8.4 C
New York
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Advertisement

Sully (TheaterByte 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review)

Sully 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc PackshotAs a director of late, Clint Eastwood seems fascinated with what he sees as larger-than-life heroes or infamous figures, such as with his last film about the troubled Navy S.E.A.L. Chris Kyle in American Sniper, or the post-apartheid South African rugby team spurred on to international victory by the recently freed and elected Nelson Mandela in Invictus. In Sully, Eastwood takes on the unlikely hero, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s story, the US Airlines captain who became an overnight hero after he and his co-pilot made a fateful and successful decision to land their passenger jet on the New York’s Hudson River after both of the plane’s engines failed shortly after takeoff due to birds being sucked into the engines.

The brief film (it has a run time of just over 90-minutes) stars Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger and Hanks is, per usual, marvelous in the role. Eastwood is probably at his most laid back and balanced as a director as well. While he can’t help but portray Sully as the unbreakable hero and lifesaver – and, after all, why not? The man did successfully keep 155 people alive, himself included — he does do an excellent job balancing the doubt that Sully has over his decision and the pressure put on him by the sudden fame and the inquires about his decision-making that follow.

Through flashbacks to his military service and the flight in question, we get a better understanding of that horrible day, and the 90-minutes seems epic even though it is brief. Hanks dominates the film, but commendation must go to Aaron Eckhart, Hanks’ co-pilot in every way, for holding his own in this spectacular, heartfelt film.

[envira-album id=”95864″]

The Video

Sully is a pure digital, Ultra High-Definition production that was shot on the Arri Alexa 65 with Hasselblad Prime 65 lenses and the Arri Alexa IMAX Hasselblad Prime 65 lenses and production utilized a 4K digital intermediate. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray is taken from the 4K master and arrives in an HEVC 2160p encodement with HDR (High Dynamic Range) that looks brilliant. The picture is pristine while also looking filmic. Blacks are deep without much crush, although I did see some slight hints of it at times, particularly in the lapels of Sully and Skiles’ uniforms. That was minor, however, and mostly we get a marvelous application of the HDR that looks so lifelike, particularly when Sully is standing in front of the window and imagining what might have happened if he had crashed the airliner – the brightness of the city outside, the flames of the explosion are all balanced with the nuanced, unnatural interior office lighting excellently.

The Audio

Sully is given a strong English Dolby Atmos that suits the film well. It isn’t overly aggressive, but there are an excellent balance of atmospherics and additional overhead sounds during the flashback sequences to the brief yet fateful flight. The dialogue has the slightest hint of clipping during some louder passages.

The Supplements

The on-disc extras amount to almost an hour of behind-the-scenes/behind the story featurettes, with interviews with the cast, crew, and Captain Sully. While they have a promotional, “feel good” feel to them, they are still interesting to sit through.

  • Digital HD Ultra Violet
  • Standard Blu-ray Disc w/ Main Feature and extras
  • Moment by Moment: Averting Disaster on the Hudson (HD; 00:15:44)
  • Sully Sullenberger: The Man Behind the Miracle (HD; 00:19:49)
  • Neck Deep in the Hudson: Shooting Sully (HD; 00:20:17)

The Final Assessment

Tom Hanks has another winning performance under his belt in this Clint Eastwood-directed film about modern-day hero Captain Sully. Though it seems like the subject wouldn’t make a very good film, in Eastwood’s hands and with the well put together cast, it’s a satisfying effort visually and emotionally. The 4K disc also shoots to the top as one of the best looking available now.

Sully (TheaterByte 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review)
4 / 5 TheaterByte Rating
{{ reviewsOverall }} / 5 User Rating (0 votes)
PG-13 (for some peril and brief strong language)Rating Certificate
Flashlight Films | The Kennedy/Marshall Company | Malpaso Productions | RatPac Entertainment | Village Roadshow Pictures | Warner Bros. | Warner Home VideoStudios & Distributors
Clint EastwoodDirector
Todd Komarnicki (screenplay) | Chesley Sullenberger (book) | Jeffrey Zaslow (book)Writer
96 Mins.Run Time
$44.95MSRP
20 Dec. 2016Release Date
2.40:1Aspect Ratio
HEVC (H.265) 2160p (UHD) | AVC 1080p (BD)Video
English Dolby AtmosAudio
English SDH | French | Italian SDH | Portuguese| Spanish (Castilian) | Spanish (Latino) | Czech | Danish | Finnish | Norwegian | Swedish | Korean | ChineseSubtitles
English Descriptive Audio 5.1 | French (Quebecois) DD 5.1 | Italian DD 5.1 | Portuguese DD 5.1 | Spanish (Castilian) DD 5.1 | Spanish (Latino) DD 5.1 | Czech | Polish LektorSecondary Audio
The Creative Content
The Video
The Audio
The Supplements
Summary
An emotional, riveting, and well-balanced movie that feels epic in its brief 93-minute run time.
What people say... Login to rate
Order by:

Be the first to leave a review.

User Avatar User Avatar
Verified
{{{ review.rating_title }}}
{{{review.rating_comment | nl2br}}}

This review has no replies yet.

Avatar
Show more
Show more
{{ pageNumber+1 }}
Advertisement

Related Articles

Join the Discussion on TheaterByte!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay Connected

301FansLike
0FollowersFollow
184FollowersFollow
1,710FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -

Notice of Compliance with FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 255

In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR part 255 guidelines, this website hereby states that it receives free discs and other theatrical or home entertainment "screeners" and access to screening links from studios and/or PR firms, and is provided with consumer electronics devices on loan from hardware manufacturers and/or PR firms respectively for the purposes of evaluating the products and its content for editorial reviews. We receive no compensation from these companies for our opinions or for the writing of reviews or editorials.
Permission is sometimes granted to companies to quote our work and editorial reviews free of charge. Our website may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may get paid commission on sales of those products or the services we write about. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers or affiliate partnerships. This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR § 255.5: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Latest Articles