The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Whether March is coming in like a lion (Lionsgate?) or a lamb may depend in part on how you're responding to the newest format available for home theater aficionados, 4K UHD Blu-rays. This rollout has been a bit more haphazard than even jaded HT enthusiasts may have been expecting, but a number of high profile films are seeing the light of day in new "ultra high definition".

Those either just having adopted or thinking about transitioning to UHD will also want to read Martin Liebman's fun and informative article here.

The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: The Video score above refers to the original Blu-ray release. The 4K score is for the video quality of the UHD version.

The Last Witch Hunter is presented on 4K UHD Blu-ray with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.40:1. According to the IMDb, this was captured at 3.4K from which a 4K DI was prepared, one which I'm assuming was utilized for this release. As with Sicario 4K, a 4K source seems to have provided some significant evidence of uptick in detail levels, as well as improved gradients and contrast which are probably attributable at least in part to HDR.

Right off the bat with the pre-credits "historical" scene there's markedly improved shadow definition once the warriors go into the cave and confront the "beast". Gradients throughout the darker tones are more subtly blended and offer better details in textures on both the cave walls as well as some of the more blatant CGI elements like the destruction of The Witch Queen. Later, in the first "contemporary" sequence, the purplish hue that bathes the scene in the plane doesn't deplete detail levels and there are again some rather pleasing gradations in even the darker tones which are so prevalent throughout the early part of the film.

Once the film gets into more brightly lit sequences, including some outdoor elements, detail pops with excellent sharpness and clarity. Elements like facial pores are offered with pinpoint accuracy, while fabrics and props have sometimes minute levels of detail. Interestingly, despite the prevalence of CGI throughout this film, there's less of the "cartoonish" look that both I and my colleague Michael Reuben have mentioned in previous 4K UHD reviews.

In the first dreamwalking sequence, there's a brief burst of white light (probably less than a second) where it appeared there was some minor banding, and occasionally whites are pushed just to the edge of blooming, especially in a couple of outdoor scenes where the camera is pointed either toward the sky or light sources. Conversely, there are still moments where blacks tend to blend even with the improved management of gradients, and (to cite one example) a scene with Kaulder wearing a black jacket in a dark interior space provides little improvement in delineation between clothing and background even in this new presentation.

On a somewhat different subject, though, this disc provided my first experience in what I have perhaps whimsically termed the FUBAR Club that my colleagues Marty Liebman and Michael Reuben have documented in Marty's article on setting up gear and in both of their reviews of this first wave of releases. I had considered myself blessed not to have experienced much beyond occasional HDMI handshake issues. Playing this disc, however, presented immediate and recurrent HDMI handshake issues, which finally abated and allowed me to start the film. At that point, though, suddenly there was a loud pop and my display powered off, only to reboot to its television home page. When I reselected the HDMI input, I was surprised to get a reading that it was set to 1080p resolution. The film was still playing and looked like 2160p to me, so I reselected a display option for the HDMI port and it was now showing as 2160. This is probably not indicative of a complete meltdown, but it certainly reinforces the impression that early adopters of this format are getting that not all the kinks have been worked out (to put it mildly).

The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Last Witch Hunter offers a really fun listening experience courtesy of its DTS:X audio. I'm running a 7.1.2 setup (i.e., a traditional 7.1 setup with two additional "height" speakers) and the improvement in immersion from my Blu-ray experience was substantial (I didn't yet have a receiver able to decode the newer audio codecs at the time of the Blu-ray release, and therefore reviewed the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 core track). There is quite a bit of "overhead" sonic information scattered throughout the film, especially in the cave sequences that recur at several points. The first cave sequence offers some nice surround activity with spooky creaking sounds emanating from the side channels and then when there's a sudden explosion (announcing the arrival of The Witch Queen), a very effective overhead pan occurs. The film tends to settle down for a while, but there is still regular immersion courtesy of things like storms or urban sounds. Several SFX sequences offer great opportunities for nice movement (including overhead information), as in a swarm of butterflies that is a "magical" component of one scene. The big showdown scene goes for broke, sonically speaking, offering a glut of LFE and consistent use of all channels to envelop the listener in a maelstrom of otherworldly sounds.

The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements included on the 4K UHD disc. The 1080p Blu-ray included in this package includes the supplements I detailed in our original The Last Witch Hunter Blu-ray review.

The Last Witch Hunter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I actually enjoyed The Last Witch Hunter quite a bit more on this new viewing, which is at least in part attributable to the improved video and audio. While there are still some minor quibbles with video, the 4K source and this presentation offer significant improvement in detail levels and especially in some of the gradients, specifically those on the darker side of the spectrum.