Evans Above

Michael Mann’s 2004 thriller Collateral stars Jamie Foxx as a Los Angeles cab driver named Max who thinks his next fare, Vincent (Tom Cruise), is an easy way to make five stops followed by a run to the airport. That easy fare soon turns to fear as Max realizes he’s ferrying a deadly hitman to five different assignments and clocking off won’t be that easy. Paramount has just released the movie – which also stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Peter Berg – in a new 4K release that I had a chance to look at.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded upscaled 4K transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, just a hair off the theatrical release’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio. By choice this is a gritty film, exploring the underbelly of Los Angeles at night. Detail is abundant, from facial textures and clothing to the claustrophobic interior of the taxi and the variety of locations throughout LA. Low light scenes are everywhere and the UHD presentation shows more details and gradients in the shadows. Grain and noise only add to the chaotic visual atmosphere and its muted palette. Black levels are good, though sometimes there is some crushing. No encoding artifacts raise their ugly head. This seedy night has never looked better.

On the audio side, the disc comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track as well as French and German Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, and German. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is the same track as the previous Blu-ray release and it’s a shame the 4K upgrade didn’t come with an Atmos track. Don’t get me wrong it’s a very good track, but the upgrade would have been nice. The surrounds are full of ambient effects that put you in the scene and there’s some low-end oomph when required. Dialogue is clean, centred, and well-priortized.

The 4K comes with a Blu-ray copy of the 2010 home release and a digital code. The supplements are split between the 4K and the Blu-ray. The 4K has an audio commentary by Mann and a 4K theatrical trailer, while the Blu-ray disc contains commentary, a making-of featurette, a look at Cruise’s prep for his first bad guy role, a deleted scene, a look at one of the location shoots, a featurette of Foxx and Cruise rehearsing, a look at the visual effects in one scene, and theatrical and teaser trailers.

Collateral 4K improves upon previous video presentations of Mann’s thriller while still delivering a solid soundtrack and a good selection of extras. Recommended.

Paramount has just released Hawaii Five-0 (2010): The Complete Series, a box set of the Hawaii Five-O reboot that premiered in 2010. The series starred Alex O’Loughlin as Detective Steve McGarret, a former Naval office that heads a team of police going after the biggest criminal targets. He’s teamed with Scott Caan as Detective Danny “Danno” Williams, while Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, Chi McBride, Jorge Garcia, Meaghan Rath, Beulah Koale, and Adam Noshimuri round out the team. I had a chance to review this DVD box set.

The DVD set contains all ten seasons — 240 episodes in all — spread over 60 discs with an additional bonus disc. The set also includes the crossover episodes that the show did with fellow CBS hits CSI: Los Angeles and the Magnum P.I. reboot.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a Blu-ray presentation, which would have been great considering this is a high definition show with amazing establish shots of the tropical paradise that it’s set in. Still, for a DVD box set it looks quite good. The set is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Compression issues aren’t too evident, which can be a problem with some sets as studios try to cram series on as few discs as possible. Details are good for a DVD, as is the colour palette, but black levels aren’t as good and we do lose some details in shadows and nighttime scenes. Still this is a good looking DVD set.

As for audio, you have the choice of an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and an English stereo track. A French audio track is only available for season 1. While English SDH subtitles are available for all 10 seasons, Portuguese and Spanish are only available for the first few seasons and French subtitles for season one. Perhaps Paramount didn’t feel the series had foreign appeal? Anyway, the 5.1 track is quite good. Dialogue is clear and centred while atmospheric effects place you in the action quite well.

Each of the seasons has a great variety of bonus features with everything from gag reels, deleted scenes, Comic-Con appearances, interviews, promo materials, behind-the-scenes looks, audio commentaries and so much more. This set cannot be accused of being light on bonus material. In fact, there’s a whole disc just of bonus material to celebrate the ten year run, including a 53 minute retrospective special, music videos, and a look at the shows combined 50 year history.

I didn’t watch the show during its initial run, but after spending some time looking through this set, I’m going to make some room for it. Fans of the show will definitely want Hawaii Five-0 (2010): The Complete Series.

