Panic Room 4K Ultra HD SteelBook

Trapped in their New York brownstone's Panic Room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart), play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders –– Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto) –– during a brutal home invasion. But the "Panic Room" itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary by David Fincher; commentary by Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam; commentary by writer David Koepp and special guest; six featurettes on the prep phase, from pre-visualization through testing; Interactive previsualization –– compare the pre-visualization, storyboards, dailies and final film in a multi-angle, multi-audio feature with optional commentary; "Shooting Panic Room" documentary (HD 52:37); Makeup effects featurette with Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.; Sequence breakdowns – An interactive look at the creation of four separate scenes in the film; On Sound Design with Ren Klyce; Digital Intermediate and other featurettes dealing with the post-production phase; A multi-angle look at the scoring session conducted by Howard Shore; teaer and theatrical trailer and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 2.39:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed in Super 35 on Kodak Vision film stock using the Arriflex 35-III, Panavision Panaflex Millennium and Panavision Panaflex Platinum camera systems and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format supervised by Director David Fincher. Film grain is remarkably smooth and virtually invisible. Picture quality is superb. The production is set in an old Brownstone dwelling with a Panic Room hidden in its interior. Color fidelity is excellent though hues are are subdued. Still, the wide color gamut exhibits excellent depth. The imagery is perfectly natural and realistic. The Panic Room is hued with a grayish green tint as are the dimly lit walls of the dwelling. The rest of the Brownstone exhibits natural hues with spot lighting. Flesh tones are perfectly natural. HDR contrast is excellent with natural black levels and revealing shadow delineation. White levels are realistically illuminated. Resolution is superb with fine detail exhibited throughout. Facial features are finely detailed and exhibit skin pores, sweat, rain-drench faces of the intruders, scars and burns and beards. Clothing fabrics are generally black. Interior features of the Brownstone are sharp and clear, as well as object textures. This is a an incredibly visually tense and compelling picture that will captivate viewers. (Gary Reber)

The repurposed Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack sounds terrific. Dynamics are powerful with explosive and exiting effect. Sound effects,such as saws and sledge hammers tear and rip apart walls, are supported with sharp transient bass enhancement in all channels and the .1 LFE channel. The exterior rain pounds the exterior and can be head within the dwelling. Directional effects and channel pans are precise. Atmospherics are realistic. Foley sound effects are incredible as they bring to life every footfall thud above and below the dwelling. Howard Shore's orchestral score is haunting and stimulating. The music occupies a wide and deep soundstage that aggressively extends to the surrounds. Surround envelopment is aggressive and dimensional. Dialogue is intelligible throughout with excellent spatial integration.

The Immersive Sound element is comprised of an aggressive extension of the orchestral score, some dialogue, atmospherics, sound effects such breaking-in disturbances, propane explosion, pouring rain and thunder, drilling, police sirens and much more. This is a masterful sound design with a carefully thought out height layer that wonderfully enhances spherical dimensionality.

This is a suspenseful and terrifying holosonic® spherical surround soundtrack that is dynamic sounding with superb fidelity and dimensionality. Reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)