Evans Above

In March of this year, Paramount Home Entertainment released The Godfather Trilogy on 4K UHD discs. As we approach the holiday season, the studio has released a lil’ something for those physical media buffs who like to collect SteelBook releases with special artwork. I had a chance to take a look at The Godfather Part II 4K SteelBook and will let you know about this collectible release.

For a review of the audio and video on this release, please check out our full review of The Godfather Trilogy 4K from March of 2022.

The Godfather 4K Part II SteelBook contains one 4K disc and a digital copy code. Please note that this 4K disc does not contain all the supplemental material found in this year’s trilogy release. The attraction for this release is the artwork. The 4K disc does include an audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola. The SteelBook artwork is glossy and features a portrait of Robert De Niro as the young Vito Corleone with an orange, yellow and red background. The back of the case is black and features a quote in gold letters: “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.” The inside panel features a blue-tinted collage of characters and scenes from the film.

As mentioned in the previous trilogy review, the disc has excellent audio and video. I stress again, this release is missing that release’s bonus content. If you like collecting SteelBooks and displaying them and you love The Godfather Part II, then you’ll enjoy adding this to your collection.

In March of this year, Paramount Home Entertainment released The Godfather Trilogy on 4K UHD discs. As we approach the holiday season, the studio has released a lil’ something for those physical media buffs who like to collect SteelBook releases with special artwork. I had a chance to take a look at The Godfather 4K SteelBook and will let you know about this collectible release.

For a review of the audio and video on this release, please check out our full review of The Godfather Trilogy 4K from March of 2022.

The Godfather 4K SteelBook contains one 4K disc and a digital copy code. Please note that this 4K disc does not contain all the supplemental material found in this year’s trilogy release. The attraction for this release is the artwork. The 4K disc does include an introduction and an audio commentary by Francis Ford Coppola. The SteelBook artwork is glossy and features a portrait of Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in which the tuxedo clad Don is holding a cat in front of an orange/yellow background. The back of the case is black and features a golden quote: “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The interior of the case features a sepia collage of characters and scenes from the film.

As mentioned in the previous trilogy review, the disc has excellent audio and video. I stress again, this release is missing that release’s bonus content. If you like collecting SteelBooks and displaying them and you love The Godfather, then you’ll enjoy adding this to your collection.

As part of it’s Paramount Presents line, the studio has released a double feature containing two classic science fiction films from the 1950s: 1953’s The War of the Worlds is presented in 4K, while 1951’s When Worlds Collide is presented as a Blu-ray.

Directed by Byron Haskin, The War of the Worlds is loosely based on H.G. Wells 1898 novel but with its setting updated to contemporary California with Cold War themes. When Martians invade the Earth, a nuclear scientist (Gene Barry) and a USC instructor (Ann Robinson) are two of the Earthlings attempting to stop them. The film was well received by critics, won an Oscar for Special Effects, and in 2011 was added to the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which preserves films deemed to be culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Directed by Rudolph Maté, When Worlds Collide is based on the 1933 sci-fi novel by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie. Scientists discover that a rogue star named Bellus, accompanied by a planet named Zyra, is on a collision course with the Earth in less than eight months. A plan is hatched to build space arks to transport a lucky few to safety on the passing Zyra but, with impending doom approaching, there are concerns that wealth and corruption will invade the lottery process used to choose the passengers. The cast includes Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen and John Hoyt. The special effects were impressive at the time and earned the film an Oscar.

Let’s look at the video presentations …

The War of the Worlds 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. It was mastered from a previously done 4K scan of the original elements and looks great. Sharp detail on the faces and clothing and a nice grain structure are complemented by the HDR colour grading of the palette with rich green Martian ships and brilliant ray gun shots. The image has vivid whites and deep blacks. This is a fantastic transfer.

As mentioned, When Worlds Collide is included in this presentation as a Blu-ray. The 1080p AVC encoded transfer is presented in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Like it’s 4K companion in the package, this Blu-ray has sharp details on the usual suspects (faces, clothing and sets) and a pleasing grain structure. Though it’d be nice to have a 4K’s HDR, this Blu-ray has a very good colour palette with bright reds, dark greens and pleasing skin tones. Black levels are good and there’s only a small amount of print flaws evident from the source material.