Director John Landis’ 1983 comedy Trading Places placed SNL alumni Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in a buddy comedy where two men of opposite economic classes team up to take on the two rich brothers who played with their lives on a whim. I watched and watched and rewatched this movie when it first came out. Great performances by Aykroyd, Murphy, and their co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, and Ralph Bellamy. Paramount has now released it as part of their Paramount Presents Blu-ray line and this new transfer is based off a 4K restoration. Paramount Presents’ special packaging is not available in Canada, so I had a chance to review the standard package.

The 1080p AVC-encoded transfer is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio compared to the theatrical release’s 1.85:1 ratio. Quite simply, this is the best Trading Places has ever looked in a home theatre release. The image has so much detail from facial features and clothing to the finely-crafted offices of the Duke brothers. There’s a light film grain, the colour palette is rich and warm, and the black levels are deep. Digital noise and compression artifacts are nowhere to be seen. Just an excellent video presentation.

On the audio end, there’s an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as French, German, and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. There’s also a Dolby Digital 2.0 track of just the score. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, German, and Japanese. The audio team have done a great job of moving the original front-heavy audio mix and moving environmental and ambient effects into the surrounds to place us in the middle of the action. There’s even some good low-end support from the subwoofer. The score is lively and dynamic and dialogue is clear, centred, and well-prioritized.

As for extras, the US Paramount Presents version comes with a digital code (not in Canada) and a special slipcover with a fold out of the original poster. On the disc, there’s a “Filmmaker Focus” with John Landis reminiscing about the shoot, a trailer, a making-of featurette, a deleted scene, some original junket interviews, and pieces looking at the costumes and commodities trading.

Excellent video and audio teamed with good extras and a ton of laughs make adding Trading Places to your collection a no-brainer.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Robert Altman’s Popeye, Paramount has released a 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of the movie that starred Robin Williams as the spinach-eating cartoon hero and Shelley Duvall as his love interest, Olive Oyl.

The 1080p AVC-encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, just off from the theatrical release’s 2.39:1 ratio. Detail on this video presentation is very good especially in the environment of Sweethaven, where you can see every bit of wear. Facial features and textiles also look very good. Grain is light. The colour palette looks natural but pops when necessary. The black levels are deep and there is still detail in darker areas. A few speckles here and there but no real evidence of digital noise or compression artifacts. It’s just a fun image to look at.

On the audio side, you’re presented with two English soundtracks: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, and French. The production has made good use of the 5.1 soundscape with lots of ambient effects spread throughout the surrounds. The musical numbers are bright and dynamic, as is the score. Everything brings you into Sweethaven so well that you might get hit up for a money for a hamburger. But don’t worry, Wimpy assures me he’ll pay you next Tuesday.

On the extras side, the disc also comes with a digital code. The special features include a look at the production elements and cast, a gallery from the premiere set to music, a method to jump to all the songs, and the theatrical trailer.

Popeye is intriguing for its design and the collaboration between Robert Altman and Robin Williams. Toss in excellent video and audio presentations with a smattering of extras and this disc is a recommended addition to your collection.

Released in 1988, Coming to America teamed Eddie Murphy up with director John Landis and the pair crafted a fish out of water story perfect for the comedian’s talents. Murphy plays Prince Akeem, whose father, King Jaffe (James Earl Jones), makes sure he leads a pampered life. His entourage even includes Royal Wipers, a job that I’ll let your imagination describe. King Jaffe wants Akeem to marry the woman who had been groomed to be his wife since birth, but the prince has other ideas. He convinces his father to let him see the world first. He goes off on his own secret mission to find a soulmate and heads with his friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall) to the one place a future king should find a bride: Queens, New York. Paramount has released a 4K version of the flick and I had a chance to review it. Let’s take a look.

The 2160p native 4K HEVC / H.265-encoded digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 comes in the theatrical release’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This transfer, done from a 4K master supervised by John Landis, is, well, fit for a king. It looks fantastic. There is a natural grain to the image and that image is incredibly detailed. Faces have so much character and the ornate costumes and environments from palaces to apartments are full of detail. It’s a vast improvement over past home releases. The HDR expands the depth and breadth of the rich colours that cross this movie’s palette. It’s a feast for the eyes.

