Legends Of The Fall 4K Ultra HD

In "Legends Of The Fall, a family of three sons, headed by former cavalry officer William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins), inhabits a ranch in the foothills of the Rockies—far from what the colonel sees as the madness of the times. Soon after Samuel (Henry Thomas) brings home his charming fiancé Susannah (Julia Ormond), he and his older brothers, Alfred (Aidan Quinn) and the unpredictable Tristan (Brad Pitt), are torn apart in the horrors of World War I. Upon their return, Alfred and Tristan's rivalry intensifies—a rivalry that will define the rest of their lives. (Suzanne Hodges)

Special features include commentary with Director Edward Zwick and Brad Pitt, commentary with Cinematographer John Toll and Production Designer Lilly Kilvert, three deleted scenes with Director Zwick commentary (HD 05:29), the original making-of featurette (HD 05:59), "Production Design" featurette (HD 04:43), theatrical trailer and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 1.85:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on Eastman film stock using the Panavision Panaflex Gold II camera system and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format sourced from the original film negative. Film grain is smooth and never objectionable. This is a gorgeous cinematic picture. Color fidelity is excellent. Hues are perfectly saturated with naturalness. The wide color gamut reveals lush, nuanced hues. Flesh tones are healthy and vibrant. Earth tones are realistic as well as blue skies and the vast lined mountainous skyline. Explosions are fiery orange. The smoky air enhances realism HDR contrast is excellent, Back levels never appear artificial but naturally deep. Shadow delineation is revealing. White levels appear naturally bright and illuminated. Resolution is superb, especially during closeups of facial features, horses and dogs, clothing fabrics, ranch house and object textures. This is a terrific looking picture that will surely please fans of the film. (Gary Reber)

The repurposed Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is dynamic sounding and supported with James Horner's sweeping orchestral score that spans the soundstage with width and depth. The music extends aggressive to the surrounds and envelops the sound stage. Sound effect enhance the drama with thunder and rain, intense explosions, whirling artillery shells and whizzing gunfire that ricochets through every channel. Sound effects, such as during the war scenes, can be intense or earthy such as wind, birds, roosters and horses. Bass energy is deep and strong in the .1 LFE channel. Atmospherics sound perfectly realistic with the sound of nature in the vast territory. Foley sound effects perfectly enhance the realism of the scenes. Fidelity throughout is excellent. Dialogue is intelligible with generally good spatial integration.

The Immersive Sound element is comprised of some sort segments of the orchestral score and snippets of atmospherics plus sound effects snippets during the war battle. There are extended periods of time when there is no height layer. Given the grandeur of the environments, far more enhancement could have been achieved but was not, and thus, this is a unfulfilling height layer.

While the height layer underperforms, this is a satisfying holosonic® soundtrack that nicely supports the storytelling. (Gary Reber)