The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 11, 2016

Lionsgate is revisiting one of their most successful franchises, bringing out all four Hunger Games films on 4K UHD. Do these upgrades hit the bullseye? Read on.

For my thoughts on the film, please see our original The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray review.

Note: Both I and a number of readers on our Forum have experienced difficulties in getting The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 4K to load, with a variety of error messages being reported (varying by player). I’ve reached out to Lionsgate’s PR firm and have been informed this is a widespread issue that Lionsgate is aware of. As more information and/or working discs are provided, I’ll update this review.

Update 11/25/16: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 4K Blu-ray review is now available.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p HDR enhanced transfer in 2.40:1. Unlike the first two Hunger Games outings, both of which were shot on good old fashioned film, the Mockingjay outings were digitally shot and finished at 4K DIs. There are some striking differences between the overall looks of the films, therefore, and the two Mockingjay entries show arguably much more consistent uptick in detail and fine detail levels over their 1080p counterparts than the first Hunger Games film does (as noted above, I've been unable to see Catching Fire yet). There are some really interesting examples of better delineation of detail levels in seemingly simple things like Katniss' hair where in some dark scenes in can look like a solid mass in the 1080p presentation but which in the 4K UHD version is more clearly delineated. Some textures on things like walls (notably the cell like room Katniss stays in at one point) have a much more defined presence now. As with all of the Hunger Games films, there's some pretty significant color grading going on which can at least minimally affect detail levels, but HDR really provides a new range of tones that especially helps detail levels in both the cool blue graded scenes and the warmer amber colored scenes (some of which are dark anyway due to being underground). There are now new subtle gradations in things like the blush pink roses that adorn Snow's desk in his office.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This release features the same excellent Dolby Atmos track discussed in our original The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray review.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the Hunger Games 4K UHD releases actually feature supplemental material, something that's relatively unusual in these still fairly early days of the format. With the exception of the Insurgent Sneak Peek (which is still extant on the also included 1080p Blu-ray included in this package), all the supplements detailed in our original The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 Blu-ray review have been ported over to the 4K UHD disc.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mockingjay - Part 1 can't completely overcome some almost built in inertia as this first half of the finale basically treads water to get to the good parts. That said, this 4K UHD presentation offers superb video and audio and may help to invest the film with a little more energy than it had previously. Recommended.