4K Ultra HD – UK Edition – Warner Bros. – 126 min – 03 June 2019
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: HDR10
• Ratio: 1.85
Soundtrack
• English Dolby Atmos
• English Dolby Digital 5.1
• French (Parisian) Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles
• English
• French
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers as well as the viewing equipment specified and used by each tester of the MaG team, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence the rating. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
WORK – Dance with the devil in the moonlight
Violence and corruption prevail in Gotham City. The Mafia runs the city in its own way, in the nose and beard of the authorities, completely overwhelmed by the events. For a few weeks, however, a mysterious vigilante, draped in a bat suit, terrorizes the criminals and sows anxiety in the ranks of the mafia. A young journalist, Vicki Vale, is conducting the investigation. That's how she meets an attractive but eccentric billionaire, Bruce Wayne. This one is none other than Batman, who has already saved him. She also meets an odious villain, Jack Napier, right arm of the godfather Carl Grissom...
Despite the slowness towards the end, this first Batman whose microcosm of the comic book really fits well with the twisted world of Tim Burton, is an amazingly poetic and romantic fantastic action film where the psychological balance of his superhero occupies as much place as the devastating madness of the Joker, performed by a Jack Nicholson who makes it (due to) tons.
IMAGE – This town needs an enema!
From a 4K scan of the original negative, this UHD HDR10 transfer (probably carried out under the aegis of Roger Pratt, the director of photography) presents a huge upgrade compared to the previous Blu-ray (which was provided in the edition also remastered).
The silver grain (a 35 mm turning) is otherwise more refined (it never invades the frame), the superior resolution benefits all planes (mattes paints and miniatures can no longer hide), the improvement of details is more than significant (urban landscapes, the « Makeup » with a fineness and textural complexity of every moment, the colorimetric palette that has been modernized for the occasion (slightly less grey but much more bluish night scenes) breathes from vitality to the images with a much wider range of colours (the purple costume of the Joker, the caramel tints in the luxurious interiors of the Wayne mansion and Grissom apartments), the contrasts are greatly enhanced to accentuate the gothic darkness of the places (deeper and richer blacks), and the light sources (many in spite of the night – in the moonlight – ambient) are displayed with boldness and intensity (including urban lighting, projectors and vehicle headlights) that the SDR master could not dream of. In the end, the film has never been so beautiful!
SON – I finally gave a name to my pain!
Hatted by Tim Burton with some sound changes to the key (the shots borrowed from Inspector Harry and activation of Batmobile armored shields fired fromAliens have been replaced by now unique effects), this brand new Dolby Atmos mixing (in VO) offers his Batman what he has always deserved.
With greater clarity and a lot more muscular than before, the bass (the roaring of the Batmobile engine) and the dynamic range (the race-prosecution and the shootings) having nothing to do with it, this soundtrack actively uses all the channels at its disposal to plunge us into the bowels of Gotham City. The sound field therefore finds itself much wider with an unprecedented perception of the environment (including atmospheres) on this title, even if you have added an aerial scene (the steam at Axis Chemicals, gas at the Flugelheim Museum, multiple reverberations, falls of objects, the Batwing, bells, a helicopter, etc.) which activates as soon as the situation permits. For the rest, the dialogues are audible in all circumstances and the score of Elfman perfectly ventilated in the acoustic space.
In comparison, VF is ultra-deceiving (only frontal and never expressive) and is of no interest.
CONCLUSION – Jack died my friend... You can call me Joker.
– What do you want?
– A 4K Ultra HD from Burton's first superproduction.
– You must be kidding...
– I've got someone's head laughing?!
– I have very good news for you...
Artistic note
8
Video quality
9
Audio quality
9
0
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