Training Day (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Denzel Washington gives an Oscar-winning (Best Actor) turn in director Antoine Fuqua’s 2001 crime drama Training Day.

Ethan Hawke co-stars as rookie Los Angeles narcotics officer Jake Hoyt who is assigned to the 13-year veteran Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington) for his first day on the job. It doesn’t take Jake long to realize that Alonzo doesn’t play by the rules. Alonzo is willing to give Hoyt a chance to join his team after the one-day ride along, but Hoyt has to prove to him just how far he is willing to go on the streets of Los Angeles. As the day progresses, the lines between the law enforcers and the criminals become increasingly blurred, especially when it is revealed that Alonzo is in debt to Russian gangsters and must find the staggering amount of money in 24-hours or face the consequences.

Washington is without a doubt the star of this show, taking on without hesitation what is arguably his most unlikeable role and going into it with gusto. He’s brutal, he’s a showboater, and corrupt. Hawke is the counterbalance as the fresh faced, fish out of water trying his hardest to ‘man up’ and prove his mettle to Alonzo.

Fuqua, working from the David Ayer (The Fast and the Furious) screenplay, strikes a balance between sleek visual style and grit. He offers just enough visceral violence to let us know this is serious and Alonzo will not hesitate to cross the line while pulling back at the right moments and giving us a taut, well-paced crime drama.

The Video

Training Day was shot on Arriflex 435, Moviecam Compact, and Moviecam SL cameras with Hawk C-Series lenses on medium speed Kodak Vision 250D 5246 35mm film stock. It arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Warner Bros. in a 2.35:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. The HDR10 metadata shows a MaxLL of 983 nits and MaxFALL of 109 nits.

The overall picture looks natural but does have a softness to it so that there is some ‘missing’ high frequency crispness although detail is there, grain is visible, and there is no notable smoothing. The shadow detail throughout the presentation is strong and there are plenty of opportunities in Training Day to show that off. Where the transfer does fall down the most is in the lackluster Dolby Vision presentation that barely looks better than SDR. The color palette and overall tonality of the film doesn’t allow for much of a brightness boost or too many colors to ‘pop’ from the wide color gamut and there aren’t really any instances of eye-catching specular highlights. Perhaps the Dolby Vision presentation’s biggest advantage is in the extended shadow detail while maintaining the inky blacks.

The Audio

Training Day arrives on 4K Ultra HD with an English Dolby Atmos mix in addition to several foreign language dubs in Dolby Digital. The Atmos mix is an atmospheric affair with subtle effects placed throughout the soundstage. This works for this film which is mostly dialogue and Washington and Hawke driving around. When there is action or there are songs, the low end is beefy and sound balance places a good bit of ambient height effects around as well.

The Supplements

Apart from the audio commentary from director Antoine Fuqua, all the bonus features reside only on the included Blu-ray disc. All have been previously released.

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Blu-ray Disc with Feature Film in HD and Bonus Features
• Commentary by Antoine Fuqua
• Training Day: Crossing the Line (1080i; 00:15:03)
• Alternate Ending (1080p; 00:04:48)
• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:12:34)
• Nelly – “#1” Music Video (1080p)
• Pharoahe Monch – “Got You” Music Video (1080p)
• Trailer (1080p)

The Final Assessment

A classic of the early aughts that still holds up today, Training Day hits 4K looks pleasing and is one that comes highly recommended.

Training Day is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo February 28, 2023, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

• Rating Certificate: R (for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity)
• Studios & Distributors: Warner Bros. | Village Roadshow Pictures | NPV Entertainment | Outlaw Productions | WV Films II | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
• Director: Antoine Fuqua
• Written By: David Ayer
• Run Time: 122 Mins.
• Street Date: 28 February 2023
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 983 nits
  • MaxFALL: 109 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: French (Québécois) DD 2.0 | French DD 5.1 | German DD 5.1 | Italian DD 5.1 | Spanish (Castilian) DD 5.1 | Spanish (Latino) DD 2.0 | Czech DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH | German SDH | Spanish (Castilian) | French |Italian SDH | Dutch | Chinese | Korean | Dutch | Spanish (Castilian) | Spanish (Latino) |Danish | Finnish | Norwegian | Romanian | Swedish