Evans Above

Transformers One is a CG-animated origin story that looks at the start of Optimus Prime (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and their evolution from good friends to sworn enemies. Other residents of Cybertron are voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm. Paramount has released a 4K disc of the movie, including a collectible version with a SteelBook case, which I had a chance to take a look at.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The CG-animation looks great with sharp detail on the metallic surfaces of the characters. The colour palette is wide from darker hues to bright primaries and the HDR colour grading punches up the highlights, while the blacks are nice and deep. No real evidence of crushing or banding. Just a real nice animated presentation.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack which folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1. There are also French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Mandarin. The height channels have the characters flying overhead, while the surrounds immerse you in the action. The low frequency mix will definitely rattle a few things during chases and battles. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The Transformers One 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code. Bonus material includes the filmmakers discussing the origin story, director Josh Cooley and the production design and visual effects team discussing the building of Cybertron, a look at the voice cast, a scene breakdown of the big race, and a look at the film’s climactic battle. The SteelBook case features alternate cover artwork. The front of the case has a large image of Optimus with silhouttes of the other characters walking out of a circle of light on his chest. The back cover features the four main characters after they can transform, with their vehicle shapes below them. The inside artwork features the four main characters.

While fans of the Transformers franchise as a whole will enjoy this origin story, an extra level of nostalgia will hit those who watched the animated series on TV back in the 1980s. The Transformers One 4K delivers great audio and video, plus a handful of extras. For collectors, the SteelBook packaging is an extra draw.

Dean Parisot’s 1999 comedy Galaxy Quest is both a parody of, and an homage to, the Star Trek show and fans. Tim Allen plays Jason Nesmith, an actor who starred in a 1970s sci-fi show called Galaxy Quest as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, who helmed the starship NSEA Protector. Nesmith now spends most of his time attending fan conventions with his former cast: Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), who played Lieutenant Tawny Madison, the ship’s communications officer, Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), who played Dr. Lazarus, the ship’s science officer, Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub), who played Tech Sergeant Chen, the ship’s chief engineer, and Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell), a child actor during the series who played a precocious child pilot. The Thermians, a group of aliens led by Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni), have intercepted the show’s broadcasts and believe it to be a historical record of a real ship’s adventures and request the help of their heroes to protect them from Sarris (Robin Sachs). Can the group of actors find in themselves the bravery their characters had and help this alien race? The cast of Galaxy Quest also includes Sam Rockwell, Patrick Breen, Missi Pyle, Jed Rees, Justin Long, Jeremy Howard, Kaitlin Cullum, Jonathan Feyer, Heidi Swedberg, Wayne Péré, Samuel Lloyd, Rainn Wilson and Joe Frank. The movie is celebrating its 25th anniversary and Paramount has released a 4K version that I’ve had a chance to look at.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 begins with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio before moving to 1.85:1 and 2.39:1. These aspect ratio changes are an artistic choice moving from the original series, the convention world, and finally the adventure the cast embarks on. I’m making an assumption that it’s an upscaled 4K as Paramount’s press notes don’t explicitly state what elements were scanned in 4K but effect were most likely capped at 2K then. That’s actually a little more technical than I usually dive into as I don’t generally count pixels and care more about a) the movie itself and b) how it looks and how that serves those who love it. How does it look? The image looks sharp with excellent detail in facial features, textiles and environments. There’s also a pleasing level of film grain. Colours, from bold primaries to subdues greys, look very good and black levels are deep without any crush.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 as well as French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. For laughs, there’s also a Dolby Digital 2.0 track in the alien Thermian language. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. The Atmos track puts the height channels to good use with action and music cues and the surrounds place you in the scene, whether it’s in space or at the conventions. Your subwoofer gets a nice workout too and dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

The Galaxy Quest 4K comes with a digital code, but no Blu-ray disc. Once again, a digital code is not available in Canada. A SteelBook edition is also available for those who like those collectible cases. There is one new bonus feature, a Filmmaker Focus with director Dean Parisot, while the legacy materials include some lengthy production and cast featurettes, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer.

Galaxy Quest is both a loving spoof and tribute to sci-fi fandom and a funny movie in its own right with a great cast. Combined with great audio and video and nice features, the Galaxy Quest 4K is easy to recommend.

Black Friday sales used to be a uniquely US thing, but then companies around the world started thinking that starting sales a month or so before Christmas and other seasonal holidays seemed like a good idea.

Warner Brothers had great TV releases throughout the year and I have been lucky to have the opportunity to review many of these, so let’s take a look at some of the titles. I’ll use WB’s copy for the descriptions, then link to our reviews.

