Morbius Blu-ray review

Jun 30, 2022- Permalink

As if the world isn’t polarized enough right now, Morbius has viewers dividing into love it or hate it camps. (Okay that might be like it or hate it, but who has time to nitpick?) Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the film stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, who has lived with a blood disease his entire life. As a child, he befriended a surrogate brother, Milo, who had the same condition. As an adult, he has become a scientist whose research into the condition is being funded by a now wealthy Milo (Matt Smith). He develops a cure with the help of some vampire bat blood. Instead of side effects like itchy skin and a dry cough, this cure’s side effects turn him into a vampire with superhuman strength and a lust for blood. He tries to curb his appetites, but will other’s wanting the cure be able to do so? Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the movie in 4K and Blu-ray. I had a chance to review the Blu-ray version.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a sharp image with excellent detail in textiles, facial features and environments. The colour palette is wide with some scenes bathed in silvers, greys and blues, while others have a more natural palette and of course, the blood is a vivid red. Black levels are pretty good, with the occasional move towards purple and some details can be lost in darker scenes. There is some occasional noise in the image, but no compression artifacts to speak of.

On the audio side, a Dolby Atmos track is reserved for the 4K UHD release, while this Blu-ray release comes with English, French and Portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks as well as Spanish and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional) and Thai. Your surrounds get a nice workout as effects and ambient sounds move throughout the soundscape and your subwoofer gets to add some serious oomph to the proceedings. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The Morbius Blu-ray come with a DVD copy and a Digital code. Bonus features include outtakes and bloopers, a look at director Espinosa, an exploration of Mobius’ anti-hero status, looks at the stunt work and supporting cast, a “cheat sheet” on the movie’s Easter eggs, a look at the visual effects and some trailers. Please note that the version I received had a digital code. I understand some international versions might not, so check with your retailer.

The Morbius Blu-ray comes with excellent sound and video and an okay collection of extras. If you saw it in the cinema or via streaming and enjoyed it, then you might want to add this to your collection.