Lara Croft Tomb Raider 4K 2001 Ultra HD 2160p

For more about Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 4K and the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 4K Blu-ray release, see Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 4K Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on March 19, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

Per Paramount, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider's UHD arrives on the format by way of a 4K scan from the 35mm source (as opposed to the sequel, which is sourced from a 2K DI). This 2160p/Dolby Vision-enabled presentation is largely fantastic. Grain retention is often thick, more dense than most shot-on-film UHD releases thus far, and fluctuations in intensity are not uncommon. Still, the net result is a very flattering filmic appearance that accentuates the image's high-yield textural delights in nearly every scene. The product is very sharp and Paramount's UHD handles everything, including ornate furnishings and structural details in Venice, Lara's mansion, and roughly edged natural landscapes and sharp and distinct ancient ruins, with ease. Each environment is a treasure of intimate, tangible complexity with extremely fine detailing evident on nearly every surface. One great example is scattered debris in Lara's mansion following a battle, seen more clearly in the aftermath during clean-up efforts in chapter five. Additionally, essential up-tight elements -- basics like clothes and faces -- reveal superb and high attention to detail complexities. Pores, hairs, and various fabrics are presented with impeccable definition in close-up and striking clarity even at medium distance.

The 12-bit Dolby Vision coloring doesn't appear to yield anything out of the ordinary in terms of extreme color vitality at first look during an uninterrupted, no comparisons watch, but there's a tangible sense of essential color depth and accuracy upon comparing with the comparatively bland and washed out Blu-ray. Natural greens pop and white flowers dazzle in one of the movie's most purely colorful shots around the 45-minute mark. A brilliantly presented red/orange "time bubble" effect offers striking color clarity and intensity in chapter 10. Even some of the grayscale interiors featured prominently in a large battle and key sequence in chapter seven look great, with plenty of obvious subtle variations in shading in what are firm, confident colors, even amongst those otherwise bland, dreary shades. Black levels are highly impressive in terms of depth and shadow detail. The print is meticulously clean and no encode issues are immediately apparent. Compared directly to the bundled Blu-ray, well, there is no comparison. The UHD absolutely blows it out of the water. Grain is much more refined, the image's textural qualities are significantly enhanced, and colors are appreciably more nuanced, deep, and refined. Compare a shot of the Croft mansion seen at the beginning of chapter 12. End of story. This is a very high yield UHD release from Paramount.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider's UHD is curiously absent a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, which has by-and-large been the norm for Paramount 4K releases. The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is certainly an upgrade over the original 2006 release's Dolby Digital and lossy DTS 5.1 presentations. This track is large and commanding, over-engineered for effect in that late 90s/early 2000s style through which everything sounds over-amplified and favoring large-scale effects and total stage saturation while not disregarding nuance but certainly leaving it second to the intensive primary sounds. From a core, nuts-and-bolts perspective, the soundtrack really rocks. Action scenes are awash in insane, excessive stage domination. Surrounds are fully engaged, more so in order to offer a blasting 360-degree sound field rather than to merely compliment and match the on-screen action. Gunfire rips through with plenty of raw aggression and heightened volume. Crashes hit hard while characters on wires and machines on gears -- notably a solar system model that's at the center of the action inn chapter 10 (and looks like something out of The Dark Crystal) -- swoop through with well defined stage traversal and a prominent low end support. One of the track's most prominent one-off sound effects may be heard during a pitch, climactic battle in chapter nine. A bell rings with a stage-filling, ear-piercing high frequency effect that completely saturates the listening area. Cavernous locales -- a large open-space Illuminati chamber interior in chapter two, an auction house in chapter three, a "tomb" in chapter seven -- allow for some enjoyable dialogue reverb effects. Essential dialogue is clear and refined. The track may be a little raw by today's standards, but it's a lot of fun. The lack of an Atmos presentation is disappointing, particularly for a movie with this much pure sound mayhem on tap, but Paramount's 5.1 track certainly gets the job done.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (64.2 Mb/s)
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision + HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish (Latino): Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Finnish, Swedish.