Captain Planet: Complete Franchise DVD – “The Planeteers, five teenagers from different parts of the earth, each receive a ring of elemental power—earth, wind, water, fire or heart—to combat eco-villains everywhere in the world. And when they combine the powers of their rings, a new superhero, Captain Planet, is created, with powers far greater than the sum of the five.” Check out our review.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series DVD – “Starring Larry David as an over-the-top version of himself, the iconic Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm offers a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the writer/producer/comedian’s fictionalized life. The comedy series continues to prove how seemingly trivial details of one’s day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events.” Check out our review.

Friends: The Complete Series 4K – “As FRIENDS marks its 30th anniversary this year, the beloved TV series continues to hold an enduring place in popular culture and hearts worldwide. With its witty humour, relatable characters, and memorable catchphrases, FRIENDS transcends generations with its universal appeal, making it a classic that continues to bring joy and laughter to fans around the world.” Check out our review.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4K – “Every Who down in Who-ville likes Christmas a lot, but the Grinch who lived just north of Who-ville did NOT! So, the cuddly as a cactus Grinch (with termites in his smile and garlic in his soul) tries to wipe out Christmas for the cheerful Who-villains, only to discover – maybe Christmas, he thought doesn’t come from as store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more! Magnificently narrated by Boris Karloff and animated by cartoon legend Chuck Jones, it’s an award-winning Who-roast-beast-feast of a holiday classic!__” Check out our review.

Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-7 DVD – “Rick and Morty is the critically acclaimed, half-hour animated hit comedy series on Adult Swim that follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his inherently timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. Rick Sanchez is living with his daughter Beth’s family and constantly bringing her, his son-in-law Jerry, granddaughter Summer, and grandson Morty into intergalactic escapades.” Check out our review.

Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way (Seasons 1-3) Blu-ray or DVD – “In a bitter divorce settlement from her billionaire husband Rupert Mannion, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) becomes the new owner of British football club AFC Richmond. She’s assisted by her Director of Football Operations, Higgins (Jeremy Swift), who formerly worked for her husband. Her first order of business is to fire the team’s current manager and replace him with an idealistic all-American football coach Theodore “Ted” Lasso (Jason Sudeikis). Ted and his friend, assistant Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) cross the pond to take up the management of the team’s “long, albeit modest” history. Ted gets to know the team – including Team Captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), top scorer Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and more – but finds his first friend in the locker room assistant Nathan (Nick Mohammed). Half a world away from his wife and child, Ted could use a friend. But he presses on, nevertheless. Richmond is about to change the way they’re doing things — and from now on — that is the Lasso way.” Check out our review.

Veep: The Complete Series Blu-ray – “Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the Vice President of the United States in this hilarious HBO comedy series. Each episode follows her whirlwind day-to-day existence as she puts out political fires, juggles public and private demands and defends the interests of the chief executive—with whom she shares a uniquely dysfunctional relationship.” Check out our review.

The West Wing: The Complete Series Blu-ray – “Widely considered one of the best series of all time, The West Wing remains a landmark achievement in television, earning 26 Emmys, including four for Outstanding Drama Series. With its sharp writing and memorable ensemble cast, the show continues to inspire audiences with its intimate look at the triumphs, sacrifices and inner politics of the White House.” Check out our review.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate at this time of the year. Happy festive viewing!

