4K Ultra HD – US Edition – Universal Pictures – 135 min – 09 July 2019
Video format
• Intermediate Master: 4K
• Standard HDR: HDR10
• Ratio: 1.85
Soundtrack
• English DTS:X
• French (Parisian) SDR 5.1
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.
WORK – Max Rockatansky lifts anchor
In the future where the oceans have covered most of the land, a handful of survivors are trying to find a mythical land, Dryland synonymous with land...
Film cursed if it is (inflation of the budget - $175 million-, natural disaster that ravaged the scenery, problem of agreement between the main actor and the director), this Mad Max aquatic remains almost 24 years after its release a post-apocalyptic adventure entertainment perfectly calibrated. The screenplay is original, the delusional characters (The Deacon), the incredible scenery, the style-raised boats, the spectacular action scenes, the grand soundtrack and the ecological message more than welcome. So this is an impressive blockbuster and always as pleasant to follow.
IMAGE – Ocean as far as you can see
Vis-à-vis the Universal Blu-ray (published in 2009), which was already pale when it was released, this 4K Ultra HD is a mastoc upgrade without devading itself with a rather uneven rendering from one plan to the next.
The definition therefore remains fuzzy even if the textures are now significantly richer, the details are not yet perfectly clear even if they are now more sharp (the rust of the environments and wear of the clothes), some colors still lack uniformity (such as the blue of the large expanses of water) even though they appear now as deeper and nuanced (blue sky, grey clouds and the shades of the skin), and the sky during the attack of the plane again presents a tingling (even of the macroblock!) pronounced. Obviously, this irregularity is certainly due to shooting and inserting certain special effects, but it is still a bit disappointing.
Fortunately, film defects (dusts) are much less, the granular structure is less thick (more refined in sum), contrasts are more pronounced (blacks are deeper) and light sources are clearly more intense (reflections on water, daylight, flames).
Compared to the Blu-ray Arrow released in January 2019 (the TV-Cut proposed in 1080p on the UHD disc is taken from this master), the image delivers a more natural colorimetric palette, more balanced contrasts and a bit more precise pitch (while a little DNR has been applied to the Universal disc).
SON – Houle or wave breaking?
The mix of the VO DTS:X offers an all-in-all-time acoustic performance.
The aggressiveness is there, each channel is well used, the effects as the atmospheres are very detailed, the dialogues are of great clarity, the score is very wide and the low support box all with much (too much?) efficiency (cf. the depth of attack of the atoll by the Smokers). Harmonizing without difficulty with the lower layer, the aerial scene is well integrated and delivers additional information to the relative calm of the ocean (the breeze, the cracking of the mast, the slamming of the sails) and to the chaos of attacks (fires, burning projectiles, explosions, an airplane).
However, some noises do not have any impact (such as when the harpoon is ripped off) and thus indicate with the rest.
CONCLUSION – The call from the sea
If he does not always manage to avoid sea sickness (the image is heterogeneous), the present Ultra HD Blu-ray is watertight enough (the soundtrack knows how to swim very well) so that this atypical post-apo work does not fail!
Artistic note
8
Video quality
7
Audio quality
9
0
[...] the UHD master is identical to that concocted by Universal in 2019 (which had moreover received the approval of Dean Semler), this transfer [...]