The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Universal has released the classic 1933 James Whale film 'The Invisible Man' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video. Universal ports all extras from the 2013 Blu-ray (included in this set) to the UHD disc. The same is true of the Blu-ray's soundtrack. Note that this release is currently available in a four-film UHD Classic Monsters Collection with 'Dracula,' 'The Wolf Man,' and 'Frankenstein.'

The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Once again, as with Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man, viewers will note that particularly striking opening titles for their transformed white pop over the Blu-ray, which is comparatively creamy and drab. Here, the white letters sparkle with incredible intensity, particularly against the far more stabilized blacks and grayscale. As the film plays, the viewer will note that improved grayscale balance that deepens blacks, enhances whites, and solidifies the midrange. As the title character enters a tavern in the opening minutes the shot of him at the door offers a resounding upgrade over the Blu-ray, a fine example of the entire spectrum's improvements at the 2:53 mark: the black coat is a much deeper black but doesn't devour details, like the buckle at the waist, while the white bandages on the face, as well as the light snow drift on the door frame, offer superior brightness intensity. Still, this is probably the least impressive of the HDR gradings in this Universal Monsters collection. It doesn't have that exemplary pop or perfectly dialed contrast. The grading is very good – just not rating as excellent.

There are some trouble areas with other elements of the transfer. While the image hardly looks scrubbed over and smoothed out, grain sometimes looks inorganic, stuck or frozen in place rather than fully alive and natural. Watch as the frozen grain pushes and pulls with a policeman's head movements standing in a doorway at the 16:25 mark for an example. Yet there are plenty of instances where it's free flowing and true. The unevenness is disappointing, but not debilitating. The print also holds to the occasional speckles and stray vertical line; such anomalies were next to absent on the other films but somewhat regular on this one. Soft shots abound as well but appear to be inherent the source.

Overall, however, the 2160p resolution brings with it a healthy sense of textural increases. The picture is satisfyingly sharp and accurate, with newfound clarity and attention to detail not visible on the Blu-ray. Overall image sharpness is greatly improved across the board; beyond even one-off examples the feel of image superiority and ability to bring out the most from the inherent detail to every shot is striking. Still, it's fun to soak in individual examples, whether the title character's clothes and bandages, various weathered faces, and richly complex location interiors. All offer plenty of textural muscle. The UHD seems to squeeze out nearly everything the source has to offer, and even with the odd bugaboo and even if it grades out as the "least" of the four films in its set, it's still quite the gain over the aging Blu-ray.

The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather than reconfigure the film's soundtrack to the Dolby Atmos or DTS:X configuration, Universal has simply recycled the existing 2.0 lossless mono soundtrack, which holds up just fine for a movie of this age and sound design. For a full audio review, please click here.

The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Invisible Man's UHD disc contains all of the supplements from the 2013 Blu-ray. That disc is also included with purchase. See below for a list of what's included and please click here for full coverage. As it ships within the 4K Classic Monsters Collection, a Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included.

• Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed!
• Production Photographs
• Trailer Gallery
• Feature title
• Audio Commentary: Film Historian Rudy Behlmer.

The Invisible Man 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While imperfect, The Invisible Man's UHD presentation is a solid step forward from the Blu-ray. This 2160p/HDR presentation offers a well-rounded suite of superior grayscale contrast, sharper details, and a more stable image overall. The studio has returned the core soundtrack and retained all of the legacy extras from the 2013 Blu-ray. The Invisible Man's UHD comes highly recommended.