The Green Mile UHD Review

Warner’s new UHD release of The Green Mile is a new benchmark for nearly all catalog releases on the format.

The Production: 4.5/5

For Stephen King, The Green Mile was something of an experiment with releasing a serialized novel in six volumes over a six month period in 1996, and ultimately released as a single novel the following year. Frank Darabont, who wrote and directed the movie adaptation of King’s novella The Shawshank Redemption (released as part of the book Different Seasons as Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption), was offered first crack at the movie rights to The Green Mile based on King’s very positive reaction to Darabont’s directorial debut. Darabont was reluctant at first, not wanting to pigeon-hole himself as only directing prison dramas based on Stephen King novels. After reading the first volume, The Two Dead Girls, Darabont was hooked and secured the rights from the novelist, even though King was holding back all future novels, only allowing Darabont to read them upon release to bookstores.

Comparisons can be drawn between the two films, but other than both being set in a prison and one other character note (not to spoil those who have not yet screen this classic), The Green Mile is more of a dark fantasy than Shawshank’s more dramatic roots. The Green Mile is writer-director Frank Darabont’s crowning achievement, thanks to his well-paced screenplay and directing (despite a 3+ hour running time) and a solid cast of actors who deliver a terrific ensemble, including Tom Hanks (who always seems to be great) as cell block leader Paul Edgecomb, David Morse as his second in command Brutal, Barry Pepper and Jeffrey DeMunn rounding out Paul’s crew, Doug Hutchison as the cowardly bully Percy Wetmore, James Cromwell as the Warden, Bonnie Hunt as Paul’s wife, Patricia Clarkson as the Warden’s wife, Michael Clarke Duncan as inmate Joe Coffey who has a special power, with Graham Greene, Michael Jeter, and Sam Rockwell as the other death-row inmates. Keep an eye open for cameos by William Sadler, Harry Dean Stanton, Brian Libby, and Gary Sinise.

You can read Cameron Yee’s excellent review of the 2009 Blu-ray release here.

Video: 5/5

3D Rating: NA

Warner’s new UHD disc release of The Green Mile is absolutely stunning. Originally photographed on 35mm film stock, Warner has created a new 4K digital intermediate and for this disc release has included HDR10 high dynamic range on its HEVC-encoded 2160p transfer, which retains the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There is a night and day difference between this new UHD transfer and the older 1080p transfer seen on the included 2009 Blu-ray. Colors appear much more natural, detail is much more defined (such as the light green painted prison bars with their painted over flecks of rust, and the pores on the actors’ faces). Contrast is also improved, with deeper blacks with strong shadow detail and highlights that never appear washed out. There are still a few shots that appear a bit soft, but those are comprised of multiple optical effects on top of one another.

Audio: 5/5

Dolby Atmos is the only English option on this disc, and it is a very welcome new mix that expands on the previous (and still very good) 5.1 theatrical mix. The additional channels and spatial audio aspects allow this track to be much more immersive, adding more emphasis to things like thunder, the build-up of electricity, the reverberation of the cell block, etc. LFE is strong where needed. Thomas Newman’s score also benefits in this mix, allowing for the quiet Mouse on the Mile theme to be even more enjoyable to listen to. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.

Special Features: 3.5/5

Warner manages to squeeze Frank Darabont’s excellent audio commentary on to the UHD disc, but other than that, all of the special features are on the included 2009 Blu-ray release.

Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Frank Darabont: this track is accessible on both the UHD and Blu-ray versions of the film.

Walking the Mile: The Making of The Green Mile (480i; 25.30): This is the shorter version, but the preferred “extended” version is available as a bonus feature when redeeming your digital copy code on Movies Anywhere.

Miracles and Mystery: Creating the Green Mile (480i; 102:54)

Deleted Scenes (480i; 3:38)

Michael Clark Duncan Screen Test (480i; 8:26)

Tom Hanks Make-up Test (480i; 5:30)

The Teaser Trailer: A Case Study (480i; 4:47)

Teaser Trailer (480i; 1:58)

Theatrical Trailer (480i; 2:23)

Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem a UHD digital copy on Movies Anywhere.

Overall: 4.5/5

Warner’s new UHD release of The Green Mile sets a new standard in terms of audio and video for the studio on catalog releases. Recommended.

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Todd Erwin

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.