Fully Immersed, Volume 29
Is it really almost Christmas? When did that happen? I feel like I'm just waking up from my Thanksgiving turkey coma and here we are with only seven shopping days left. If you're shopping for the home theater lover in your family, there are plenty of immersive audio titles to choose from. And the year isn't over yet. Here are a few more titles we'll see hitting store shelves before New Year's Day or shortly thereafter:
I plan to cover at least a few of the above titles soon so watch this space. In the meantime, here are a few of the latest immersive audio releases I've been listening to...
BlacKkKlansman
Universal | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on Blu-ray, 4K UHD
Spike Lee's latest joint is earning the famed director some of his best reviews in years - and that praise is well deserved. Lee's BlacKkKlansman is a sharp and provocative film about race relations centered on the bizarre, true story of how a black rookie police officer in Colorado Springs launched a sting operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1970s. It's unfortunate and more than a little sad that the film feels so incredibly timely and urgent given the current political climate in this country. Universal presents the film on disc with both the standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD edition receiving a capable Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Being a largely dialogue-driven film, the height channels aren't given a lot to do here, but they do round things out nicely here and there. There's one scene early in the film where a heavily-attended indoor speech makes good use of the additional channels; reverberation of the speaker's voice and animated crowd noises fill the surround and overhead channels to create a compelling sense of immersion. Highly recommended.
Kin
Lionsgate | Buy Now | DTS:X available on Blu-ray, 4K UHD
I'll admit: when I first saw the trailer for Kin - a serious and dramatic film about a boy who finds an alien's "ray gun" in an abandoned warehouse - I thought it looked pretty ridiculous. And if I had to write a plot summary of the film, the space gun is indeed part of the story - but thankfully, and to my pleasant surprise, the gun plays a relatively small role in the proceedings here. At its core, Kin is the story of two brothers and their complicated relationship with each other and their tough love father (Dennis Quaid). As the story unfolds, Kin morphs into a road movie, with the boys on the run from a drug dealer (a convincingly unstable James Franco) and the manager of a benevolent stripper the boys befriend along the way (Zoe Kravitz). The film ends on an intriguing note clearly gunning for a sequel, pardon the expression. Lionsgate presents Kin on disc with both the standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD edition receiving a solid DTS:X soundtrack. Kin ends up being a character-driven story, so there's a lot more clear and intelligible dialogue than there is sci-fi action. However, whenever that gun does get picked up, the soundtrack does the same, with each blast tearing through the sound stage to great effect. Overhead channels add to the listener's sense of immersion during the final firefight at the police station and bass is sufficiently deep when appropriate.
The Meg
Warner | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on Blu-ray, 4K UHD
Given that Jason Statham has already battled against armored war machines (Death Race), Latin dictators and their private armies (The Expendables), and The Rock's biceps (Furious 7), it's clear that he needed a bigger foe. Enter the Meg, a massive, prehistoric shark hell bent on establishing himself as the top of the food chain. Think Tremors, only lacking the charm provided by Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon. Instead we get Statham alongside Bingbing Li (Forbidden Kingdom), Ruby Rose (Pitch Perfect 3), Cliff Curtis (Sunshine), and Rain Wilson ("The Office"). What The Meg lacks in charm and personality, it makes up for with a superb Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which Warner presents as an option on both the standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD edition. In a film like this, where large portions of the film take place underwater and in submersible watercraft, opportunities for immersion abound. The overhead channel speakers are cleverly used for creaking hulll sounds, diffuse intercom audio, enhancing the sense of claustrophobia, and better conveying the sound of someone bursting from the water into the open air. The film poses no threat to Jaws - or even Deep Blue Sea - in the Shark Movie power rankings, but this high energy Dolby Atmos soundtrack is not to be missed.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Paramount | Buy Now | Dolby Atmos available on 4K UHD only
Very few action and adventure franchises can make the claim that they're getting better with each new installment. Fast Five was a high water mark for the long-running Fast and the Furious franchise, but the subsequent three films are heading in the wrong direction. I dare say Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible films are in a league of their own; M:I 3 righted the ship in a major way and things have only improved since then, with this year's Fallout arguably now the best one yet. Many familiar faces are back and the movie's pair of IMAX-filmed sequences alone are worth the price of admission - especially the climactic helicopter chase. Tom Cruise and Director Chris McQuarrie seem to be each other's muses and I for one can't wait to see what they do next. Paramount does the film justice on disc, delivering an outstanding Dolby Atmos soundtrack to both the standard Blu-ray and the 4K Ultra HD. The aforementioned helicopter scene is a face-melting blast, with overhead rotors and engine warning alarms placing the listener smack dab in the middle of the action. Machine gun fire and the resulting chopper maneuvering exhibit great directionality and panning. Bass is appropriately deep when called for, such as the thumping stroll through a night club preceeding the best bathroom fight in movie history. In short, Fallout is a five star action flick - the best in years - and Paramount has given it an equally impressive Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Highly Recommended.
Speaking of Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie, here's a great little video the pair made recently to raise awareness and help fight an important social issue - improperly configured video interpolation on HDTVs:
I’m taking a quick break from filming to tell you the best way to watch Mission: Impossible Fallout (or any movie you love) at home. pic.twitter.com/oW2eTm1IUA
— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) December 4, 2018
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