On the audio side, your royal ears are offered the choices of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack as well as French and German Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and German. The lossless soundtrack makes great use of the soundscape, with the surrounds working hard to give an ambient environment. The music in this track is rich and dynamic and the dialogue is clear and centred.

The 4K UHD disc also comes with a digital code. There are no new extras, but all of the previous extras are on this disc and they include looks at the cinematography, the costumes, the character makeup, the music, an interview with Eddie and Arsenio, and a theatrical trailer.

Paramount’s Coming to America 4K is highly recommended. It combines hilarious comedy, stunning video, excellent audio, and a good array of extras into one package waiting to be added to your home library.

Paramount has released 1986’s The Golden Child as the eleventh entry in its numbered Paramount Presents line. The adventure/comedy stars Eddie Murphy as a private detective who is tasked with finding and protecting The Golden Child, a young mystic who has been kidnapped by an evil demon. Murphy’s Chandler Jarrell doesn’t believe in any of this mysticism, but his skepticism is about to be tested. Audiences loved the film when it came out, but critics were more reserved in their judgment of the production, which had undergone extensive reshoots after testing to try and make it more like Eddie’s previous ventures. It’s still an enjoyable film and definitely one for Eddie Murphy collectors. Paramount Presents doesn’t release in Canada, but I had the opportunity to review Paramount’s standard Blu-ray release.

The 1080p AVC-encoded transfer is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The Blu-ray is based off of a newly-scanned 4K master and as such the video presentation is very good. It’s a very sharp image, though there are some moments where the image appears softer than it should. The same goes for the details, which are generally quite good on faces, textiles and environments but sometimes the image is a little flat. The colour palette, on the other hand, is very good, with good tones in both the urban and more natural locations. Black levels are very good with good depth and detail in darker scenes. There are no visible noise or compression artifact issues. This is the best The Golden Child has looked on home video.

On the audio side, there’s an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack as well as French, German, and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, German, and Japanese. The lossless 5.1 soundtrack is still mostly front-dominant, but the surrounds do some work to provide some ambient details. The score is the real star of this mix and it’s a rich and dynamic music presentation. Dialogue is clear and centred.

There are only two supplements to the disc, a making-of featurette and a theatrical trailer. If you get your hands on the Paramount Presents release, the slipcover has fold-open artwork of the original poster, while the packaging available to me in Canada is just the standard slipcover.

The Eighties were a great time for Eddie Murphy’s film career, though The Golden Child is critically considered to be one of his misses. If you’re trying to have a complete Murphy collection, you’ll want this but others may want to check it out on streaming.

Action-comedy Beverly Hills Cop marked Eddie Murphy’s first solo lead role, after the SNL star appeared in 48 Hrs. with Nick Nolte and Trading Places with fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd. He played Axel Foley, a streetwise Detroit detective who finds himself out of his jurisdiction and out of his element as he works to solve a case with some uptight detectives from Beverly Hills (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold).

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded native 4K transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, just slightly off from the theatrical release’s 1.85:1 ratio. Sourced from a 4K scan of the original source, it has a natural film grain. The image is quite sharp with only occasional softness and contains an impressive amount of detail. Facial features, textiles and environmental surfaces all look great here. The high dynamic range pleasingly presents the colour palette from bright California skies to lush foliage. Black levels are deep and evening scenes look quite good.

On the audio side, your ears have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, German and French Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks and a score-only Dolby Digital 5.1 track if you really want to listen to the instrumental piece “Axel F” over and over again. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and German. This is the same audio mix that’s been kicking about for a few years. The track is very front heavy, but the surrounds are woken from their slumber once in a while. Your subwoofer might as well make plans with friends, because low-frequencies aren’t really called upon. Dialogue is clear and crisp, which is essential given the importance of Murphy’s improvised scenes as he fast-talks his way into places he shouldn’t be in.

The combo set comes with the 4K disc, a Blu-ray copy, and a digital code. Special features on the 4K disc include an audio commentary, some behind-the-scenes pieces, a mixtape feature that lets you skip to the songs in the soundtrack and a trailer. The Blu-ray disc includes those elements plus some additional featurettes and the isolated score track.

