelz, Steve WhitmireFantasy | 100% |
Adventure | 85% |
Family | 78% |
Animation | 49% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Bonus View (PiP)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Sony has re-released the fan-favorite Jim Henson/Frank Oz film The Dark Crystal to Blu-ray. This new release comes housed in attractive DigiBook packaging and features new 1080p video and DTS 5.1 soundtrack presentations as well as a few new extras. A companion UHD has been released alongside, which offers superior video and audio.
The Dark Crystal looked good in 2009 and the UHD blows everything away in 2018, leaving this newly released and remastered 1080p Blu-ray somewhere in the middle. It's a fine image to be sure, but coming off a watch of that UHD, which is heads and shoulders better -- and it's not even close -- this Blu-ray comes across as fairly drab in comparison. It lacks the exacting sharpness the UHD offers. Colors are absent the vastly superior depth and punch the HDR provides. Black levels appear a bit pale in comparison. Grain is far less pronounced on this version. Generally speaking, analyzing this release in a vacuum, it offers good colors, even if the black depth appears too pale at times, and good essential detailing on the ornate and intricate costumes, the wrinkly and worn Skeksis skin, and various environments that all find pleasing clarity and filmic richness. Optical effects, as they do on the UHD, stand out like the proverbial sore thumb. All that said, this Blu-ray delivers a fairly substantial upgrade in clarity and sharpness compared to its 2009 predecessor. It's much more organically filmic. Details are much firmer and colors are significantly more robust as well as more deeply, intensely, and accurately saturated as well a what appears to be altered color timing. but it simply cannot match the output the UHD has to offer.
The 2009 Blu-ray featured a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack and the newly released UHD has a Dolby Atmos soundtrack on offer. This Blu-ray has neither. It instead contains the now standard-for-Sony-Blu-ray DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's a good track, nicely detailed and doing well to carry the film's sound needs but, again coming off a UHD watch (and a listen of that awesome Atmos track), this one is just lacking in comparison. It's not as triumphantly large, not as precisely powerful and stage-enveloping, with noticeably less pronounced low end support during the Garthim attack at Aughra's place. That said, essentials are handled well. Musical clarity is fine, as is spacing. Bass adds a sufficiently powerful heft to the proceedings. Ambient effects are pleasantly enveloping, and dialogue is clear and precise. It's a modest upgrade in terms of basic clarity, positioning, and stage immersion compared to the aging Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, but it's again a fraction of the track that is the vastly superior Atmos presentation.
This new Blu-ray release of The Dark Crystal does come with a few new supplements but it also removes several. For reviews of previously
released supplements, simply listed below, please click here. New content is reviewed, and removed special features
are named in a separate list below. The DigiBook packaging is handsome, featuring a sturdy outer shell and many pages of glossy goodness inside.
Beyond the usual allotment of color images and black-and-white still photos from the set are a hand-drawn world map, a Lisa Henson introduction, an
essay entitled "The Dream World of Jim
Henson," a piece titled "The Story of The Dark Crystal that offers a year-to-year breakdown from 1977 to film's release, a closer look at
creatures, and more, including sketch work, promotional images, and quote boxes. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase.
This release of The Dark Crystal pales, technically, compared to the UHD disc, which offers substantially improved video and Atmos audio. It's a bit better than the aging 2009 release, and it does come bundled in attractive DigiBook packaging. For that, and given the relatively low price, it's a worthwhile add to the collection. Still, the UHD -- which includes this disc -- is the better buy, even for fans who have yet to make the jump to the 4K format. Better to plan ahead and have what is one of the best-looking discs on the market ready to go for day one.
1982
Anniversary Edition
1982
1982
Limited Edition Collector's Set
1982
1982
Limited Edition Collector's Set
1986
2019
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2016
30th Anniversary Edition | US Version
1984
2009
2016
2010
2005-2008
2010
2015
2009
1982
2010
2018
2014
Ultimate Collector's Edition
2019
2014
2020
2018
2005