Luca 4K Ultra HD

Set in a seaside town on the Italian Riviera, "Luca" is a coming-of-age story about a young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer. Luca (Tremblay) shares his amazing adventures with his friends, but their fun is threatened by a deeply held secret: they're sea monsters from a world below the water's surface. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the featuretes "Our Italian Inspiration" (HD 14:21), "Secretly A Sea Monster" (HD 12:23) and "Best Friends" (HD 07:15), seven deleted scenes (HD 30:30), trailers, upfront previews and a Movies Anywhere digital code.

The 1.85:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was animated digitally and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. The animated picture is pristine and clear. Color fidelity is excellent with bright saturated hues. Greens, blues, and beiges are hues especially prominent in the palette. The wide color gamut exhibits wonderful nuanced hue shadings. The characters are intriguing in their colorful outfits. HDR contrast is wide with especially bright town scenes, shadowy undersea caverns, and nicely bright white levels. Resolution is excellent with fine detail exhibited in the town's architecture, Vespas, clothing, and object textures. Facial features are especially detailed in the hair of the characters. Below the sea, the creatures are nicely defined. This is another well-crafted animation feature that is wonderfully colorful and contrasty. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is ADR dialogue focused in both sea form and human form. The voicing sync is excellent. The supporting atmospherics enhance the sense of environments. Sound effects also support the proceedings. Foley sound effects are excellent with perfectly synchronized motion. The music accompaniment is very constant and provides good surround envelopment. Otherwise, the sound is frontal focused. Bass is never emphasized but sounds natural throughout. .

The Immersive Sound element is essentially absent of the height layer with virtually nothing of any effectiveness. No music, except some subtle front height energy, and then not there always when the music is playing in the ear-level channels. Otherwise nothing! Disappointing.

This is a warm-hearted animated feature with a decent ear-level holosonic® soundtrack that provides engaging entertainment for the entire family. (Gary Reber)