Disney’s live action Aladdin Blu-ray review

Sep 10, 2019- Permalink

Though some fans questioned the need for a live-action remake of the animated classic Aladdin, Will Smith took on the task of filling Robin Williams’ genie shoes with his usual star power and force of personality. You can check out the bright, energetic spectacle at home as Disney has now released it in 4K and Blu-ray. I had a chance to review the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital combo pack.

The AVC-encoded 1080p transfer is in the cinematic release’s 2.39:1 ratio. The colour palette in this presentation simply explodes off the screen, especially in the “Prince Ali” musical number. Red and blues and golds shimmer while black levels are nice and deep. The terrain, textiles and structures have remarkable detail and clarity and CGI effects blend well with the live-action components. There really aren’t many digital artifacts and only in the darkest scenes is there a minimal amount of digital noise. This is an excellent video presentation.

On the audio side, we get an English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French and Spanish. Like several recent Disney releases, the volume must be turned a bit up from reference levels in order to get the full audio experience. The surround speakers are given plenty to work with here and place you so far into the bazaar scenes that you’ll probably start haggling for a rug. The low-end frequencies provide added weight when needed. The music is clean and dynamic and dialogue and vocal during the songs are clear and centred. So kudos to the audio side of things.

On to the extras, where you get a DVD copy and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code. There are deleted scenes, a video journal shot by Aladdin himself, Mena Massoud, Alan Menken introducing the deleted song “Desert Moon”, a look at director Guy Ritchie’s approach to making the film, and a discussion with Will Smith on the challenges of taking on Robin Williams’ iconic role. There are also three music videos and bloopers.

Aladdin had big curly-toed shoes to fill and the production does its best to live up to the legacy with energy, spectacle and a good cast. With an excellent video and audio presentation, Disney fans will want to add this to their collection.