General Evans Above Archive for Apr 06, 2022

Jack Reacher 4k SteelBook

Apr 06, 2022 – permalink

2012’s Jack Reacher has been given the 4K UHD SteelBook treatment by Paramount. The video and audio content is identical to the 2018 release, but since I have not seen that release I will review it below.

Jack Reacher, written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie and based on Lee Child’s book One Shot, stars Tom Cruise as the titular character. Reacher, a former Army MP who has mostly dropped off the grid, finds himself involved in the investigation of a series of murders that point to a former Army sniper. Cruise is joined by Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Jai Courtney, Joseph Sikora and Robert Duvall.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The image looks great, with sharpness and clarity that really stands out with facial textures, fabrics and environmental elements. The colour palette is vibrant, whites are bright and the black levels are nice and deep with excellent detail present in shadows and darker scenes.

On the audio side, your ears have a choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track as well as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, and Swedish. The audio track is the same 7.1 track from a previous Blu-ray release, so if you have Atmos speakers, they can take the night off and catch up with family and friends. The 7.1 soundtrack is no slouch and provides an excellent experience. Your surrounds put you firmly into the action. Gunshots are powerful. The score is rich and dynamic and dialogue is clear and well-prioritized.

As far as extras go, the new thing with this release is the SteelBook collectible case, which features Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher against a dark background. It conveys an ominous mood without going overboard. The actual 4K disc contains two commentary tracks while the rest of the special features are on the included Blu-ray disc. They include the two previously mentioned commentaries from Cruise and McQuarrie and composer Joe Kramer, an almost half-hour featurette with the cast and crew, a look at the fight choreography, and an interview with author Lee Child. A digital code is also included.

If you collect SteelBook editions or don’t have the previous Jack Reacher 4K then this is for you. Excellent audio and video presentations coupled with a nice little set of extras makes this a nice get for fans of Tom Cruise or action films in general.