The sitcom Friends may have had its highly-successful run between 1994 and 2004 but it’s still a pop culture juggernaut. It can be found all over syndication and streaming platforms keep the show’s memory going as well. The series, about six young adults finding their way through love and work in New York City, starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. It celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, a celebration made bittersweet by the tragic death of Perry in 2023. Warner Brothers has marked the anniversary by releasing Friends: The Complete Series on 4K. The release was back in September, but I had a chance to review the set as part of Warner Brothers’ holiday gift suggestions. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Just like the Blu-ray and syndicated/streaming versions before it, this aspect ratio differs from the 1.33:1 aspect ratio the show was originally broadcast in and framed for. What does that mean? It means that the original shots for the show were filmed in widescreen and then cropped into the square image for broadcast. The extended visuals on the sides of the frame were never meant to be seen. Though for the most part the widescreen image is not an issue if you’re not an aspect ratio purist, there is the occasional goof like seeing a stand-in instead of a co-star or seeing production tape marks on the floor. It’s not a huge issue, but it does make for a fun “Did you see that?” game. Though the sets, textiles and faces do have more detail than before, I am a little confused why such a milestone show would have roughly 12 episodes on each disc. That’s over 4 hours a disc and doesn’t give the episodes room to breathe, leading to some compression artifacts. Shot on film, the series does have a generally pleasing grain structure, though the last season or two does seem to have some digital noise reduction applied leading to some occasionally waxy faces. The colour palette also seems to be pushed a little to the vivid end at times. Sometimes the colours can seem very bold and the skin tones tend to make everyone look like they just had Ross’ spray tan accident. I don’t usually tend to be obsessed over pixels and HDR — I’m ecstatic to see this show, let alone any TV show get a 4K release — but I guess I’m a little amazed that a show with such a mass appeal (which translates potentially to good sales numbers) wouldn’t get a little extra tender loving care. So does it generally look very good? Yes. To channel Chandler, “Could it be any better?” Also, yes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, as well as German, French, Japanese, and Castilian-Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, German SDH, French, Japanese, Castilian Spanish, Latin Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Dutch, and Mandarin (Traditional). The lossless audio soundtrack is bright and dynamic, the music sounds great, and the surrounds get some work with ambient effects and studio reactions. Dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix. Obviously this is a sitcom and not some bone-rattling action flick, but the new lossless audio track is an improvement over the previous Blu-ray release.

The Friends: The Complete Series 4K has the show’s 236 episodes spread over 23 discs with an additional two Blu-ray discs containing most of the special features. There is no digital code. The 4K discs contain audio commentaries for almost 30 of the episodes from producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane. The Blu-rays contain the legacy bonus materials plus two new pieces – one showing off the props and costumes and another with trivia questions. Legacy features include various production pieces, a look at their time in London, the “Smelly Cat” music video, The Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There For You” music video and trio of short docs. Oddly, extended versions of a few of the episodes can still only be found on the earlier DVD release and the HBO Max reunion from a few years ago is also missing.

The Friends: The Complete Series 4K does have some issues with its video presentation but does add in a new lossless audio soundtrack. If you or a loved one are Friends fans, it still makes a nice present for the holidays, but keep an eye out for sales as it is a pricey collection. For fans of the show, I’ll say it’s a recommendation, but keep those caveats in mind.

Ted Lasso quickly became a fan favourite due to the great writing, fantastic cast and eternal optimism of the show’s titular character. After a divorce from her billionaire husband, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) gets ownership of the British football club AFC Richmond. Working alongside her Director of Football Operations, Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift), she plots to sabotage the team — one of the few things her ex loved — by hiring a coach inexperienced in the sport. Enter Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American football coach from Kansas. He may know nothing about this football, but his kindness and optimistic coaching style may put a kink in Rebecca’s plans. The series also stars Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, and Juno Temple. Warner Bros. released Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way on Blu-ray back in July and I’ve recently had a chance to look at it as part of their holiday gift guide suggestions. This three-season set was actually supposed to be a complete series set, but shortly after release word came out that Apple TV+ had picked up options on some of the cast members and were negotiating with others to get most on board and storylines nailed down. Season 4 should begin shooting in 2025. Back to the Blu-ray… The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.00:1 aspect ratio. The show streams on Apple TV+ in 4K, so some may wonder why that format isn’t being used here. As always, it boils down to sales. Blu-rays still outsell 4K discs and, yes, DVDs still outsell both. So while this is a downscale, keep in mind that due to online compression and speed throttling by your ISP, a physical Blu-ray can often come out looking better than a 4K stream. Will a 4K be available in the future? Time will tell. Anyway, the Blu-ray has great detail in facial features, textiles and environments. Black levels are nice and deep and the reds and blues and greens are bold. I didn’t notice any compression artifacts or digital noise. It’s a very nice video presentation.

On the audio side of things, the set comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Though the Apple TV+ stream offers an Atmos track, we aren’t really missing much with the 5.1 track presented here. The surrounds will place you in the locker room (minus the post game odours) and the dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

The 34 episodes of the three seasons are presented on seven discs. A digital code is not included. There are no special features on the discs — surely a commentary by Sudeikis and the cast would have been hilarious — but we do get a “Believe” poster.

If you love the show and want a physical copy or you don’t subscribe to Apple TV+ and want to finally see what everyone’s talking about the Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way Blu-ray let’s you experience the heartfelt laughs and positive vibes with a very good Blu-ray presentation. Recommended.