While the audio presentation is nothing to write home about, the Beverly Hills Cop 4K is the best this film has ever looked. For fans of action-comedies, Eddie Murphy, or pop culture milestones, this set is highly recommended.

Paramount released a 4K version of Top Gun in May of 2020, but with the holidays fast approaching, they’ve now released a limited edition SteelBook version for those who like collecting that format. I had a chance to review the SteelBook. Note that the video and audio presentation is the same as the May release.

If you aren’t aware of Top Gun, it’s the 1986 film that pretty much launched Tom Cruise into the stratospheric position he once held in Hollywood. He played Maverick, a Navy pilot aboard a carrier who often flaunted the rules along with his friend and Radar Intercept Officer “Goose” (Anthony Edwards). His captain begrudgingly accepts that he’s a damn good pilot and sends the pair to the Navy’s elite Naval Fighter Weapons School. Will he make it through the program? Will his reckless ways get him into trouble? You’ll have to watch to find out.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265-encoded native 4K digital transfer is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio with both Dolby Vision and HDR10. The transfer is faithful to its source negative. There’s a fine film grain throughout and though clarity and sharpness in textures such as faces, clothing and surfaces are generally excellent, there are some scenes that display a little softness. Again, this is just occasional and most of the scenes are full of the excellent detail 4K is known for. The colour palette, which is full of warm hues, blue skies, and steely cockpit interiors is greatly enhanced by the HDR presentation. There are no compression artifacts or digital noise to speak of. It’s a great video presentation.

On the audio side, your ears have as many choices as Maverick’s F-14 Tomcat cockpit has switches. There are English Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtracks as well as German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, and a Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Romanian, Russian, Swedish, and Thai. The Atmos soundscape is given quite a workout with this film, with the roar of fighter jets traversing the surround and height speakers. It’s not just the loud roar of engines, but the general use of the surround elements to place you in the scene even in quieter moments. That amazing opening carrier scene with Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone has never sounded better. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The SteelBook packaging looks great with hand-drawn images of several of the characters on the case. The set comes with the 4K disc, a Blu-ray disc and a digital code. The 4K disc contains two new 4K extras (On Your Six: Thirty Years of Top Gun and The Legacy of Top Gun) while the rest of the extras are on the Blu-ray disc and include a making-of featurette, storyboards, music videos and an audio commentary.

With an excellent video presentation, a mind-blowing soundtrack, good extras and nice collectible SteelBook packaging, the Top Gun 4K SteelBook is perfect for adding to your collection or gifting to a friend who feels the need for speed.

I’ve said this a few times in 2020, but for those of us who have been locked down or decided to voluntarily lock ourselves down during the COVID-19 pandemic, home entertainment has played a large part in passing the time and giving us a respite from the constant drumbeat of news. Movies and TV shows can be entertainment comfort food and the back catalog of Universal and its affiliated labels is a smorgasbord of old friends and gems we always meant to get around to watching. In this Universal Gift Guide, I’ll be looking at some of the movies you can treat yourself, friends, and family to this holiday season.

One of the most anticipated back catalog releases from Universal this year was the release of the Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy on 4K UHD, the first time for the franchise in that format. The 4K UHD Combo Packs also come with Blu-ray copies and digital codes. Besides the pre-existing special features, the set also comes with a bonus disc with over an hour of brand-new content such as rare audition footage from Ben Stiller, Kyra Sedgwick, Jon Cryer, Billy Zane, Peter DeLuise and C. Thomas Howell, a tour of the film’s props and memorabilia hosted by co-writer/producer Bob Gale, a sneak peek at the new musical show, and a special episode of the popular YouTube Series “Could You Survive The Movies?” Special features on the individual films’ discs include the usual array of commentary tracks, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes looks at various production aspects, as well as cast and crew interviews. The set was released earlier this year but you may also be able to still get your hands on some limited edition versions at specific retailers. Amazon had a 4K UHD gift set featuring a levitating hoverboard replica, Target had a Blu-ray only version with the hoverboard replica, while Best Buy had a 4K UHD Steelbook set. For fans of the franchise, Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy is a great gift idea.

