Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 4K Ultra HD

"Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" follows lawman Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and lawless outcast Deckard Shaw (Statham), who, for years, have traded smack talk and body blows. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton Lorr (Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever, Hobbs and Shaw must partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves. Joining the cast is Shaw's sister Hattie (Kirby). The action spans the globe, from Los Angees to London, and from the toxic wasteland of Chernobyl to the lush beauty of Samoa. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary with Director David Leitch; an alternate opening (HD 10:14); 22 deleted/extended/alternate scenes (HD 34:29); 13 featurettes: "Johnson & Statham: Hobbs & Shaw" (HD 03:38), "Progress Of A Fight Scene With Director David Leitch" (HD 04:57), "Practical Action" (HD 03:43), "The Bad Guy" (HD 02:00), "The Sister" (HD 03:58) "Hobbs' Family Tree" (HD 03:20) "The Matriarch" (HD 01:35), "New Friends" (HD 02:01), "Elevator Action" (HD 01:59), "Stunt Show And Tell" (HD 03:41), "Keeping It In The Family: A Conversation With Roman And Dwayne" (HD 05:02), "Blind Fury" (HD 01:50) and "Dwayne And Hobbs: Love At First Bite" (HD 01:36); upfront previews and a Movies Anywhere digital code.

The 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10/Dolby Vision picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was photographed digitally in anamorphic Hawk Scope using Arri Alexa Mini and Arri Alexa SXT camera systems 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. A 3D conversion was performed by Stereo D for the theatrical release, but no 3D Blu-ray Disc was provided. This is an incredible-looking picture with both perfectly natural images and futuristic images. Color fidelity is superb with an impressively wide color gamut, which renders extraordinary nuanced hues, resulting in super naturalness. At times colors pop with strong primaries. Textural fidelity is excellent, Fleshtones are perfectly natural throughout. Resolution is incredible, with fine detail rendered, such as skin pores, facial lines, hair, beard stubble, clothing and object textures fully exposed. HDR contrast is amazing with bright but naturally intense highlights and spotlighting, deep, solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. Spatial dimensionality is excellent. WOW! segments are from 05:53 to 09:18, 23:03 to 26:45, 32:56 to 34:48, 01:00:11 to 01:01:20, 01:15:09 to 01:17:20, 01:26;24 to 01:28:00, 01:29:47 to 01:30:18, 01:42:50 to 01:44:26, and 01:50:22 to 01:53:50.
This is an incredibly well-crafted visual experience with wonderful lighting effects, sets and settings. Reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is impressively dynamic with a high-impact music score that completely engulfs the soundfield. Atmospheric ambience and sound effects play a dominant role and excite and define the varying soundscapes. Sound effects are incredible, as in an intense street chase involving a McLaren and motorcycles, powerful automatic gunfire and blast gunnery, and all manner of mayhem antics and debris. Foley sound effects keep perfect sync and enhance the realism of the soundscapes. Deep bass is powerful and can extend to sub-25 Hz in the .1 LFE channel, creating powerful dynamics in helicopter, jet, and motor vehicle sounds. The sound effects are pervasive throughout, effectively giving weight to fight scenes, drones, trucks and explosions. The music is rhythmic and enhanced with a powerful bass foundation. Dialogue is consistently intelligible with generally good spatial delineation.

The Immersive Sound element is quite active and is comprised of the music extended, helicopter sounds, shouts, deep-sounding computer speaking, intense swishing sounds, constant humming ambient noise in an underground garage/facility, prisoner yells, an ejection out of a plane, an announcement in Russian, drone swishing sounds, powerful helicopter pans, intense thunder and lightening and other minor effects. There was so much potential not developed, leaving this a disappointment considering the intense action throughout.

What a soundtrack overall! The holosonic® surround experience is very exciting and crafted with reference quality, at least at ear level. (Gary Reber)