V for Vendetta 4K UHD Blu-ray review

Nov 02, 2020- Permalink

V for Vendetta seems like a very timely film this US election year and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is releasing it on 4K on November 3rd. Though WBHE sent me a copy of the movie to review, the thoughts and opinions below are my own.

Directed by James McTeigue and starring Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving, V for Vendetta takes us to a future Britain, where democracy has morphed into a totalitarian state. The US is in a second civil war and Europe is gripped by a pandemic. It unites a quiet woman named Evey (Portman) with a masked figure known as V (Weaving) who takes control of the airwaves and urges his fellow citizens to rise up. The pair become unlikely allies in the quest to restore freedom.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded HDR10 transfer is in the theatrical release’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio. This is a native 4K release, with the master created from a 4K scan of the original film source. The detail of this video presentation is amazing with excellent skin, textile, and environmental textures. The colour palette is natural looking, and the black levels are deep with details in the frequent shadows. The HDR gives a boost to the fires and explosions. There’s a fine film grain, but no digital noise or compression artifacts to speak of. It’s just simply a beautiful looking transfer. Kudos to the WB wizards.

On the audio end of things, you have the choice of English Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, and Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks as well as a veritable UN of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, and Thai. The soundscape is amazing, with low frequency moments that add gravitas to the scenes and oomph to the explosions. The surrounds place you firmly in the action with well-placed effects and atmospherics. Dialogue is clear and well-prioritized in the mix, while the score and other musical cures are powerful and dynamic. Those with Atmos setups will appreciate the good use of the height channels.

The package comes with a digital code and the 2008 Blu-ray release. Threen new extras can be found on the 4K disc, while the other special features reside on the Blu-ray. The 4K discs features are James McTeigue & Lana Wachowski in Conversation, where the director and co-writer touch on the inspiration and production, a look at Natalie Portman’s audition, and a behind-the-scenes featurette called V for Vendetta Unmasked. On the Blu-ray disc you’ll find In Movie Experience Director’s Notebook, which is a series of extras that play during the film, a look at the production design, Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, a “making of” featurette, a look at its graphic novel inspiration, Natalie Portman’s rap from SNL, and a music video.

WBHE has been releasing some amazing 4K transfers this year and V for Vendetta can join the list. With a beautiful video presentation, a powerful Atmos soundtrack, and some new extras, fans and newcomers alike will want to add this to their collection.