If someone on your shopping list loves the films released by Universal’s indie and foreign film arm Focus Features, then the Focus Features 10-Movie Spotlight Collection will satisfy their needs. In one fell swoop, their home entertainment library will add Atonement, Brokeback Mountain, Burn After Reading, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Harriet, Lost in Translation, Moonlight Kingdom, On the Basis of Sex, Pride & Prejudice, and The Theory of Everything. It’s like having your own private film festival in a box. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment sent me a copy of the set to review. On the whole, the picture quality of the 1080p AVC-encoded transfers is very good with perhaps Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Lost in Translation in need of a source upgrade, while it must be noted that it was an artistic choice to shoot Moonrise Kingdom on Super 16mm film. Again, that’s just pointing out a slight difference with those three films, the detail and colour palettes look very good in all of them. As for sound, the films come with Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks, except for the most recent film, Harriet, which has a Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. They all do a good job of placing you into the environments and the dialogue is clear and scores dynamic. All in all, this is a great collection and a good way to add to your collection.

Another collection I had a chance to look at was the Illumination Presents: 10-Movie Collection which highlights Illumination’s animated projects between 2010 and 2019. The 10 disc set includes Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Hop, The Lorax, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, The Secret Life of Pets 2, and Sing. It’s a great set for kids of all ages and modern animated film collectors. The 1080p AVC-encoded transfers are amazing, with detail in the animation and backgrounds and palettes that pop with bold colours. The only one that really has any issues to speak of is Hop and that’s only because the animation has to share the stage with live action elements and there’s some grain that’s more noticeable, but really that’s just a quibble for the sake of quibbling. The discs come with a variety of audio options. The first two Despicable Me films, Hop and The Lorax have DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtracks, Despicable Me 3 has a DTS-X track, while Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, The Secret Life of Pets 2, and Sing have Dolby Atmos tracks.

Universal also released the Dreamworks 10-Movie Collection, which corrals together ten of the animation wing’s titles: Shrek, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Home, Trolls, The Boss Baby, and Abominable. The animation looks great in these 1080p AVC-encoded transfers and the colour palletes are a veritable cornucopia of hues. Sharp images and great textures are present in each movie with no sign of compression artifacts or digital noise. On the audio side, there’s a few different tracks. Shrek has a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track. How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron have a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The Boss Baby, The Croods, Home, and Trolls offer a DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio track. Finally, the latest entry, Abominable, goes all out with a Dolby Atmos track. Dialogue is clear and the scores are bright and dynamic. Your surrounds will put you in the animated environment, while even your subwoofer gets to add some extra oomph were necessary. It’s a great set to build an instant collection.

Finally, the Universal gift guide wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention a set released earlier, the amazing 4K Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection. I did a full review of it here. If you know a Hitchcock fan get it for them and heck, buy a copy of it for yourself.

You really can’t go wrong buying any of these Universal sets for your film-loving friends and family.

SpongeBob Squarepants, the beloved cartoon character debuted on TV back in 1999. In 2017, he made the leap to Broadway and this live stage version garnered a dozen Tony nominations. The good citizens of Bikini Bottom are facing an impending disaster as an active volcano threatens to erupt. How will they survive? What will they do? And will the evil Plankton and Karen try to profit off the situation? The stage show was directed by Tina Landau and written by Kyle Jarrow with music and lyrics by several artists. Paramount has now released a filmed version — The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! — on DVD and I had an opportunity to check it out.

The filmed version of the stage production was helmed by Glenn Weiss, who has overseen some of the largest live broadcasts like the Oscars and Grammys. He knows his stuff and captures the energy of the show and its elements of audience participation. Many of the original stage performers reprise their roles, including the energetic Ethan Slater as our titular hero.

The show is presented on a standard definition DVD with a 16:9 widescreen video presentation with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include a sing-along version with onscreen lyrics and a photo gallery. The show sounds great and the bright and colourful imagery should keep even the youngest viewers interested.

Light and frothy, goofy and fun, families should have a good time watching The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!

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