Incredibles 2 4K Ultra HD

In "Incredibles 2," Helen (Hunter) is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob (Nelson) navigates the day-to-day heroics of "normal" life at home with Violet (Vowell), Dash (Milner) and baby Jack-Jack––whose super powers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parr's don't shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone (Jackson) by their side. That's what makes this family so Incredible. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with the animators; the following feaurettes: "2 SuperScene Breakdowns" (HD 06:26), "Heroes & Villains" (HD 25:35), Ralph Eggleston: Production Designer" (HD 02:07), "Strong Coffee: A Lesson In Animation With Brad Bird" (HD 18:50), and "Paths To Pixar: Everyday Heros" (HD 11:40); the documentary "SuperBaby" (HD 04:57); the "Auntie Edna" Mini-Movie (HD 05:08); the theatrical short "Bao" (HD 07:41); Making "Bao" (HD 06:02); 10 deleted scenes with introductions (HD 39:44); outtakes and stories; character theme songs, vintage toy commercial TV spots, Toolkit Montage and global "Incredibles 2" trailers; upfront previews; and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code.

The 2.39:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10/Dolby Vision picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was animated digitally in Stereoscopic 3D source format in Dolby Vision HDR and sourced from a 2K (not 4K) master Digital Intermediate format. The imagery is pristine with animation detail and textural definition exhibiting superb clarity and sharpness. Color depth saturation is excellent with strong primaries and subtle hue shadings. Vibrant colors are superb on, for example, The Incredibles costume fabrics and the fiery explosions. HDR contrast is terrific with finely delineated bright whites and deep blacks. Line drawings are clean throughout. WOW! segments are from 03:57 to 05:09, 30:50 to 33:39, 45:57 to 47:35, 01:17:04 to 01:17:37, and 01:22:39 to 01:25:01. This is a vibrant and colorful digital animated movie that is certain to thrill fans. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is quite energized, but, while the music is nicely recorded, it is extremely compressed. Michael Giacchino's score lacks the power and dimension that it deserves. Yet the music is a very prevalent element in the soundtrack and extends to the height layer, though, subtly. The score is wonderful and was orchestrated by Gordon Goodwin and Jeff Kryka. Gordon is a friend as well as two of the featured musicians, drummer Bernie Dresel and lead trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, and others on this session. Even the rest of the soundtrack is a bit muted in terms of dynamics. Bass extension could be more powerful and weighty, though, it does extend deep. Atmospherics and sound effects provide good support, including with effective spacious reverberation. Foley sound effects are excellent. Surround energy is nicely enveloping with aggressive directionality during the action sequences. ADR dialogue is consistently intelligible with convincing spatial integration.

The Immersive Sound elements consist of the music extended subtly to the height layer. The rest is loud PA announcement, crumbling concrete, a Bob yell, voices, a sliding entry door slam, an announcer on TV, bedroom din, an Outer Limits announcer on TV, a ribbon cutting announcement, swoops and swishes, a screeching car stop, a woof, a metal rubbing sound effect, zap and racoon yelp sounds, Oh! Ow! bursts, helicopters and a helicopter blade swipe, a telepathic control voice, a danger alert siren, a long growly male voice message to the super heroes, Bob having a fit, women interchanging, a speech on a boat, a baby crying, the blender sound magnified, a jet airplane takeoff, and other brief object sound effects. The sound designers are obviously reaching for sound objects, but all that are there are brief bursts, except for the announcements and conversations.

In the end, the height layer fill is not near as strong as it could be, and the poor dynamics require turning up the volume substantially. Otherwise, fidelity is excellent, though, dynamics could be far less compressed. Still this is an incredibly fun holosonic® soundtrack. (Gary Reber)