The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 12, 2022

The Woman King tells a compelling story of African female warriors defending their homeland and their people from dual encroachments: neighboring powers and the European slave trade. The film, from director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees) and based on a true story, tells a tale of empowerment with both brutality and grace. The film's physicality is matched by its heart, a heart which beats strongly in its desire to well represent history and the people on the screen in a big-budget, major studio passion project that is also a highlight reel for cinematic and storytelling excellence.

In the African kingdom of Dahomey, Ghezo (John Boyega) has taken power. His kingdom is in danger on two fronts: the nearby Oyo Empire has recently allied with the Mahi people to seize and sell Dahomey's people to European slavers who have equipped the Oyo and Mahi with modern weaponry. However, Dahomey is well defended by a band of powerful female warriors known as the Agojie, led by the brave General Nanisca (Viola Davis). These warriors are all that stand in the way of life and death for the Dahomey people.

The Woman King might be thought of as part action and part activism, or perhaps as equal parts energy and empowerment, but beyond any draw to its superficial components lies a picture that is really equal parts intensity and investment: intensity of that action and energy, yes, but also investment in people and characters and history, all of which transcend any superficialities and tell a very human story of place, purpose, friends, and freedom. While the film's well-choregraphed and expertly executed action and well-balanced character building might take center stage, at the heart of this film is a humanity that draws in the audience more than any other aspect of its construction. It's an exciting venture, yes, but the film thrives on characterization and depth of story that surpasses any draw to the externals and does so rather quickly; cast and crew investment into the project is real, and whether on camera or off there is a tangible sense of, and desire for, accuracy, relatability, and draw into this world and these characters.

The cast thrives throughout the film and devours every morsel of dialogue, every movement of action, and every opportunity to speak within the film's confines and beyond its natural ends. Davis is a revelation as the leader of the Agojie. She brings not simply a dominating presence and intimidating stature, but a keen sense of character that extends well beyond the superficial level. Davis certainly understands the part's greater reach and impact, yes, but she intimately develops the character's internals as well, refusing to allow physicality alone to build the character. Davis is fully invested here, and it shows with great impact on the character and the larger story and film experience. Thuso Mbedu delights as a young warrior while the venerable Lashana Lynch falls into role with a seamless sense of place and purpose alike.

The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Sony's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release of The Woman King offers a sizeable improvement over the Blu-ray. The picture takes advantage of both the resolution bump and the color grading upgrade, yielding at times a solid image and at other a breathtakingly spectacular one. While the movie is not the most dynamic on the market in terms of its appearance – it favors a lot of earthy colors – the Dolby Vision grading does offer a more substantially bright and robust color spectrum that amplifies yield across the board, whether those earthy locales or the intense pop of vibrant tones on clothes, which stand apart with far more brilliant intensity than what the Blu-ray can offer. Natural greenery and red blood are two standout colors for the film, both of which present with vibrance and depth not found on the Blu-ray. The image is well saturated, and brightness is increased by a sizeable factor, too, but not to the detriment of darker scenes, which offer improved black level depth and low light detail. Whites pop with superior punch and intensity. Skin tones are deeper and more robust as well. This is a high-end color grading work from Sony and Dolby.

The 2160p resolution yields a crisper, cleaner, and clearer image. Noise is a little less of a factor here, at least in terms of absolute visibility and density. Clarity is wonderful, presenting the picture with sharper textural grace that brings out the best in pores, beads of sweat, bloody wounds, and other skin details with commanding clarity. Locations are beautifully rendered as well, especially dirt terrain, vegetation, and structures. Clothes are complex and satisfying, allowing the viewer to see each thread as clearly as this resolution allows. The gains are immediately obvious when conducting an A-B comparison and even evident simply in watching the UHD a few hours after the Blu-ray. The picture deals with no major encode issues, either. The end result is a UHD that may not jump to the top of the pile in terms of legendary excellence and performance, but it is the clear superior to the Blu-ray and a rock-solid UHD in its own right.

The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack compares favorably, in a general sense, to the Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This track offers a fuller feel for sonic engagement as its primary distinguishing marker, whether during intense combat or considering light but critical atmosphere, including gentle nighttime environmental effects, a crackling fire, and other background elements during a ceremony at the 70-minute mark, for example. Action scenes spring to life with improved immersion and precision clarity as well. The track lacks serious discrete object-based sound effects, offering instead a generally fuller and more robust sense of spatial activity, and that is OK; the chaotic sounds of battle certainly spill into the stage here with all the fullness and richness one could want. Music remains well spaced and clear, and dialogue is healthy and center positioned for the duration. This is a fine track that perfectly suits the material.

The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of The Woman King includes a healthy assortment of extras, including several featurettes and an audio commentary track, all on the UHD disc itself. A Blu-ray copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This product ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• A Caterpillar's Destruction: Viola Davis On Set (1080p, 9:48): Exploring Davis' draw to the film and material, how it spoke to her at her very depth, the character she plays, her physical training and stunt work, female empowerment, plot threads, and more. Meanwhile, cast and crew talk up the joy of working with Viola Davis.
• Woman/Warrior (1080p, 11:40): This supplement explores casting, characters, story details, character builds, cast physical training, an more.
• Storytellers (1080p, 10:19): In praise of Director Gina Prince-Bythewood's work on the film, relationship with her cast, connection to the material, and passion for the project.
• Audio Commentary: Director Gina Prince-Bythewood and Editor Terilyn A. Shropshire discuss the film.
• Representation Matters (1080p, 9:59): The opportunity to explore African history through the film, the connection to the modern day, connecting with the characters, the real history behind the Agojie warriors, the warriors' training regimen and combat tactics, the film's historical accuracy, casting darker-skinned actors, and more.
• Thuso Mbedu - Auditions (1080p, 6:34): The young actress auditions for the role she would ultimately earn.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.

The Woman King 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Woman King doesn't reach the level of cinema royalty, but it's certainly a very capable, well crafted, and purposeful picture that builds a story of empowerment, yes, but also one of essential humanity as well. It's very well crafted from the top down, with Davis the standout in the lead role. Sony's UHD delivers impressive video and audio presentations and includes a satisfying allotment of bonus content. Highly recommended.