The Dragon of the lake of fire, the era where Disney was not afraid to burn his wings!

IMAGE – Taped in the shadow

From a meticulous 4K scan, this UHD Dolby Miraculous Vision transfer brings the Urland kingdom back to life (photo signed) Derek Vanlint) with clarity of every moment.

The scratches, imperfections and other persistent dusts have been carefully erased, the large silver grain (a 35 mm capture) is naturally solved to a handful of planes (encoding sometimes weakens a little) and the details, simply wonderful, appear with a clear welcome (wear wear, wood textures, rock relief, face characteristics) despite softer planes (linked to the use of filters and smokes during shooting) and some distortions on the edges of the frame (due to anamorphic lenses).

The colours are of a good firmness (the carnation is healthy, the shaded greys and the copper colour palpable) and deliver bold primaries (the greenery of the forests, the glowing heat of the flames), the contrasts are well balanced with whites of great vivacity and blacks at the always adequate depth (the darkness is ideally elaborated), and the light sources display a heroic radiance (the reflections on the spear, the incandescence of the torches).

SON – Jump in the Fire 🎶

While it improves in all areas the original soundtrack Dolby Stereo 70 mm 6-Track from 1981, this mixing Dolby Atmos engaging imposes as « a beast » whose existence, here surprised, does not fail to animate the surroundings with as much presence as robustness.

The dynamic beach is noticeable, the atmospheres populate the places (the gnashing of the wood, the cry of the birds, the vacillating of the torches, the murmur of the breeze, the rustling of the leaves, the clapotis of the water), the beautiful musical score ofAlex North Inflames the acoustic space, the LFE channel weighs with all its pitch as soon as the dragon enters the stage (its roarings, its flames), the sound verticality is rare but it remains no less striking (falls of rocks, echoes in the cave, wing beats) and the dialogues are perfectly audible.

Even if very correct and clean, the VF(F) is not able to confront its 3D consœur by its monophonic nature.

CONCLUSION – The ancestor of Smaug the Golden

Long before the winged reptilian creatures Game of Thrones and The Hobbit, there was ignoble Vermithrax, the monstrous and credible (thank you) Industrial Light & Magic) dragon that has permanently marked the spirit of the most adventurous among us (the film was a commercial failure). And under the spotlight thanks to the present 4K Ultra HD (a/V block heating), no doubt it will haunt the legends of the whole world!