For some of us, there is only one Grinch that matters and that’s Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the 1966 animated TV special that was narrated by the one and only Boris Karloff and animated by the legendary Chuck Jones. Though the Grinch sets out to remove all the presents and glitz of Christmas from the village of Whoville, his heart becomes touched by the spirit of the season. It’s as much a Christmas must today as it was in 1966. Warner Brothers released a 4K version of the animated special back in October 2024 and I’ve recently had a chance to take a look as part of their gift guide suggestions. This set also includes two other Grinch specials, The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat and Halloween Is Grinch Night.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with HDR10 is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The hand-drawn animation looks fantastic in this 4K presentation with crisp line edges, deep blacks and a pleasing colour palette. The film grain remains intact, something that can’t be said for some previous incarnations. The grinchiest of viewers should love how this looks.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track and a French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track. Subtitles are available for English SDH and French. The lossless English track gives some extra depth to the special’s music and dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

The Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4K arrives with just the 4K. There is no Blu-ray copy or digital code. Extras include audio commentary by voice actor June Foray and animator Phil Roman, a piece on the trip from book to screen, a look at the music with composer Albert Hague and singer Thurl Ravenscroft, a menu that takes you to the songs, a featurette hosted by Phil Hartman that includes interviews with producer/animator Chuck Jones, and some early pencil tests.

The Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4K combines a beloved Christmas special with an excellent AV presentation and a nice collection of extras. Highly recommended.

When I was a young boy, my sister simply adored Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and would make the family watch it every Christmas after dinner. Part way through the movie, my mother would make turkey sandwiches – turkey, a little stuffing, and some Branston pickle – and the four of us would finish watching the story. At a young age, I protested that we had to watch it every year, but Stockholm syndrome (Or is it Vermont syndrome?) had me slowly come to love it and now it’s an indispensable part of my Christmas day. Maybe the best things do happen while you’re dancing. 2024 is the 70th anniversary of White Christmas and Paramount Home Entertainment has given us a beautifully restored 4K to celebrate it. I had a chance to take a look. By the way, if you want some behind the scenes on the restoration, check out this video from Charlotte Barker, who was in charge of the project.

White Christmas introduces us to Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye), two Army buddies who form a hugely successful Broadway and nightclub act after World War II. One night, after performing in Florida, they go check out a fellow soldier’s sisters’ song-and-dance act. The Haines Sisters, Betty (Rosemary Clooney) and Judy (Vera-Ellen), are talented and charming and the guys are smitten. When they help them out of a jam, they all end up on a train to Vermont. It turns out the inn they’re staying at is run by their former general and when they hear it’s struggling, their mental wheels begin to turn. Comedy, romance, and amazing song-and-dance numbers will have you humming and laughing along. Just keep your hands off my turkey sandwich.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The 4K restoration is excellent with amazing detail in the faces, clothing and environments. Though there can be some occasional softness, that’s due to the source material. The colour palette ranges from the popping primaries of the song-and-dance numbers to the more muted tones of the WWII scenes. The HDR leads to sparkling whites and highlights and the black levels are deep with no loss of detail in the shadows. There’s a nice grain level. This is simply the best that White Christmas has ever looked in the home.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as a restored version of the original track in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. There are also French, German, Italian and Spanish Dolby Digital Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. The soundtrack is front-heavy, with only slight use of the surrounds. The witty dialogue and top-notch singing are clear in the mix and the music is bright and dynamic.

The White Christmas 4K also comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code, though no digital code is included with the Canadian version. The Blu-ray version also houses all the extras and includes an audio commentary by Rosemary Clooney, a look at her home and museum, backstage stories from film historians and dancer George Chakiris, a look at Bing’s impact on the holiday season, a piece on Danny Kaye, looks at the song and the movie’s transition to the stage, a look at UNICEF and the work Kaye did with them, trailers, and so much more. Grab some egg nog and you can get lost in the extras.

The White Christmas 4K is a holiday treat. Combine the timeless songs of Irving Berlin, the direction of Michael Curtiz, a stellar cast and excellent audio and video and a little bit of holiday magic. You’re in for a treat. Highly recommended.

Barry Sonnenfeld’s 1993 comedy Addams Family Values gets the ooky, kooky band back together for an hilarious sequel. It’s hard to go wrong with a cast that features Anjelica Huston, Raul Juliá, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, and Carol Kane. This time around the family is dealing with a new child, sibling worries, and a devious nanny. Paramount has just released the film in a 4K and digital set and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, this transfer looks great. The image has sharp details in the trifecta (facial features, textiles and environments) and there’s is a nice natural filmic quality to the grain. Though there are occasional pops of bolder colours, this is the Addams Family after all, so a lot of the palette tends towards darker hues. The black levels are deep and there’s no loss of detail in the shadows and darker scenes. There’s no noise or compression artifacts to speak of.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, a descriptive audio track, and French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Some might complain that there isn’t an Atmos upgrade, but the 5.1 track treats the material well, with clear and centred dialogue and effects that populate the surrounds.

