Legend Of Tarzan, The

In The Legend Of Tarzan, it has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgard) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Len Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash. Based on the Tarzan stories created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. (Gary Reber)

Special features include five featurettes: Tarzan Reborn (HD 15:10), Battles And Bare Knuckled Brawls (HD 15:03), Tarzan And Jane's Unfailing Love (HD 06:01), Creating The Virtual Jungle (HD 15:16) and Gabon To The Big Screen (HD 02:28); Stop Ivory PSA; upfront previews; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture is fabulous, with superb cinematography and product design. Contrast is excellent, with wide dynamic range exhibiting deep blacks, revealing shadow delineation, and bright highlights. Visuals range from vast African landscapes to intimate interiors. Night scenes reveal fine details in the shadows, at times lit with fire light for a visually dramatic effect. Daylight scenes are bright and well scaled. The color palette exhibits a limited range of earthy hues of landscape and jungle. Few colors really pop, though, the grasslands and tree foliage are pink in tone. Fleshtones are naturally endeared in all lighting conditions. Resolution is finely rendered throughout, whether showing detail in landscapes, rock formations, water, foliage, and other object textures. Detail is especially revealed in close-ups of facial features on humans and apes, and clothing and armaments. This is a wonderful cinematic expression of filmmaking that is reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is equally fabulous, with a superb dynamic character. The sound design perfectly defines the scenes, whether during quiet sequences or robust scenes of peril and action. Every nuanced sonic is heard with impactful fidelity. The mayhem of fight scenes, whether human or ape, rifle and machine guns, and explosions are powerfully dynamic, and enhanced with deep extended bass in the .1 LFE channel. Atmospherics also are perfectly rendered. Both atmospherics and sound effects are aggressively dimensional and often directionalized, occupying the entire soundfield. Rupert Gregson-Williams' orchestral music score is phenomenal, with a wide and deep soundstage that extends throughout all seven channels. The added two channels really expand the sense of holosonic® envelopment. Dialogue is consistently intelligible, including narration, with excellent spatial integration. This is a leading-edge soundtrack that is reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)