A Few Words About A few words about...™ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

David Yates, who directed the first (of what will be, five) installment of Fantastic Beasts, and who had directed the last four of the Harry Potter films, as well has last year's The Legend of Tarzan, had a great eye, and a keen sense of pacing.

Warner Bros. gave him just under two hundred million dollars to make a film, and every penny shows on screen, under the cinematographic helm of Philippe Rousselot.

My initial exposure to Fantastic Beasts was on a DVD, and it was fine.

But Warner's newly released 4k UHD gives the film a real kick in the pants, as this is true 4k.

FBaWtFT arrived concurrent with the last four of the Harry Potter films in 4k, and if budget comes into the equation of what to purchase first, go with Fantastic Beasts, as long as you have the Potters on Blu-ray.

Not only does FB differ from the Potter films in 4k as true 4k, but also in replicating the original audio mix, which was, and is, Dolby Atmos.

An inventive, fun film, and a great way to sit back, think of nothing else, and just spend a couple of pleasant hours.

Welcome to Fantastic Beasts..., the next big franchise for Warner Bros, a terrific spin-off from the wonderful world of Ms Rowling.

Image - 5*

Audio - 5 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[DavidMiller]

My only comment is we don't know if the other Harry Potter movies are 4K DI or not. I can't wait to dig into these movies I have read a lot of good reviews of all 5 movies released so far. Blu-ray.com is still waiting for an answer from the studio. You can't always believe what IMDB says.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My only comment is we don't know if the other Harry Potter movies are 4K DI or not.

They are not - the Harry Potter series was completed in 2K. I've been a subscriber of American Cinematographer for years, and if a film was completed via the DI process, they almost always mention at what resolution. I recall reading articles on several (if not all) of the productions, and the ones I recall reading all mentioned 2K.

 

[Robert Harris]

They are not - the Harry Potter series was completed in 2K. I've been a subscriber of American Cinematographer for years, and if a film was completed via the DI process, they almost always mention at what resolution. I recall reading articles on several (if not all) of the productions, and the ones I recall reading all mentioned 2K.

Correct. 4k wasn't really functional until 2007.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Correct. 4k wasn't really functional until 2007.

And given how quickly the films were produced given their scale and effects, I can't imagine that there would have been a strong push for 4K for the films released 2007-2011. Heck, the 3D for the second to last film was canceled at the last moment because they weren't able to finish the conversion in time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I bought this 4K disc over the 3-D disc because it's true 4K and has the Dolby Atmos audio which the 3-D disc doesn't have on it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I bought this 4K disc over the 3-D disc because it's true 4K and has the Dolby Atmos audio which the 3-D disc doesn't have on it.

After viewing this 4K disc, I want to see the 3-D disc now. There are many film sequences in this movie in which the 3-D could be outstanding.

 

[Wayne_j]

I loved the 3D in this movie and picked up the 3D instead of the 4K because of that. Lots of objects floating in front of the screen.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've now had a chance to view the entire film, after making some projector adjustments to contract.

In that light (no pun intended) Fantastic Beasts comes off as absolute perfection.

A magnificent true 4k release, that will be even more so on high end flat panels, capable of full illumination.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've now had a chance to view the entire film, after making some projector adjustments to contract.

In that light (no pun intended) Fantastic Beasts comes off as absolute perfection.

A magnificent true 4k release, that will be even more so on high end flat panels, capable of full illumination.

I agree that it's a fantastic looking disc, yet, I still have an urge to see this film again on 3-D due to so many film sequences screaming for that process.

 

[moovtune]

The 3D is really nice on this title and the UHD4K is worth the price too. Now if they'd only put the two in the same package - and also give us at least the core 7.1 on the 3D disc. This is Warner's, but Sony has been cheating us out of the better mixes even on their blu-rays compared to the same title on 4K. Come on studios, stop jerking us around for our money.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I picked up the 2D Blu-Ray of this title as a blind buy today and was pleasantly surprised when I redeemed the UltraViolet code to see the digital copy for the Blu-Ray is also UHD. A nice bit a future-proofing there. In the past, the Blu-Ray code only redeemed as an HDX copy, even if a UHD copy was available.