Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

The First Purge 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Prequel Purge.

The Youngbloods once famously sang, Come on, people now. Smile on your brother. Everybody get together. Try to love one another right now! Obviously those words are not taken to heart in the near future when a new American government authorizes a "social experiment" that allows for violent acts to go unchecked and unpunished for one night on Staten Island. The First Purge is, of course, a prequel to the popular film series that began with the premise as the backdrop for a home invasion film and has since become a grotesque celebration of violence, with an attempt at social commentary a foundational building block on which the violence stands. Though the franchise has constructed a modestly interesting backstory, its presentation and exploration here borders on the nonsensical. There's little deep context or debate about legalizing the "experiment" and precious little exploration of the morality behind it. A more interesting film would have been an "inside baseball" story taking viewers behind the scenes into the dark hearts and policies that declare this to be a good idea. As it is, the film is just another Purge film with entirely uninteresting characters, choppy pace, and narrative indecision and indirection its hallmarks.

The First Purge 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.

The First Purge's 2160p/HDR UHD release offers a modest refinement over the generally high quality Blu-ray. Slight increases in clarity and sharpness are readily apparent when conducting an A-B comparison, and the HDR color grading brings more refinement and depth to the image, even if much of the film takes place in nighttime exteriors and low-light interiors. One nice example of the image's ability to better handle blacks and color alike comes during a scene in a server room in chapter 14. The location is shadowy dark and filled with little points of light emanating from the towering servers. The UHD handles both the surrounding darkness and all of those lights notably better than the Blu-ray, with the lights brighter and the blacks deeper and more accurate. On the flip side, take a look at a close-up shot of a doctor in the film's opening minutes. While the UHD reveals a slight increase in facial complexity and more definition on his eyeglasses, the color shift is fairly drastic, with the UHD delivering a much more solidified, less garish image. Skin appears more accurate and less distressed by the severe backlighting, which on the Blu-ray is more blinding while the UHD delivers a gentler, more precisely illuminated background.

More broadly, there's a pleasing level of clarity and sharpness that accentuates some of the film's more interesting textures better than the Blu-ray, like Skeletor's various facial accessories and scars that, along with natural skin textures, give the character a creepy visual vibe, evident even in lower light thanks to the UHD's improved definition and handling of blacks. Noise is handled better on the UHD, critical considering the film was digitally photographed and the film takes place predominantly in lower light conditions. Other encode or source maladies are not problematic. This is a nice little boost over the Blu-ray, a refinement of clarity and color that doesn't see the image drastically altered from the Blu-ray but rather more sturdy and able to handle the film's many challenging scenes with ease.

The First Purge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The First Purge contains the same DTS:X soundtrack as found on the 1080p Blu-ray. For a full audio review, please click here.

The First Purge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The First Purge contains the same supplements on both included discs, the Blu-ray and the UHD. For full supplemental coverage, please click here. For convenience, below is a list of what's included. This release also ships with a Movies Anywhere digital copy code and an embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scene (2160p/SDR, 1:47).
• A Radical Experiment (2160p/SDR, 4:57).
• Bringing the Chaos (2160p/SDR, 1:24).
• The Masks of The First Purge (2160p/SDR, 1:22).

The First Purge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The First Purge might be the weakest film in the series. While the film tangentially explores the more interesting political and social landscape of this future America, it generally focuses on the night of violence and its evolution, following a handful of uninteresting characters as they navigate the evening to their own peril but with personal goals, wants, and needs the driving force behind most of their purge night adventures. Universal's UHD release delivers solid if not somewhat basic upscaled 4K video, a terrific DTS:X soundtrack, and a few extras. For fans only.