The War of the Worlds gives you an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as German and French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Dutch. The audio engineers have done an excellent job opening the original mono track into the 5.1 soundscape and moving certain effects into the surround channels. The music is dynamic and the dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized.

When Worlds Collide offers us an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack as well as German, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Though your surrounds and subwoofer will have the night off, the track does a pretty good job with the audio source material and though the effects are not in the surrounds, they are clear and carry some weight. The music isn’t as clear here but still sounds okay. Dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.

Time to take a look at the extras …

First off, if you’re in the US, you’ll get the special Paramount Presents packaging with the fold-out artwork. Those elsewhere will get a standard slipcover.

The War of the Worlds disc comes with a nice variety of extras including commentary from actors Ann Robinson and Gene Barry, as well as film director Joe Dante, historian Bob Burns, and author Bill Warren. There’s a roughly 30 minute look at the production, a discussion on the life and times of H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds radio broadcast from the Mercury Theatre, and an original theatrical trailer.

The When Worlds Collide disc has only one extra, the film’s theatrical trailer.

The War of the Worlds 4K and When Worlds Collide Blu-ray set is a must have for fans of early science fiction films. The War of the Worlds is the gem of this set with an excellent 4K video presentation and updated soundtrack as well as a nice bunch of extras. Still When Worlds Collide has a very solid Blu-ray presentation with good video and sound. I think you’ll enjoy this one.

The White Lotus is a hit with critics and audiences alike. Created by Mike White, the comedy-drama tracks the lives of the guests and staff at a Hawaiian resort called The White Lotus. Their lives seem perfect and the resort idyllic, but over the course of a week their dysfunctions come to a head and their façades begins to crumble. Nominated for twenty Emmy Awards, The White Lotus won ten, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for the always wonderful Jennifer Coolidge and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Murray Bartlett. A prestige project like this would be a natural for a Blu-ray release, but Warner Brothers doesn’t do that too often for TV series, unless you happen to be related to a DC Comics franchise. So here we are reviewing The White Lotus: The Complete First Season on DVD. Standard WB disclaimer: Though Warner Brothers provide me with a copy for review, the views and opinions below are mine.

The six episodes of Season One are spread over two DVD discs. Hawaii begs for a Blu-ray release where colours would pop and details would be sharper, but at least using two discs keeps us away from major compression artifact issues. So there is a nice amount of detail in textiles and other elements up to the limitations of the DVD format. Darker scenes lose some detail which, again, would be handled better in a Blu-ray release. Fingers crossed that we see it in that format one day. Still, it’s a very nice DVD video presentation.

On the audio side, there is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. English SDH are available. The witty dialogue is front and centre (literally) and is clear and never lost in the mix. The ambient sounds and other effects use the surrounds well, placing you in the scene so much that you might order a piña colada. The score is bright and dynamic.

As for special features, I would have loved a commentary track from Mike White, but instead we only get two three minute bits, one a quick look at the production by cast and crew and the other a word association game by the cast.

The White Lotus: The Complete First Season DVD teams a solid DVD video presentation with an excellent audio track. Though I would have loved to have seen it released on Blu-ray, if you love the show and don’t want to be tied to the whims of streaming libraries, getting it on any physical media is a plus.

Mayor of Kingstown is the latest Paramount+ project from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and Headstone lead singer and actor Hugh Dillon and, no, the two shows aren’t related. Jeremy Renner plays Mike McLusky, a power broker in a town where incarceration is the biggest industry. Mike’s family has been running the show in the town for years and the series tackles the corruption, inequality and racism that plague the system. The series also stars Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird, Derek Webster, Hamish Allan-Headley, Pha’rez Lass, Aidan Gillen, Kyle Chandler and Nishi Munshi. Paramount has just released Mayor of Kingstown: Season One on Blu-ray.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2:1 aspect ratio. The show’s story is gritty and dirty and the show has adopted a gritty visual style to reflect it. In lighter scenes, many of the colours in the palette pop. The detail in the image is evident in the facial textures, clothing and locations. Darker scenes still manage to hold their detail as well. There are no encoding issues to report.

