Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban 4K Ultra HD

Now teenagers, Harry Potter (Radcliffe), Ron (Grint), and Hermione (Watson) return for their third year at Hogwarts. The year's curriculum includes mastering the art of Divination, learning to ride the half-horse, half-eagle Hippogriff, and repelling shape-shifting Boggarts. In addition, they are forced to face The escaped Prisoner Of Azkaban, Sirius Black. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the featurettes: Creating The World Of Harry Potter Part 3: Creatures (HD 01:03:22), Inside The Creature Shop (HD 08:27), The Magic Touch Of Harry Potter (HD 42:28), and Something This Way Comes (HD 13:02); a making-of featurette (HD 10:02); an interview in Spanish with Alfonso Cuarón (HD 08:15); Trelawney's Crystal Ball (5) deleted scenes (HD 04:53); trailers; and a digital copy.

The 2.40:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was photographed on 35 mm Kodak Vision2 film stock using Arricam LT and Arriflex 435 Advanced cameras in Super 35 and sourced from a 2K (not 4K) master Digital Intermediate format. As the 2K Digital Intermediate has been upconverted to 2160p, there is no real gain in native resolution. As with the previous releases, the picture is quite a magical visual experience. Images are sharp and well defined compared to the previous Blu-ray Disc, with nicely balanced contrast and shadow delineation. Imagery and textures inside Hogwarts are well discerned but darker in tone. Still, other scenes can have a slightly soft focus. Highlights in some scenes are brighter and blacks deeper, no doubt due to the HDR contrast enhancement, such as in the snowy scene. The imagery is nicely dimensional. The color scheme renders accurate fleshtones as well as natural hues, deep blacks, and revealing shadows under overcast skies and in the caverns and the dark woods. A wider color gamut is also exhibited with richer, warmer and brighter hues, such as in the candy store. The colors are perfectly saturated but darker in hue, but still with pleasing balance. The imagery exhibits excellent detail and clarity in the environs in and around Hogwarts. Nuanced details in Hogwarts' often dim halls are also more clearly revealed. As previously, closeups pick up tiny variations in skin texture, fabric details and individual strands of hair and beards, such as Hagrid's unkempt mane. A WOW! segment begins at 08:30 and ends at 10:49, and then from 11:38 to 12:20. The picture is pristine throughout with no objectonable film grain. This is the best that the film has ever looked, a wonderfully pleasing picture, and fans are sure to be enthralled. (Gary Reber)

The treatment for this DTS:X/DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1-channel soundtrack is excellent. The use of dimension, though, generally moderate in nature, with many selective instances, there is acute directionality, as well as substantial directionalized and aggressive surround activity. Dynamic range for this soundtrack can, as well, be considerable. The phantom back surround channel provides enhancement of the immersive listening space as do the side channels. Directional pans laterally are effective and often powerful, such as the movement of a train. Of course, to appreciate this fine dimensionality, one has to be seated in the “sweet spot” to realize the effective phantom imaging effect and holosonics®. The deep bass content for this soundtrack is just as formidable as the movie, with some instances even having the potential to threaten your subwoofer. The .1 LFE channel often delivers intense deep bass such as the heavily dense castle door closing. There are also generous doses of very deep bass for the surround channels. Nuanced atmospherics and sound effects are wonderful. The music, as in the second movie, is another of the standouts for this soundtrack, and is an excellent recording, imparting a palpable perception of holosonic envelopment and a deep bass foundation. Even the presentation of the dialogue, which sounds very natural, delivers better spatial integration. This is a great upgraded soundtrack and one that adds immeasurably to the experience of this entertaining movie. The Immersive Sound elements consist of a shaky bus and its sound as it speeds through town, thunder, rain and lightening, train sounds and sudden crashing sound, a large clock bell, a flying chirping bird and other birds including ravens, the wing sounds of a large flying bird, wind, the heavily dense castle door closing sound, an intense light beam sound effect, a ghostly voice, other sound effects and atmospherics, and an extended orchestral score. Except for the music, Immersive Sound elements are object-based and quiet brief. And while some carry some SPL weight and are effective with exceptional power and precision, for the most part the perception is subliminal. As with before in this Immersive Sound series, much in the way of soundscape dimension has been ignored by the sound designers. The Immersive Sound elements consist of a shaky bus and its sound as it speeds through town, thunder, rain and lightening, train sounds and sudden crashing sound, a large clock bell, a flying chirping bird and other birds including ravens, the wing sounds of a large flying bird, wind, the heavily dense castle door closing sound, an intense light beam sound effect, a ghostly voice, other sound effects and atmospherics, and an extended orchestral score. Except for the music, Immersive Sound elements are object-based and quiet brief. And while some carry some SPL weight and are effective with exceptional power and precision, for the most part the perception is subliminal. As with before in this Immersive Sound series, much in the way of soundscape dimension has been ignored by the sound designers. (Gary Reber)