Resident Evil, The Complete Collection 4K Ultra HD

"Resident Evil, The Complete Collection" contains all six movies in the worldwide video-game franchise. Milla Jovovich stars as the iconic zombie slayer Alice, a superhuman security expert who battles The Hive and The Umbrella Corporation as the world's population is transformed into flesh-eating creatures by one of its most dangerous biological weapons. This limited-edition gift set marks the first time all six movies are on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc with HDR10 and Dolby Atmos audio. The six movies are "Resident Evil," "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," "Resident Evil: Extinction," "Resident Evil: Afterlife," "Resident Evil: Retribution" and "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter." (Gary Reber)

Numerous hours of special features are included in the collection, including rare archival featurettes that have been previously unavailable on disc, as well as a Movies Anywhere digital code.

The 2.40:1 and 1.85:1 2.39:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 discs, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, were photographed either on film stock or digitally and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. As each of the six movies has previously been cataloged and reviewed, the following is a generalized report on the appearance of the remastering, which applies to each movie. Each movie benefited from a new 4K remastering. In the case of "Resident Evil" and "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," both the theatrical and extended versions of the movies are available. The first three movies were photographed on film stock ("Resident Evil," "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," and "Resident Evil: Extinction") while the latter three were digitally produced ("Resident Evil: Afterlife," "Resident Evil: Retribution," and "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter"). While across the board there are numerous improvements to the visuals, the most striking is the color palette, which now is more vivid and naturally hued throughout with a wide and nuanced color spectrum, textural depth, and naturalness. Colors are richer and bolder. Fleshtones are more lifelike and natural. There is a wonderful increase in fine detail, density, and refined contrast levels. Bright highlights are really bright, such as spot lighting, with its intensity setting off impressive contrasts. This is where HDR is applied effectively. Contrast is excellent throughout with deeper, inkier, solid blacks and shadows that are more revealing. White levels are more brilliant. Resolution is nicely enhanced with nuanced detail exhibited throughout, with crisp edges and fine detail exhibited in the production design, as well as fine detail revealed in close-ups of features, hair, worn clothing, and object texture. This represents the absolute reference quality for this "Resident Evil" collection, which will thrill fans of the franchise. (Gary Reber).

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtracks are full-on holosonic® assaults with at times every channel fully engaged. The seven channels are engaged throughout at high SPL, resulting in an extremely aggressive surround field that completely immerses the listener with directional effects, atmospherics, and an engaging music score. Atmospherics deliver an enveloping sense of spatial dimension. Full-on SPL is engaged during intense action sequences! Tons of deep, solid sub-25 Hz bass penetrates the .1 LFE channels, also with substantial bass energy in all the other channels, adding powerful energy to the entire soundfield. The music is powerfully dynamic as well, with a wide and deep soundstage that extends aggressively to the surrounds. The music often delivers a very rhythmic synthesizer-driven pulse. Dialogue manages to retain intelligibility throughout with good spatial integration. These are spectacular holosonic reference-quality soundtracks that are extremely dynamic and fully energized and a real challenge to the best home theatre sound systems.

The Immersive Sound element consists of aggressive swishing sounds in the opening sequence, strong wind sounds and sound effects from the ground and water, crashing and blasting sounds, creature screams, sirens, stair step and voice echos and other effect echos, a little girl's voice, phone wire banging, gunshots and echos, sound effects inside an armored military vehicle, a brief sharp piercing sound, all manner of whiz-bang sound effects, a motorcycle tire squeal, a nail gun, fire ball explosions, firing rockets, Gatling gunfire, creature roars, splashing and bubbling water, dripping water, a clanking chamber and a heavy metal door closing, a creaking giant fan and rotation sounds, turbulent wind pressure sounds, sequential heavy triggering sounds, a loud warning buzz, pounding sounds, a glass whiskey decanter breaking on a head, a man's voice echo, scanning laser beams, crashing glass, an intense explosion and a mayhem of intense sound effects. Music score extension is aggressive throughout. The object-based sound effects are often brief but with aggressive SPL weight and are effective with exceptional power and precision. While much in the way of soundscape dimension has been ignored by the sound designers, the Immersive Sound element is virtually non-stop accompanied by a very active electronic music score. (Gary Reber)