General Evans Above Archive for Nov 04, 2022
Yellowstone: The Dutton Legacy Collection Giftset Blu-ray review
Nov 04, 2022 – permalink
The neo-Western drama Yellowstone, created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, has been a cultural phenomenon spawning both water cooler conversations about the Dutton family and a spin-off, 1883, that tracks the ranch’s origins. Corrupt politicians, corrupt businesses and family chaos have kept people glued to the TV. The original series stars Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Cole Hauser, and Gil Birmingham while 1883 stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen and James Landry Hébert. To get newer fans up to date — and to extract some more money from collectors — Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing Yellowstone: The Dutton Legacy Collection Giftset Blu-ray. It bundles together seasons 1 — 4 of Yellowstone and 1883 into a decorative cardboard case and adds some Yellowstone coasters for your binge-watching whisky.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfers are presented in a 2.0:1 aspect ratio. They’re really good looking Blu-rays with a clear, sharp image. Details are sharp from facial features and textiles to the interiors and landscapes. The colour palette is well saturated, from the many hues of terrain and foliage, the wide open blue skies, and the muted tones of the ranchers’ clothing. Black levels are nice and deep with detail in the shadows. It’s a great looking collection.
On the audio side, the discs come have an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. The track is heavily favoured to the front with the surrounds used sparingly to add some atmospheric effects and action. The score is dynamic and dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.
Yellowstone: The Dutton Legacy Collection Giftset totals sixteen Blu-ray discs and packages the original seasons in their individual clamshell cases as well as including the aforementioned coasters. There are no digital codes. Each disc contains various episode overviews and behind-the-scenes production featurettes.
If you or someone you love has somehow managed to not yet see Yellowstone, then the Yellowstone: The Dutton Legacy Collection Giftset would be a nice way to get up to date with the show.
Top Gun: Maverick 4K review
Nov 04, 2022 – permalink
It’s been 36 (!) years since Top Gun gave film-goers a shot of high speed, high altitude fun and audiences and critics alike have said that its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, was worth the wait with a perfect blend of action and poignant moments. A huge success at the box office, the film is now available for your home library with Paramount’s 4K release. I had a chance to take a look.
Tom Cruise returns as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who is now a test pilot pushing new plans past their limits. His antics have always seemed to have him on the verge of dismissal, but this time around he’s called back to the Top Gun training facility to prepare a new batch of pilots for a very dangerous mission that will require the skills that Maverick has to teach. One of the pilots, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller) is the son of Goose, Maverick’s late radar intercept officer and best friend. Rooster blames Maverick for his dad’s death and the pair frequently clash. The movie also stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris.
The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio for most scenes and the IMAX aspect ratio of 1.90:1 for action sequences. The video presentation looks amazing with fantastic detail in facial features, environments and textiles. The colour palette and contrast is amazing as well, with bright blue skies, white clouds, and scorching sunlight. The HDR adds to the highlights of fiery explosions and metallic reflections, while the black levels are deep and allow for detail to remain in darker moments and shadows. I’m going to say it again, it looks amazing.
On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 as well as Czech, Spanish, Latin Spanish, French Canadian, Italian, Hungarian and Polish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, and Thai. I’m going to use that word again: the audio on this disc is amazing. The Atmos soundtrack places you in the cockpit and in the middle of every scene with perfection. You subwoofer will rock you with every explosion or knock you back as the jet engines thunder fighter jets through the sky. The score is powerful and dynamic, while dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized. This is the type of movie that people will use to show off their home theatres.
The 4K disc comes with a digital code. Bonus features include featurettes on the flight sequences and training the cast went through, a look at the production complexities of shooting the aviation scenes, a look at Cruise’s love for flying, a piece on the creation of the test vehicle Maverick flew, a 49 minute interview with Cruise at the Cannes Film Festival, and music videos from Lady Gaga and Onerepublic.
I’ve used the word amazing a lot, but the Top Gun: Maverick 4K deserves it. Of course it’s recommended.