Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has re-released the second season of 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan,' this time to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/HDR video. The audio has also been 'downgraded' to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless encode; the previous Blu-ray featured a Dolby Atmos audio presentation. No new supplements are included; all that's here are a few deleted scenes spread over the two UHD discs. Note that this is a UHD only release; neither the 2020 Blu-ray discs nor a digital copy voucher are included. This is exactly the same setup Paramount deployed for the firat season UHD re-release.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Paramount brings Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two to the UHD format with a 2160p/HDR presentation which is of a very high quality. Like the season one release, season two offers appreciable upgrades to overall image quality, notably and perhaps most strikingly the vast gains to clarity and efficiency. The picture's natural sharpness far exceeds the Blu-ray, offering a stable of healthy, complex textures to faces, clothes, and environments with intricate definition to broad and fine elements alike that render the Blu-ray very soft and flat by comparison. The UHD offers added depth over the Blu-ray, giving a sense of greater planal dimension and screen efficiency thanks to the raw complexity and textural muscle at work. Sharpness never wavers or wanes; the exceedingly strong clarity extends throughout every frame of every episode. Compression issues are few and far between, noise is kept to a bare minimum, and there are only occasional and subtle, but not egregious, encode anomalies of note.

The HDR grading offers gains to depth and tonal efficiency. The palette is notably brighter, colors are plainly deeper, and overall balance and brilliance enjoy high yield gain. Black level depth is excellent here, surpassing the Blu-ray for low light detail and overall black level efficiency and realism. Whites are crisp, notably both in-frame and on overlaid text. Skin tones delight for natural health and vitality. Primaries pop with excellent punch and vividness, exceeding the Blu-ray by a rather significant margin for tonal yield and overall palette excellence. There's not a color here that appears depressed that should not, but at the same time the image finds just the right balance. Nothing is overcooked or out of place. This is a fine HDR grading that does the image proud.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Well, this is rather interesting, and this is certain to ruffle some feathers on the forum (but that's why the forum exists, right?). Rather than bring over the wonderful Dolby Atmos soundtrack from the season one Blu-ray, Paramount releases Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One to the UHD format with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's a curious decision, and one might venture a guess as to why (disc space limitations?), but the good news is that the 5.1 track is certainly not a dramatic reduction in terms of overall audio yield. Certainly, the track misses those object channels and the surround-back speakers, which do offer a much fuller sense of scale and immersion, but the good news is that the 5.1 listen is active and energized, pushing itself to the upper end limit of what 5.1 audio can offer. The track's superiority in subtle effects is evident in an early episode one moment as Greer walks along the way near the water. Chatty pedestrians, footfalls, passing traffic, light water waves, and other local flavor atmospherics deliver a healthy and engaging sense of place that effortlessly draws the listener into the environment. The same holds for a restaurant/bar at the 34-minute mark for another example of the very pleasing and realistic audio immersion capable here. Music is likewise a satisfying venture in the 5.1 configuration. Delivery is smooth, clarity is excellent, and spacing is organic with dominant front ends and enough subwoofer and surround support to bring balance to the elements. Action thrives for low end depth, surround immersion, and balance between aggressiveness and clarity. Like the lesser atmospherics, the action will draw the listener into every chaotic moment throughout the season. Dialogue is clear and balanced and well prioritized as it settles into its natural front-center position.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jack Ryan: Season Two's UHD discs contain the same deleted scenes found on the previously released Blu-ray. No Blu-ray or digital copies are included. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): From "Cargo:" Take the Stairs (0:33). From "Dressed to Kill:" Jungle Struggles (1:16) and Eyes in the Sky (0:39).

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): From "Persona Non Grata:" Blood Trail (0:22). From "Dios y Federacion:" House Arrest (1:20), Carlos Is Missing (2:55), and Assassinating Reyes (2:46). For "Strongman: Empty Cell (0:43), Another Mission (2:23), "Sorry Jack, I Have to Go" (1:39), and Greer Makes Jack an Offer (1:53).

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jack Ryan: Season Two delivers perfectly acceptable entertainment, highlighted by high end production values and rock-solid performances, but it is narratively wanting and fails to push the envelope or push the characters, qualities that made the first season so special. Paramount's two-disc season two UHD release includes scant extras -- a handful of deleted scenes -- but does deliver dynamic video and audio presentations. Do be aware that the audio is a downgrade from the Atmos track found on the Blu-ray, but the 5.1 lossless track here is plenty wonderful as it is. Recommended.