On the audio side of things, the show offers an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Though the soundtrack is often front-heavy, ambient sounds and action effects occasionally populate your surround speakers. The music is clear and dynamic and dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

The ten episodes of season one are spread over three blu-ray discs. There is no digital code for the season. Extras include insights into each episodes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a look at the characters, and a collection of the cast’s favourite scenes.

We’ve seen dramatic stories of prison corruption before. Mayor of Kingstown gets its strength from the great cast that has been assembled. If this type of story is your thing, then you’ll want to pick up the Mayor of Kingstown: Season One Blu-ray.

There’s no denying that the earworm song “Baby Shark” is an international phenomenon that has launched everything from merchandise to a TV series called Baby Shark’s Big Show. Paramount and Nickelodeon have just released Baby Shark’s Big Show!: The Seaweed Sway on DVD. It’s a fun dance party for kids that features eight episodes from the show’s first season and features a vocal performance by Cardi B as Sharki B. (Her husband Offset and daughter Kulture also appear in the episode.) Along the way, the children learn about acceptance, friendship and just enjoying being yourself. If you spend any time on Twitter, these wouldn’t be bad lessons for a lot of adults to be reminded of.

If you and your kids have watched the show, these are the episodes from the first season that appear on this disc:

• The Seaweed Sway
• Busy Baby
• A Shark Day’s Night
• Wavey Jones’ Locker
• Daddyshark
• Rocky-Bye
• Rainy Day Roundup
• Deep Goo Sea

The video presentation on this DVD is bright and colourful with primaries that pop off the screen. It’s a flat animation style with sharp line edges but little extra detail On the audio side, the disc comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track as well as English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. English closed captions are also available.

If you have a young one who loves Baby Shark and music and want a show that can teach them kindness as well, then the reasonably priced Baby Shark’s Big Show!: The Seaweed Sway is a good DVD for you.

If you haven’t come across it yet, The Equalizer is a reboot of the 1980s series, this time with Queen Latifah playing Robyn McCall, a former government operative who now uses her considerable skills to provide street justice to those in need. In the second season, McCall finds her skills needed to assist in a covert investigation to track down a group of robbers who have hurt and killed police officers. At the same time, she has to deal with issues on the home front. Paramount has just released The Equalizer Season Two on DVD.

I may sound like a broken record, but if you’ve been collecting Blu-rays and wonder why all but a few TV shows get Blu-ray releases, the answer is simply the market. Except for shows with a very dedicated collecting demographic, the sales just aren’t there for the more expensive format. Even though it’s on DVD, brighter scenes have a nice colour palette and detail. Unfortunately darker scenes — and this is a show with quite a few — do suffer from some loss of detail and crushing that wouldn’t be as evident in HD. The episodes are presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

On the audio side, the set comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. As with most TV show DVDs., the mix is very front-heavy, but there is some usage of your surrounds for ambient noises and action sequences. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The four-disc set comes with some deleted scenes and a gag reel.

With the show renewed for a third and fourth season, if you’re a fan and want a copy of the show that’s not subject to the whims of streaming then you’ll probably want to pick up The Equalizer Season Two on DVD.

SEAL Team Season 5 has just been released by Paramount on DVD. Though ratings have declined since the show premiered in 2017, it has a loyal group of fans. Season 5 saw a big change for the series as it moved from CBS to the Paramount+ streaming service after the first four episodes. The move off of broadcast does give the writers less restrictions. If you’re new to the series, the show follows Bravo Team, a unit within the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group, as they conduct dangerous missions around the globe. The series is led by David Boreanaz and also stars Max Thieriot, Jessica Paré, Neil Brown Jr., A. J. Buckley, and Toni Trucks.

I’ve said this before with TV series and I’ll say it again, since it’s a frequently asked questions. Market forces dictate that most series, except for a select few with avid collecting fanbases, will find that their home entertainment releases will still be on DVD instead of Blu-ray. Though it’s not HD, the 16:9 presentation of this series is still very good, with colours and detail at the top end of the DVD format’s capabilities.

