5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
After draining his life savings to enter a team in the Rucker Classic street ball tournament in Harlem, Dax (Lil Rel Howery) is dealt a series of unfortunate setbacks, including losing his team to his longtime rival (Nick Kroll). Desperate to win the tournament and the cash prize, Dax stumbles upon the man, the myth, the legend UNCLE DREW (NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving) and convinces him to return to the court one more time. The two men embark on a road trip to round up Drew's old basketball squad (Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, and Lisa Leslie) and prove that a group of septuagenarians can still win the big one.
Starring: Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Lisa LeslieComedy | 100% |
Sport | 33% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Barbershop offered a sweet if kinda sorta dysfunctional look at a mainstay of some African American neighborhoods, and in the Barbershop Blu-ray review I mentioned how hard it was for me personally to think of another commercial establishment that provided the same sort of community feeling for other ethnicities that barbershops seemed to for black males. While it’s obviously not a commercial establishment, and the “community” is often rife with a boisterous competitive spirit, “street basketball” is shown in Uncle Drew to have many of the same community aspects that going to the nearest tonsorial parlor is shown to in the earlier film. Uncle Drew follows in the wake of many a sports underdog movie, and in that regard, it is completely predictable, down to a feel good ending that suggests if only you try hard enough, you’re bound to succeed. What sets Uncle Drew at least partially apart from some of its sport movie siblings is its emphasis on the so-called Rucker Classic, a tournament held in the upper reaches of Manhattan in Rucker Park, as well as the fact that the players on the underdog team are all putatively senior citizens (courtesy of at times pretty haphazard looking makeup). Featuring a bevy of basketball superstars like Kyrie Irving, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller and Nate Robinson, Uncle Drew benefits from playfulness both on and off the court, but it can’t quite overcome a rote feeling of “been there, seen that”, despite a surplus of heart and occasional raucous humor.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080p Blu-ray.
Uncle Drew is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. As mentioned in our Uncle Drew Blu-ray review, Uncle Drew was digitally
captured by Red Cameras (at source resolutions of up to 8K, according to the IMDb) and then finished at a 2K DI (again according to the IMDb). This
is one of the nicer looking 2K uprezes that I've personally reviewed, even though there's not a ton of "wow" visuals in the film itself. Detail levels are
noticeably improved, if subtly at times, with the opening "graininess" of the flashback material more pronounced in this version, but with later elements
like the textures on fabrics of several costumes, or even the velour or velvet seats of Drew's van looking more palpable in this version. The issues I
had with the makeup for the "elders" is unfortunately even more noticeable in this version, and I found it positively distracting at times (what are the
weird "lumps" they added to several of the guys' faces?). The palette is really richly suffused throughout the presentation, even if, as I mentioned in
the review of the 1080p Blu-ray, this is really not that much of a candy colored affair. But the nice interplay of oranges and yellows in Drew's van
offers new highlights, and some of the other oranges, as in the basketball outfits, look just a bit more yellow in this version, perhaps courtesy of Dolby
Vision's dynamic range tweakings. Fine detail is excellent across the board, and even some of the nighttime and/or dimly lit scenes show at least
minimal improvement in shadow detail.
This release sports the same energetic Dolby Atmos track described in our Uncle Drew Blu-ray review.
Lionsgate has commendably ported over all of the supplements detailed in our Uncle Drew Blu-ray review to this 4K UHD disc.
Uncle Drew takes the "underdog team" trope and puts it through the AARP mill for some appealing vignettes, but the film is probably too rote and predictable for its own good. Some folks may be as distracted as I was by some of the less than believable "old age" makeup as well. That said, the film has a surplus of heart and quite a bit of the humor lands relatively well. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase, though I'm not sure that Uncle Drew's visuals really scream a need for a 4K UHD treatment.
with Headband
2018
2018
2018
2018
with Bobblehead
2018
Let's Get Sweaty Edition
2008
2010
2009
1998
Unrated
2004
1996
35th Anniversary Edition
1989
Mastered in 4K
2013
2000
2017
2011
2019
2005
2007
2017
2013
1994
Outrageous Edition
2013
2016
2015