The 4K set does come with a digital code, though once again not in Canada. There are two new extras, a commentary by Barry Sonnenfeld and screenwriter Paul Rudnick and a look at the story behind the film.

A great cast and great gags coupled with an excellent audio and video presentation with two new extras makes Addams Family Values on 4K an easy recommendation.

David Fincher’s 2007 mystery thriller Zodiac tells the true-life story of the Zodiac Killer, whose string of murders from the late 1960s to early 1970s confounded San Francisco Bay Area detectives as he taunted them with items and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The unsolved case saw the last letter sent in 1974. The movie follows the detectives and journalists who are embroiled in the case and the stellar cast features Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., alongside Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, and Dermot Mulroney. Paramount Home Entertainment has just released a 4K version of the film and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Zodiac was originally shot on a 2007-era professional digital camera, with some footage shot on 35mm. Since the digital camera maxed out at 1080p, this 4K transfer is an upscale. The image clarity is excellent with great detail on facial features, textiles and environments, though there are some moments where faces can briefly look a little flat. The HDR makes the colour palette appear more lifelike and the black levels are nice and deep. Given that this an upscale, is it a huge improvement over the previous Blu-ray if you already have it? I’d say no, with the caveat that the HDR and the extra data room on the 4K disc makes this the best it’s looked so far. If you already own Zodiac on Blu-ray that’s a consideration but if you’re owning it for the first time, this would be the release to get.

On the audio side of things, the movie comes with an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as a descriptive audio track. Subtitles are available for English SDH. This is the same soundtrack from the previous Blu-ray release. It’s a front heavy soundtrack with only the occasional use of the surrounds. Dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

The Zodiac 4K also comes with two Blu-ray discs and a digital code, though yet again there is no digital code on the Canadian release. All the special features are included on the Blu-rays. The first Blu-ray disc contains the director’s cut of the movie and also features French and Spanish subtitles. It also includes two audio commentaries. The first is from director David Fincher, while the second features Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey, Jr., producer Brad Fischer, writer James Vanderbilt, and James Ellroy. The second Blu-ray contains a three-part documentary that runs just under an hour, there are some other production pieces and a 42 minute deep dive into the case.

Zodiac is a gripping movie with a stellar cast. The Zodiac 4K offers some visual improvement over the previous Blu-ray release and the extras dive into the production and the case. Recommended.

In a release perfectly timed during the US presidential election, Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment has released Veep: The Complete Series on Blu-ray. The HBO political satire, which earned 17 Emmy wins and 59 nominations over its seven season run, follows politician Selina Meyer as she first becomes Vice President and eventually President. Though there are big issues to deal with, a lot of the time she and her team are bogged down in the day-to-day minutiae of governing and the horse-trading required to get anything done in Washington. That team includes her chief of staff Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky), director of communications Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh), deputy director of communications Dan Egan (Reid Scott), personal aide Gary Walsh (Tony Hale), and personal secretary Sue Wilson (Sufe Bradshaw). As the seasons progress, we also get to know the White House Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty (Kevin Dunn), political strategist Kent Davison (Gary Cole) and White House liaison and later Congressman Jonah Ryan (Timothy Simons). Though the individual episodes have previously been released on Blu-ray, this is the first time they have been released as a complete series Blu-ray set. I had a chance to take an early look. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The video presentation is crisp and detailed but the colour palette is purposefully muted. Some might dream that Washington might be all pomp and bright red, white and blue, but this is an office comedy. Some of the issues might be huge, but it boils down to “can we squeeze another meeting in at 3:15?”, “what food should be at the press conference?”, and “is this memo worded right?” all while trying to corral the votes they need to get things done and cement relationships to get ahead.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as French DTS 5.1 and Spanish DTS 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in all seasons for English SDH, French and Spanish, while seasons 1-4 also include subtitles for Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish. The soundscape is front-heavy, with the surrounds and subwoofer getting light and occasional work for ambient sounds. Dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

The Veep: The Complete Series Blu-ray spreads the series’ 65 episodes over 13 discs. The set does not come with a digital code. Extras are spread across the seasons and include multiple commentaries, a large number of deleted scenes and outtakes, and production featurettes. This is all legacy content from the previous Blu-ray releases and there is no new content for this complete series release.

Veep: The Complete Series Blu-ray combines great acting and writing with a solid audio and video presentation as well as a nice amount of extras. Recommended.

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