Sony brings Rian Johnson’s time travel hit-man sci-fi thriller Looper to UHD in an improved (and director approved) new 4K transfer.
The Production: 4/5
Trying to write a spoiler-free review of a film like Rian Johnson’s Looper is nearly impossible with its many twists and turns. It is the year 2044 and time travel hasn’t been invented yet, but will be in 30 years and quickly outlawed. But that doesn’t stop crime bosses of the future from using it as a way to cleverly dispose of bodies that are causing them trouble, sending them to the past and having “Loopers” (hired hit men) kill and dispose of them. The catch is that eventually, the Looper’s future self will be sent back to be executed by their younger self to remove any evidence of illegal activity in exchange for early retirement with a hefty payout so they can live the fullest until the future catches up with them. After his friend and fellow Looper Seth (Paul Dano) fails to kill his older self and both Seth’s are slowly tortured and killed, Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) quickly finds himself in a similar predicament when his older self (Bruce Willis) escapes, leaving a note telling him to “Hop a train out of town. RUN.” The next day, at the execution point, the older Joe appears again, and younger Joe succeeds, taking the money and living out his life for the next 30 years, until he is captured for execution again. As it turns out, a new crime boss known only as The Rainmaker has been ordering these mass executions of older retired Loopers, so the older Joe once again escapes. The two later meet up at a diner, where older Joe claims to know of three possible identities of The Rainmaker. Abe (Jeff Daniels), the present-day boss running the Loopers, dispatches a team of his GAT men led by Kid Blue (Noah Segan) to the diner to take out both Joes, who escape the gunfight with younger Joe taking the part of the map that reveals the location of one of the possible future Rainmaker identities, a farmhouse inhabited by Sara (Emily Blunt) and her young son Cid (Pierce Gagnon).
Looper is not a film for everyone – this is a dark and violent science fiction thriller, and none of the characters are very likable (with the exception of Sara). However, the story with its twists and turns is well told (although I thought the ending was a cop out) at a moderate enough pace to keep your mind from wandering, and the performances are excellent.
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
Looper was filmed on 35mm film stock and completed as a 2K digital intermediate in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. For this UHD release, Sony has allowed director Rian Johnson to supervise and approve the color timing and use of HDR (the disc includes both Dolby Vision and HDR10), and the results are exceptional. The image has a nice layer of fine grain throughout, yet darker sequences never suffer from an over abundance of grain or noise. Shadow detail is excellent as well, allowing for deep blacks that never appear murky, while lighter daytime scenes never appear clipped or blown out. Colors, especially flesh tones, appear natural and vivid without being over saturated.
Audio: 5/5
The new default Dolby Atmos track, also approved by Rian Johnson, is exceptional, building on the already great 5.1 mix (included on the disc in DTS-HD MA). The Atmos track presents a much wider and more expansive soundstage, particularly in the urban settings of the film, where street sounds, helicopters, gun shots come at you from all directions (chapter 8 is an excellent example). LFE is strong, adding necessary impact to gunshots. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.
Special Features: 4/5
There are no extras on the UHD disc (not even the commentary track). Sony has included the original Blu-ray release of the film from 2012, which had a nice set of extras.
Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Rian Johnson and Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt
Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (1080p; 36:50)
The Future from the Beginning (1080p; 7:52)
The Science of Time Travel (1080p; 8:29)
Scoring “Looper” (1080p; 16:18
Looper Animated Trailer (1080p; 1:34)
Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem a digital copy in UHD on Movies Anywhere. Unfortunately, at the time of this review, none of the participating services I use (Movies Anywhere, Vudu, Apple TV, Prime Video, and even YouTube/Google Play) offer the movie with any kind of HDR and only 5.1 audio.
Overall: 4/5
Looper is not for everyone due to its dark themes and violence, but Sony’s new director-approved transfer (which the E-One import lacks) is stellar.
Looper [4K UHD]
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Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.
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