Yesterday Blu-ray review

Sep 23, 2019- Permalink

At first glance, Yesterday appears to have a simple story. What if you were the only person to remember The Beatles and could have fame and fortune passing their songs off as your own? But writer Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle dig a little deeper. What does it mean to live a lie? Do the trappings of fame and fortune replace the contentment of love? You can now explore these questions at home as Universal releases Yesterday for your home library. I had a chance to review the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital combo pack.

The AVC-encoded 1080p transfer is in the theatrical release’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Shot digitally, the result is a very good video presentation. The image is crisp and has excellent detail in skin, textiles and environmental settings. The colour palette is natural and the image has deep black levels. There is some digital noise in some lower light shots but nothing that takes away from an enjoyable look on the screen.

In a film that relies heavily on music, the audio presentation is very important. You have your choice of English Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtracks as well as Spanish and French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 tracks. Subtitles are available in English SDH, French and Spanish. The music is dynamic and perfectly balanced, setting the perfect environment whether Jack is playing in an intimate setting or large venue. Surround speakers subtly put the viewer into the environment and the low frequencies give some added floor to the proceedings. Dialogue is very clear and well-prioritized. An excellent audio package.

Moving on to the extras, Yesterday comes with a DVD copy and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code. There’s audio commentary from Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis, an alternate ending and opening, deleted scenes, performances by star Himesh Patel at Abbey Road Studios, bloopers, and a handful of character and performer featurettes.

Combine a great story with excellent video and audio presentations and a good amount of extras and you’ll travel the long and winding road to add Yesterday to your collection.