Wonder Woman 1984 4K UltraHD

"Wonder Woman 1984" is a new chapter in the Wonder Woman story and finds Diana Prince (Gadot) living quietly among mortals in the vibrant 1980s—an era of excess driven by the pursuit of having it all. Though she's come into her full powers, she maintains a low profile, curating ancient artifacts and only performing her super heroic acts incognito. But now, Diana will have to step directly into the spotlight and muster all her wisdom, strength and courage in order to save mankind from a world of its own making. (Gary Reber)

Special feature include six featurettes: "The Making Of Wonder Woman 1984: Expanding The Wonder" (HD 36:23), "Gal & Kristen: Friends Forever" (HD 05:10), "Small But Mighty" (HD 10:44), "Scene Study: The Mall" (HD 05:03), "Gal & Krissy Having Fun" (HD 01:12) and "Meet The Amazons" (HD 21:28); a "Black Gold" Informercial (HD 01:38); a gag reel (HD 06:26); the "Wonder Woman 1984" Retro Remix (HD 01:40) and a Movies Anywhere digital code.

The 2.39:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR 10 picture was photographed on 35mm Kodak film in Super 35 with Arriflex 235 and Arriflex 435 cameras and digitally with Arri Alexa 65 (6.5K some scenes), mastered to a 2K (not 4K) Digital Intermediate, and reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display. While exhibited theatrically in 3D, with a conversion by DNEG and released for home viewing, no 3D Blu-ray Disc was provided for review. The opening segment is in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which then widens to 2.39:1 for the duration of the movie. The opening scenes of Dana's training are spectacular in an earth-toned appearance with a very natural look and rich colors. Once into the movie the color saturation is stronger with vibrant hues throughout. The scenes in London exhibit more natural hues that are rich and warm, though, still attractively stylized. The cinematography is superb with effective lighting design. Color fidelity is excellent with saturated hues that exhibit naturalness with nuanced hue shadings. Fleshtones are perfectly accurate. HDR contrast is wide with deep black levels, refined shadow depth, and brilliant highlights. Diana and Steve's romantic nighttime stroll by the Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool is dramatic looking. During the end, colors saturate with a spectacular fireworks display, explosions, the bright orange of Diana's whip, and lightning rays. Resolution is excellent with fine detail exhibited in facial features, clothing, and object textures of exterior and interior sets, especially during close-ups. Overall, while the color palette is stylistic and not always realistic, most of the picture is quite satisfying, especially in the darker scenes in which light is mixed with shadows. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is credited as a remix specifically for the home theatre environment. Yet the Immersive Sound element is unfulfilled in terms of its potential for delineating the various soundscapes depicted on-screen. Hans Zimmer's orchestral/choral score is dynamic and spatially dimensional with a complete ear-level soundfield wraparound with aggressive extension to the surrounds. Dialogue is intelligible throughout with generally good spatial integration. Sound effects are directionalized at times, though, subtle. Atmospherics are naturally realistic. Deep bass extends in the music and sound effects. The sonics intensify during the opening Themysciran athletic contest, a mall chase, Diana and Steve's plane takeoff, a July 4th fireworks flyover, their pursuits in Egypt, a battle at the White House, the Lasso of Truth, and the final showdown. Throughout surround energy in the added two channels delivers aggressively strong surrounds that provide full envelopment. Deep bass in the .1 LFE is a strong element, adding effective weight to the action. As such, action scenes sound quite dynamic and deliver a “punch” to the sonics.

The Immersive Sound element is limited to an extension of the orchestral score and extremely limited sound effects, such as a brief wimpy prop plane engine sound, an instant of unreal and incomplete arrows whizzing overhead, brief moments of thunder, very limited gunfire and machine-gun rounds, and a brief big plane engine sound in the final battle scene. That's it. Much of the soundtrack is sadly silent in terms of overhead extension. No thought whatsoever has been given as to how to effectively employ the dimension of height to the soundtrack to more fully provide a true immersive experience.

While surround envelopment is for the most part limited to an extension of the orchestral score, with also subtle sound effects, this is a powerful enveloping element that makes for a satisfying holosonic® presentation. (Gary Reber)