Robert Rodriguez’ Alita Battle Angel is one of those home video distribution rarities, thanks to Fox. Rather than splitting up Blu-ray / 3D combo packs from the 4k, they’ve given fans all three variants.
I knew nothing about this film going in, and found it an enjoyable ride, beautifully combining DP Bill Pope’s digital production photography with layers of effects.
And it works beautifully.
Audio courtesy of a Dolby Atmos mix, is huge and room-filling.
Rosa Salazar, digitally reconfirmed as a Keane painting, does a fine job as Alita, which properly credits the original Japanese graph novel by Yukito Kishiro. Nice to see credit, where it’s due.
Image – 5
Audio – 5 (Dolby Atmos)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Highly Recommended
RAH
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This has been one of my favorite films of the year which is surprising to me. I wasn't feeling it from the prior trailers before taking a chance and seeing it in a movie theater. I enjoyed my first viewing so much I went back again and then watched it on 4K/UHD disc the other day on my new OLED.
"Rosa Salazar, digitally reconfirmed as a Keane painting…."
!!!
Thanks for the laughs! And thanks for the good review.
I liked this movie quite a bit, and based on this review I'll probably get the blu-ray at some point.
Highly underrated film. I thought the tepid reviews and box office for a film that combined the talents of James Cameron and Robert Rodriquez seemed a bit odd. I was right. While I recognize all the different films this borrows from, that does not make it any less enjoyable for what it is.
Technically, this is digital filmmaking at a new level. Cameron and crew have set the bar very high indeed…again (re: Avatar).
The UHD disc is simply beautiful, and worthy of the finest multi-channel audio systems that will undoubtedly get the workout mine did…twice so far.
And with a $400 million worldwide box office gross, its on the cusp of perhaps being green lit for a sequel.
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Like Cameron, I came to the story originally through the animated version, which I saw back in the 90's. I really enjoyed it, but could sense that the source material had more to it than was feasible in the two animated releases. Boy, was I right. When I finally got around to reading the original manga, it blew me away. The artwork is astonishingly detailed and beautiful and the story contains wonderful characters. I knew that this was a passion project of Cameron's, so I've been following his interest in it for years. When it was finally announced, I was initially disappointed that Cameron wasn't directing it, but I think Rodriguez can do really interesting work if his heart is in the project.
The film was a fantastic adaptation of the source material. Of course, by its nature, it had to trim down the plot and make some changes to better fit the medium, but it had the spirit and look of the manga. It's a shame that people seemed to turn against it when they saw the look of the Alita character. Although she looks like the manga design and I can understand their reasoning for keeping the large eyes, I think that a lot of folks in a general audience saw those big eyes and were either disturbed or dismissed it outright, thinking it was "one of them Japanese cartoons like Pokemon." It seems to be gaining supporters, now that it is on home video, which is great. I really hope that this translates into a sequel. The filmmakers took a real risk, structuring the film the way they did and assuming that it would be a monster hit. If it never gets a sequel, it will always feel like an incomplete story, which it is. Don't misunderstand me, I still think it's a really enjoyable film that, were people to give it a fair chance, would have a much larger fanbase than it currently does. There is simply a lot of story to be told and it would be a shame if we're never able to see it play out, especially since Rodriguez/Cameron have proven that they understand and respect the source material.
If nothing else, people who enjoyed the film should give the first few volumes of the manga a chance. It's fantastic stuff and has rightly achieved venerated status amongst fans of comics and manga.
I picked it up last night at Target and watched it in 3D. It was a lot better than I expected after reading reviews when it was in theaters. Visually, there is a lot to take in.
All those interesting visuals came directly from the manga. I'm telling you, the artwork is astonishingly good.
I saw this in 3D Dolby Vision and Atmos in London and it was fab presentation.
Wow. I hard-passed on this because the trailers made it look…meh. But there are an awful lot of people in this thread whom I've known for quite a while (virtually, anyway) and whose opinions I respect…looks like I'm heading to Best Buy tomorrow to pick up the 4K…
Looking forward to watching in 3D- just arrived Friday. And thank gawd James Cameron supports 3D!
It's funny when I think back on it. During the 3D-at-home era (when many manufacturers were making 3D HDTVs) I opted to spend the extra $3-$5 per title to get the combo 3D/Blu-ray packs. I enjoyed watching them on my Sony HD set which was active 3D,
Now, a few years outside of that era, I just looked at both of my 4K sets (bought one and two years ago) and realized I have no mechanism to play any of those 3D discs.
It's great Cameron supports 3D. But without Sony, Vizio, Samsung, etc. actively supporting it with their 4K offerings, it's going to end up being a moot point. I'm sure if I look hard I can find a 4K 3D set, but when I was buying these two sets, I don't recall seeing a 3D model at/near the mid-tier pricepoint (I have a 65" Sammy KS8000 and 65" Sony 900F set that I bought on sale around the $1500 range at the time when they were the new sets).
"funny" is one word for it.
Sadly no more 3D sets are made that I know of for US consumption. However that's not the case in Japan and Europe I believe. I have a 4 K 3D Sony Triluminous set that still stuns from 2014. I can only hope the some high end manufacturer will bring 3D back for us that support the format because for me and others 4K just doesn't give the feeling that the extra depth of 3D does. My collection is huge and I love repeat viewings of them all. Fingers crossed.
Unfortunately, you can’t. Not new at least. 🙁
Yeah, those days are past unless you can find someone who has some NOS available, or you're willing to buy a used display.
3D on flat panels is totally dead, but the format is still supported on some (not all) home theater projectors.