5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.9 |
After a disease kills 98% of America's children, the surviving 2% develop superpowers and are placed in internment camps. A 16-year-old girl escapes her camp and joins a group of other teens on the run from the government.
Starring: Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Wallace LanghamSci-Fi | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Haven’t we seen this story before — several times, in fact? A mysterious substrain of kids with superpowers suddenly appears, and the world splits into various factions, with shadowy governmental conspiracies threatening the existence of a small band of revolutionaries — sound just a little familiar, maybe? The only challenging thing about The Darkest Minds for some viewers may therefore be deciding which previous so-called “YA” cinematic adaptation has been stolen from the most. There are elements of everything from The Divergent Series: 3-Film Collection to the Maze Runner Trilogy to The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection to the X-Men: Collection, the last of which is not an official “YA” franchise, but which has obviously informed a lot of The Darkest Minds’ already derivative plot mechanics.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.
The Darkest Minds is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. This is another
digitally shot feature (one which I'm assuming was finished at a 2K DI) which shows noticeable if sometimes slight improvements in all sorts of fine
detail. That begins from the first sequence with the little girl named Grace who has a seizure and dies from the disease in Ruby's elementary school.
In the 4K UHD version, the fine weaving of her purple sweater (as well as the purple tones themselves) are more finely rendered in this version.
Other fabrics like Ruby's red sweater or even some of the dowdier textures inside the kids' van are tighter looking now, and even some of the
darkest scenes offer commendable fine detail on things like facial features and/or pores. Once again, though, some of the most noticeable differences
are tweaks to the palette and greater detail offered courtesy of HDR. This aspect became especially prevalent throughout the many shots where the
camera tends to be pointed toward light sources, where in this version at least some incremental improvement is made in being able to see detail
through the kind of effulgent glows that accrue around characters due to this technique. Grading approaches actually can look a tad cooler in this
presentation, at least at times, including the appropriately slate coloring to the first scene featuring President Gray. But there are some warmer tinges
as well, with some interesting orange highlights in scenes like the hotel sequence or, later, the nighttime dance party at the mutant camp.
Another kind of camp, namely the (more or less) concentration camp Ruby is sent to early in the film, offer much more distinctive green tones
than in the 1080p Blu-ray version. There are some notable new pink highlights in a central scene between Ruby and the President's son late in the film
at the refugee camp. The increased resolution doesn't exactly do wonders for sometimes clunky looking CGI, but on the whole this is an
impressive if subtle upgrade to the 1080p Blu-ray viewing experience.
The Darkest Minds' 4K UHD iteration takes the already excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track available on the 1080p Blu-ray and (literally at times) elevates things with a nicely rendered Atmos track. Right off the bat, with the opening sound montage that includes a swell of strings and the voices of kids enjoying their lunch break at school, there is clear placement of wafting effects, and that continues, at least in dribs and drabs, throughout the rest of the film, probably most noticeably in the big action sequences like the insane car chase or later during the dance party at the refugee camp. As with the "standard" DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track on the 1080p Blu-ray, there is nice discrete channelization of effects, including a lot of ambient environmental effects in the many outdoor scenes, though in the Atmos rendering, some details, like fluttering breezes, seem to pass more overhead. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly on this enjoyable if kind of rote sounding track.
The 4K UHD disc ports over the Audio Commentary that's also on the 1080p Blu-ray disc. The 1080p Blu-ray disc included in this package features all of the supplements detailed in our The Darkest Minds Blu-ray review.
Even the best YA film adaptations have hit a snag or two as they've moved on to subsequent entries. Maybe the good news here is that it looks unlikely that The Darkest Minds will have any follow ups, but, who knows? — maybe Ruby is working her mind control on Fox executives even as we speak (or I write and you read), so there may well be a sequel down the line. That said, this is hugely derivative on virtually every level. That said, if you are a fan of this film, Fox has provided a 4K UHD release that offers noticeable if typically slight at times upgrades in both the video and audio presentations.
2009
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Theatrical & Unrated Cuts
1972
2019
2019
2016
2007
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2003
2014
2018
The Divergent Series
2016
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Unrated Edition
2012
3 Disc Edition
2012
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2017