On the audio side, the set comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. Though a lot of the mix is front-heavy, the surrounds do get a bit of a workout when the military action is happening. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The 4-disc set does have some special features. They include some deleted scenes, a gag reel and four featurettes that look at the making of the season with cast and producers, a look at the show’s production design, a bit with star David Boreanaz talking about directing some episodes, and a look at the personal props of each team member.

If you’re a fan of the series and want to have a physical copy, then you’ll want to pick up SEAL Team Season 5 on DVD.

NCIS: Hawai’i Season 1 has just been released on DVD by Paramount. It’s the fourth series in the NCIS universe which includes NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans. This series follows the work of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in the tropical state. The cast is led by Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant, the first female Special Agent-in-Charge of the NCIS: Hawaiʻi Field Office. Other cast members include Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson, and Kian Talan. The DVD set includes all 22 episodes, including the crossovers with the “mothership” series NCIS.

The beautiful scenery and lush colours of Hawai’i scream out for the better image quality of a Blu-ray, but those looking to see this series in HD have to depend on either the broadcasts or streaming. Not many TV shows get the Blu-ray treatment and when they do, they’re usually shows whose demographics are screaming out for the latest and greatest. Still the video quality on this six DVD set is very good and gives you colours and detail near the top end of the DVD format’s capabilities.

As far as sound goes, the discs come with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and English SDH subtitles. As with many shows on DVD, the soundtrack is rather front-heavy, with the surrounds sparingly used for the odd effect or ambient noise. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

As mentioned, the six-disc set comes with all 22 episodes. The discs also feature some extended and deleted scenes, a gag reel, and four featurettes that look at the production, the costumes, the sets and additional info on the crossover episodes.

If you’re a fan of the newest entry in the franchise and want a permanent copy in your home, then you’ll enjoy the NCIS: Hawai’i Season 1 DVD.

The Despicable Me and Minions franchise has been attracting audiences and dollars since the release of Despicable Me in 2010. In this latest instalment, Minions: The Rise of Gru, we get to see everyone’s favourite villain and his pint-sized henchman in a story that takes us back to the 1970s, when Gru (Steve Carell) was just an 11-year-old with dreams of world domination. Universal has just released a 4K version and I had a chance to check it out.

Gru’s always been precocious — I mean most villains wait until their twenties — but this preteen has the possibility of joining the Vicious 6, a group of the most notorious villains in the world. When they make fun of him for his age, Gru manages to steal a precious stone from the group and finds himself the prey in a massive hunt to get it back. Gru is in need of some help and it’s up to the Minions to save their leader. Though the setting is new, many of the hijinks are very familiar, which depending on your point of view is either a nice, comforting diversion or a franchise rehashing what works. The voice cast includes the talents of Alan Arkin, Julie Andrews, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Taraji P. Henson, Russell Brand, Michelle Yeoh, Lucy Lawless and Danny Trejo.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded upscaled 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a crystal clear video presentation that captures the details in the computer animation very well. It’s really detailed animation, so I can actually discuss how much detail there is in elements like hair and textiles. The HDR colour grading also boosts the brightness and colour depth of the dazzling 1970s colour palette. Deep black levels and no evidence of compression issues or digital noise. It just looks great.

On the audio side of things, your ears will be dazzled by the Minions on an English Dolby Atmos soundtrack that folds back to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 as well as a Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 track and European and Canadian French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, Spanish and French. The Atmos is used very well with some of the action taking place above us in the height tracks, while the surrounds immerse you in the world of Gru’s childhood. The score is bright and dynamic, while the low end gives extra heft to both the effects and the bass of the score. Dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized.

The Minions: The Rise of Gru set comes with a 4K disc, a Blu-ray disc and a digital code. There’s roughly sixty minutes of bonus material including two mini-movies, an extended scene, outtakes from the recording sessions, a look at the movie’s key characters, a piece on the animation process, a look at 1970s food, fashion and funk, a piece on the Minion’s martial arts, a craft lesson on building your own lair, a drawing lesson, and how to dress your plush Minions in retro clothes.

The Minions: The Rise of Gru 4K has great video and audio and a fun selection of franchises. If you’re in love with these characters, this one is recommended.

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