Moana 2 4K Ultra HD SteelBook

"Moana 2" reunifies Moana and Maui years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely surfers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous long-lost water for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced. (Gary Reber)

Special features include a "Full Length Sing-Along"; five featurettes: "Call Of The Wayfinder" (HD 12:17), "A New Voyage" (HD 15:36), " Songs Of The Sea" (HD 13:28), "Join The Crew" (HD 11:40), "Kakamora Chronicles" (HD 04:33), Fun In The Booth" (HD 03:08); three deleted scenes (HD 14:35) land a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 2.00:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed in Digital 3D and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. A 3D Blu-ray Disc was not provided for review as was with the original Moana. Picture quality is spectacular as is the animation, which is intricate. The characters are descriptively warm and funny. Scenes are spectacular. The color palette is painted with vividly saturated hues. Colors are warm and rich. A color gamut is evident throughout that is a sight to see. The islander skin maintains a tanned tone. Other colors exhibit earthy hues such as mountains, trees and sand. The ocean is depicted in shades of blue and green. Hues are extremely colorful pastels and brilliant primaries that pop.HDR contrast is dynamic with deep black levels, excellent shadow delineation, and brightly illuminated white levels. The entire presentation is bright. The dimensionality is terrific with wonderful depth, perspective, and volume depicting environments, objects, and characters.. Resolution is superb. The animation is sharp throughout. Edge definition is sharp and clean, The finest detail is exhibited throughout. This is a wonderfully colorful and compelling visual experience that is reference quality throughout. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is highly energized with active sound elements. The sonics are dynamic and dimensional. Atmospherics sound realistic. Fidelity is excellent throughout. Sound effects are aggressive. Foley sound effects are quite active as this is animation and not real life, and this element must sound real, which it does. The orchestral/choral score is dynamic sounding and occupies a wide and deep soundstage that aggressively extends to the surrounds and creates sweeping envelopment. The song score sounds wonderful with excellent spatial rendering of in particular. Surround presence is excellent with the surround channels getting workouts from the glut of outdoor ambient environmental sounds. The added two channels enhance the sense of spatial dimensionality with effective directionalized sound effects. Other sound effects generate exciting sonic impact throughout. Atmospherics also are impressively realistic. Deep bass is energized throughout, often with powerful .1 LFE energy. ADR dialogue and singing is well crafted and intelligibility is excellent.

The Immersive Sound element is comprised of a strong extension of the orchestral/choral music and singing, both nuanced and strong dialogue segments, occassional atmospherics, sound efffects and more. The sound design utilizes the height layer very effectively to enhance sound field dimensionality. More filmmakers should follow suit

This is terrific holosonic® spherical surround soundtrack with an imaginative sound design that is dynamic sounding with lots of music and songs that will thrill the entire family, and especially home theatre enthusiasts who have a fully capable system. (Gary Reber)