Pacific Rim [Blu-ray] [2016] [NTSC]

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Media criticism (66) MQA (47) Computer Audio (45) DAC (39) Listening Test (36) Hi-Res Audio (29) Digital Filters (27) Audiophile Philosophy (26) Snake Oil (26) Amplifier (21) Audio Cables (21) Multichannel audio (19) Vinyl (16) Audiophile psychology (15) Audio Shows (14) Jitter (14) Objectivism vs. WONKA — The Magical Adventure of a Young Chocolate Maker Comes Home on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on February 27th! The story tends to dawdle in a few areas and not all the action feels quite as engaging as it should, such as the attack on Shatterdome. Monster mayhem on a grand scale, with visceral impact and some at least notional human drama beneath. We reviewed the UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Pacific Rim: Uprising on a LG 55B7 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD OLED TV with an LG UP970 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.

Fine textures are abound everywhere from the skin on the monsters to the wooly fabric employed on Elba’s jacket.It’s the tale of a washed up pilot and an untested trainee who are teamed together to take a stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse. Whatever its faults - and it has its fair share - it makes up for them (or at least blasts past them) with punch, presence and sheer epic scale. Sure, I know that this is "4K Ultra HD Blu-ray" and not "Oh look the shadow detail is a bit better Geoffy Vision™ Boo-ray" so this endless circlejerk about "fake 4K" will continue apace, but as someone who's done the upgrade dance soooo many times over the last 25 years I'll take my improvements where I can get 'em, be they spatial/temporal resolution, compression, colour, black levels, contrast, dynamic range etc etc etc. On the extras front there's a pleasant surprise in the fact that not only is the release afforded a strong selection of supplemental features, but they are - in a relatively rare exception - actually ported over to the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc proper rather than just relegated to the accompanying Blu-ray disc as has always been the norm. While it took a couple viewings for me to appreciate, I've come to unabashedly adore 'Pacific Rim' for all its geektastic monster action, thrilling set-pieces, and world-building beauty.

Sadly, specular highlights are somewhat hit or miss with those aforementioned lights blooming enough to overwhelm the finer details, but overlooking that, the brighter accents provide the Jaegers with a realistic shimmer even during the fast-moving action, each spark from the metal-on-metal punches with a discrete twinkle and show a distinct difference between the white centers and surrounding blues of the electrified weapons and Kaiju blood. Viewers can also enjoy better visibility of information in the far distance, and the tiniest scratch and war wound on the Jaegers is striking and highly detailed. Subjectivism (14) headphones (14) How-To (13) Measurement Technique (13) 4K Video (12) Lossy CODEC (12) Upsampling (12) Digital Room Correction (11) Ethernet (11) S. Side and rear surround activity is also well placed, particularly in the chaotic drift and dream sequences.Pacific Rim', however, looks noticeably clearer and sharper and weighted than the Blu-ray and even the VUDU UHD version with Dolby Vision. But I do believe that del Toro made a fantastic monster film and that 'Pacific Rim' is one of the year's most entertaining movies. Explore the huge sets and see how Jaeger cockpits and devastated Hong Kong streets were rendered and created.