Pacific Rim (4K Ultra HD BD) [4K UHD]

Pacific Rim

When an alien attack threatens the Earth's existence, giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.

Pacific Rim's UHD release, even supposedly sourced from a 2K digital intermediate (via 5K native digital photography), improves upon the stellar, previously released 2015 Blu-ray in every way: textural clarity, color, and black level perfection. It's not a runaway improvement, though, if only because the Blu-ray is so good on its own merits, but whether directly comparing the releases or enjoying the movie's UHD presentation on its own, the UHD's upper-end qualities are easy too identify. Clarity of detail and vibrancy and depth of colors and blacks are obvious from the outset, as electric blues and fiery reds emerge to begin the movie, building in complexity and intensity with incredible eye-catching results. Conducting an A-B compare does indeed reveal the refinements to the colors, adding stability, depth, and nuance, increasing brilliance but presenting with a modestly more firm and organic and a little less showy appearance. Such holds true with every color, including the abundantly colorful holographic hues seen in various command center computer consoles. Blue Kaiju accents, fireballs, orange sparks, every color presents with a level of saturation and intensity and authenticity that the Blu-ray cannot match and reveals some of the finest implementations of the HDR10 format yet seen on UHD, certainly aided a bit as the colors pop against and contrast with many of the film's bleaker backgrounds, particularly during battles out on the seas at night between creature and robot. Additionally, black levels are impressively stout, capturing perfect depth and increased shadow detail for the duration, where not only is simple nighttime depth improved but also black apparel and lower light locations.

Improvements to detail are not at all subtle, but neither are the improvements astronomically significant, again referring back to a previously established top-end Blu-ray. There's a clear uptick in sharpness and overall clarity when comparing the two. Skin textures find much more nuanced clarity and revelatory detail in pores and hairs. Scuffed armor and fabric clothes are also much more refined, and even digital effects, whether mechanical Jaegers or organic Kaiju, enjoy ample upticks in clarity and definition. Idris Elba's face reveals a strong boost in general sharpness and complexity, as does his dense fabric military uniform. Environments, from dense city streets to clustered and somewhat claustrophobic Jaeger interiors, from open waters to large military bases, all are showcases of elemental and manmade object clarity where there's not a smudge, smeary corner, or lacking detail to be found. Pacific Rim's UHD is certainly fantastic. It's about the best-case scenario for a 2K upscale yet seen on the format, considering both the gorgeously popping HDR colors and more solidified textural accuracy. It's a five-star release, even if the improvements over the Blu-ray constitute only a single leap rather than several.

Pacific Rim and Dolby Atmos. Enough said, really. But for the sake of filling in the space, a few highlights: commanding stage saturation, bass so intense it can be heard and felt throughout the house, action scenes so robust and involved that every speaker melts in favor of chaotic intensity. Ocean waves crash with so much power and effortless flow that it's a miracle the listener comes out of the experience dry. City debris scatters with so much precision placement that it's a wonder that smoldering ruins in the home theater aren't the result. Kaiju screams and mechanical Jaeger effects are so pronounced the listener might be tempted to flee in terror. The added overhead channels contribute mightily, not always with firm, identifiable effects but certainly in rounding out the environment, complimenting and completing much of the action, and immersing the listener into the movie's all-out assault of sonic intensity. It's the perfect compliment to the 4K/HDR visuals, making Pacific Rim one of the go-to all-around reference UHD releases, up there with the Transformers titles. The only flaw of note is dialogue that sounds a little tinny and hollow around the 36:20 mark, but otherwise everything is exemplary in presentation; audio today just doesn't get much better than this.