Snow White, Disney’s live action remake, arrives on 4K physical media looking and sounding great, but that’s about it.
The Production: 3/5
It is likely safe to assume that most who read this review are at least vaguely familiar with the basic storyline of Snow White. Snow White (Rachel Zegler) is the daughter of the Good King (Hadley Fraser). When the Good Queen (Lorena Andrea) dies of a sudden illness, the Good King remarries the Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) who then plots to take over the kingdom, at first by getting rid of the King, and then in a jealous rage prompted by the Magic Mirror (Patrick Page) arranges for Snow White’s death by one of her loyal Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) while out picking apples in an orchard. The Huntsman can’t bring himself to kill the princess, instead telling Snow White to run far away and never return. While fleeing, she happens upon a small cottage in the woods inhabited by seven dwarf miners who reluctantly at first take her in.
Much has been written and discussed about this latest “remake” of Disney’s animated classic from 1937, and I won’t go into most of that here. Did the creators veer too far from the source material? Possibly, but there have been so many different versions of this tale (including the origin of Snow White’s name) it is hard to tell. Perhaps the biggest change is the character of Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who takes the place of “Prince Charming,” making him a commoner and more of a Robin Hood type character who is initially caught stealing food in the castle by Snow White (the typical meet-cute), and unlike the 1937 animated classic, this version takes time to develop a relationship between the two making the awakening kiss less creepy. I found the performances just fine, with Gal Gadot going appropriately over the top as the Evil Queen. Where the film falters is its unmemorable songs penned by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman, Spirited) – the only holdovers from the 1937 film are re-workings of Whistle While You Work, Heigh-Ho and The Silly Song. I also found Marc Webb’s (The Amazing Spider-Man, Gifted) direction to be rather flat and making the seven dwarfs CGI characters added a very uncanny valley feel whenever they were on screen. I went into this film with very low expectations expecting a complete disaster and it ultimately exceeded those expectations. But that’s not saying much.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
Snow White was captured in 4.5k resolution using Arri Alexa LF and Mini LF cameras and completed as a 4K digital intermediate in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Vision HDR for its premium format exhibitions. This is definitely a beautiful looking film, and Disney’s UHD disc delivers the goods with its 2160p HEVC encode that includes both Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range. Detail is phenomenal, revealing exquisite fabric textures in the costumes and scenic design. Colors pop with vibrancy yet never appear over-saturated, especially once we arrive in the forest. Contrast is excellent, providing deep blacks with strong shadow detail, with Gal Gadot’s costumes and dark palace retaining high levels of detail regardless of how almost pitch black some of those sequences appear to be.
Audio: 5/5
The default Dolby Atmos track on the UHD disc is stunning, really immersing the viewer into the spacious halls of the castle, the deep mining cave and the vast forest by replicating the acoustic qualities of those locations, not to mention the enveloping score. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.
Special Features: 2.5/5
Although Disney has included a few extras on the UHD disc, the bulk can be found on the included Blu-ray edition.
UHD Disc
Sing-Along Version: Watch the film with on-screen karaoke-style lyrics, accessible from the PLAY submenu.
Song Selection: Access individual song sequences from the film.
Blu-ray Disc
Sing-Along Version: Watch the film with on-screen karaoke-style lyrics, accessible from the PLAY submenu.
Song Selection: Access individual song sequences from the film.
Fearless, Fair, Brave and True: “Making Snow White” (1080p; 11:40): Very typical EPK piece on the making of the film and the legacy of the 1937 version.
Merry Tunes (1080p; 9:29): A look at many of the songs featured in the film.
Fairy Tale Fashion (1080p; 8:53): The film’s costume design.
Bloopers (1080p; 2:28)
Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2:20): Three very brief sequences are included.
Digital Copy: A Movies Anywhere code is included.
Overall: 3.5/5
Disney’s 2025 live action version of Snow White is not quite as bad as it could have been, but at least if looks and sounds great.
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