6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
A race of orcs invades the planet Azeroth. There, they encounter few humans and dissenting Orcs, who fight back against the invaders.
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby KebbellAction | 100% |
Adventure | 91% |
Fantasy | 64% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.43:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Blizzard's video game World of Warcraft was, in 2015, amongst the inaugural entrants into the Video Game Hall of Fame, entering alongside other esteemed classics such as Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Pac-Man, and Pong. That puts it in seriously elite company. And with its sprawling story of humans (and other species) battling giant Orcs, it was only a matter of time before a related cinematic venture hit theaters. Seemingly long in development and anticipated for years prior to its release, Warcraft, directed by Moon's Duncan Jones, does justice to the material and stands as a special effects extravaganza, but the film doesn't quite find the same success as its video game namesake. Though not destined for any cinematic hall of fame, the film adaptation at least stands tall enough as a serviceably entertaining Fantasy/Adventure film that's more a product of its name and less any kind of interesting story it has to tell, forced to cram several games and many novels worth of development into a two-hour movie.
Warcraft's live action elements were digitally photographed, and the movie makes use of heavy CGI throughout. The results are largely spectacular. In an unusual flip, the digital elements oftentimes look better than the real thing. Orcs are the unequivocal highlight of the movie and the Blu-ray transfer. The format is more than capable of picking up all sorts of the most intimately animated textural details on the characters. The green skin is particularly robust, revealing seemingly all but the most microscopic details. Complexity comes easy, even through all of the support details on the characters, like fine hairs, boney adornments, rings, protruding teeth, and braided hair. The film, and the Blu-ray, are nothing short of showcases for digital artistry and the upper limits of what artists can construct and viewers can see in 2016. Human characters are a little smoother, with skin textures not quite as revealing, capturing only broader stubble and scars. Still, armor never wants for more depth and detail, and environments -- natural green terrain, warm wooden interior accents -- are always sharp and finely defined. Colors are lively, particularly greenery but also Stormwind blues, red blood, and orc green. The palette presents with excellent saturation and fine attention to subtle shade variation. Black levels are impressively deep, holding true and never crushing out details. Trace amounts of noise and aliasing are evident, though neither prove bothersome. This is an excellent presentation from Universal.
Warcraft's Dolby Atmos soundtrack doesn't deliver an onslaught of overhead sounds, but it does deliver a good all-around listen that uses the top layer to compliment the more grounded and immersive action. As it is, the track presents and maintains a level of listening excellence that's effortlessly immersive as all sorts of combat and supportive sound effects saturate the listening area. Battle scenes are everything listeners would expect of a finely tuned modern track. Screams, sword clanks, crashes, and all variety of mayhem jumble together with excellent definition, delivery, and sense of space around the stage. Battles are quite the clatter, supported by potent bass and plenty of natural surround use, including that complimentary overhead layer. Bass thunders in other places, too, maintaining breathtaking depth and detail even at the very bottom end of the scale. Supportive details encircle the stage. Gusty winds and blowing debris, whispery incantations, and discrete movement of lighter and speedier elements keep the ears engaged and the speakers working for the duration. Musical definition is excellent, again presenting with wide space, wrapping surround detail, excellent clarity, and a complimentary low end. Dialogue is clear and center focused and plays with natural prioritization.
Warcraft contains a large allotment of deleted scenes, a lengthy motion comic film, and many interesting featurettes. A DVD copy of the
film and a voucher for a
UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.
Warcraft may lack more readily accessible storytelling chops, but it's a technical marvel and an entertaining venture if one can just go with it. It'll speak more to established fans than newcomers, and the filmmakers have seemingly taken care to get a lot of it right. It doesn't lack superficial identity, but take off the name and redesign some of the pieces and there's nothing all that original here. Take it for what it's worth and enjoy the effects, action, and core story. Universal's Blu-ray release of Warcraft features standout video and audio. Though absent a commentary track (a track featuring a few of the games biggest fans breaking down the movie would have made for an excellent addition), the supplemental department isn't otherwise lacking. Recommended.
2016
2016
with 8 Collectible Character Cards
2016
2016
Bonus Disc with over 30 Minutes of Exclusive Content
2016
Bonus Disc with over 30 Minutes Exclusive Content
2016
2016
2016
2016
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2016
Extended Edition
2014
2013
2014
2012
2014
Theatrical Edition
2002
2003
Theatrical Edition
2001
Director's Cut
2007
2011-2019
2012
2017
2016
2014
2011
2014
2010
Extended Edition
2016