LEGO Batman Movie, The 4K Ultra HD

In The LEGO Batman Movie, the self-described leading man of the ensemble—LEGO Batman—stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham City, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker's hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others, and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. (Gary Reber)

Special features on the Blu-ray Disc include director and crew commentaries; four animation shorts: Dark Hoser (HD 02:08), Batman Is Just Not That Into You (HD -2:10), Cooking With Alfred (HD 02:02), and Movie Sound Effects: How Do They Do That? (HD 01:24); The Master A LEGO Ninjago Short (HD 05:23); four deleted scenes (HD 07:00); six featurettes: One Brick At A Time (HD 16:10), Inside Wayne Manor (HD 02:36), Brick By Brick (HD 03:50), Behind The Brick (HD 04:13), Me And My Minifig (HD 00:56), and Comic Con Panel; Rebrick contest winners (HD 02:47); trailers; the LEGO Life trailer; social promos; upfront previews; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 4K Ultra HD HDR-10 Rec.2020 picture, animated digitally in Dolby Vision, was sourced from a master format Digital Intermediate at 4K. The picture is intensely colorful, due to the far greater color gamut. The colors are wonderfully saturated with varying shades of red, yellow, blue, and green. Blacks are extremely deep and solid. Wayne Manor is a glow in orange hues. Batman's home theatre is expansive with grays and blacks. And, of course, Batman's costume is strikingly black. The overall lighting scenes highlight brights with a florescent tinge. At times the imagery cuts to real life videos of classic movie scenes, which all appear perfectly natural. In one sequence, Batman's state of depression is rendered with desaturated color, virtually black-and-white. Resolution is excellent, with sharp lines and fine nuanced LEGO construction. Fine detail is evident when scene action slows to a crawl, otherwise most scenes are actively energized, but clarity and sharpness is consistent throughout. This is an impressively bright, sharp, and intensely colorful presentation that is mesmerizing throughout. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is always active, with virtually every channel fully engaged, and at times at intense SPL energy. Dynamics are terrific as well as fidelity. The music score, presented in full 7.1, is quite dynamic, both original and catalog selections, with a wide and deep soundstage that aggressively extends to the surrounds. Interestingly, atmospherics and sound effects tend to be focused more frontal than enveloping, with aggressive directionalization in the surrounds. As for the Immersive Sound element, the height channels are engaged such as to provide effective spherical effects with an active extension of the music score, atmospherics, and sound effects. This is certainly one of the more engaging Immersive Sound soundtracks. Deep bass is strong in the .1 LFE channel and enhances the numerous sound effects during the action scenes. There is so much going on sonically with the crashes and explosive encounters. All through, dialogue is intelligible as well as the female computer narration. This is a fun soundtrack that at times extends holosonically to envelop the soundfield with excellent transient response and fidelity. It will thrill younger audiences.(Gary Reber)