Pitch Perfect 3 4K 2017 Ultra HD 2160p REMUX

After the highs of winning the World Championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren't job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

Pitch Perfect 3 4K 2017 Ultra HD 2160p REMUX Review
Pitch Perfect 3's UHD may be an upscale from a 2K digital intermediate (with the film reportedly shot at a resolution of 2.8K), but it's nevertheless a satisfying upgrade over the Blu-ray. Improvements to detail are clear right off the bat when viewing the film in close proximity to the Blu-ray. Sharpness takes a fairly large step forward. Image crispness and clarity receive an obvious boost, and the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out extremely fine facial and clothing textures, which in comparison leaves the Blu-ray looking almost smooth and flat. While detailing takes a stout step forward over the Blu-ray, the leap in color is significant. The HDR-enhanced presentation is the unequivocal image highlight. Colors boast a serious increase in saturation, nuance, and vitality. Take a look at a direct overhead shot of blue umbrellas in the 53-minute mark. The sheer vitality is absolutely striking, and on a direct compare to the Blu-ray, the improvements take on even more significance; the Blu-ray, itself very vibrant and robust in a vacuum, appears dull in comparison. Bright lighting effects during the final performance shine with incredible intensity, particularly against a darker backdrop. Skin tones enjoy heightened depth and accuracy with nuanced diversity of both natural tones and applied makeup. Various clothes and interior paint colors dazzle. Black levels are superb, too. While Pitch Perfect 3 enjoys a nice textural boost in 2160p, it's the HDR colors that really make this disc shine; UHD fans will want to pick this one up as a format showcase, particularly for an upscale presentation.

Pitch Perfect 3 features the same DTS:X Master Audio soundtrack that can be found on the companion Blu-ray release; kudos to Universal for continuing to support both formats with the best audio experience. The presentation doesn't disappoint. The opening a cappella take on the Universal theme music is sonically interesting and enjoyably rich, presenting with plenty of discrete effects all over the stage and featuring fluid, effortlessly clear and highly detailed notes. The resultant unique listening experience is only the first of several sonic highlights in the film. Various musical performances follow suit, all with some degree of seamless and precise stage location and easy, well defined movements resulting in total and accurate surround integration. The culmination arrives in the film's (and the series') finale. A large, enveloping performance, beginning with Beca and eventually including all of the girls, offers fine-tuned instrumental clarity and, yes, pitch perfect lyrical definition. It's a sensational sonic moment. The sense of total integration; the fine-point, sweet and smooth sound transitions; and the effortlessly integrated overhead support make for one of the most enjoyably fluid and perfectly immersive moments one if going to find. Add in a low end that hits, and remains in, a sweet spot of authoritative yet complimentary refinement that melts into the experience rather than dominating it, and it's easily a reference sonic moment that DTS should be promoting as one of its best. Various support elements -- whether background din at a military base or an overpowering jet engine that comically drowns out dialogue -- offer exceptional performance. There's some wonderful microphone reverb and a sense of large, cavernous space during some concert scenes throughout the movie's middle stretch, and the top end enjoys more discrete prominence at the 64-minute mark when metallic sounds roll around the stage. Dialogue is clear and precise and perfectly positioned throughout. This is a fantastic sound presentation from DTS and Universal.

If you were a fan of the first Pitch Perfect movie and were disappointed by the bloated sequel, you'll find Pitch Perfect 3 to be acc-awesome. I saw all three movies back-to-back-to-back at the Pitch Perfect Treble feature so I was able to put them into fresh context.

The third chapter gets back to basics and focuses squarely on the core cast, along with Hailee Steinfeld and Chrissie Fit from PP2.

Pitch Perfect always worked best as a "small movie". PP2 made the usual mistake of going big, rather than going deep. The result was needless plot distractions like the Green Bay Packers and Snoop Dogg. Sure, those elements were fun, but they didn't add much. Also gone is the weirdness of PP2, like the Teutonic Das Sound Machine, the Riff Off Host, and jokes about illegal immigrants.

What's left is a much tighter plot featuring the Bellas doing what they do best. My favorite scene in PP3 is the riff off where the group effortlessly segues from song to song. I'm sure it was heavily choreographed and rehearsed, but it seems so natural and reflects a chemistry developed from doing three movies together.

PP3 also avoids the third chapter mistake of trying to cram in everyone who appeared in the earlier features. A lot of the main characters are gone, and the roles of some of the remaining ones - most notably Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins - are diminished to give the Bellas more time. Even the finale, arguably, goes small to focus on the Bellas and their sisterhood.

In the end, this franchise finale is "pitch perfect". To paraphrase Jesse, if you like watching a bunch of girls doing covers of songs one last time, you'll love this movie.

As a final note - PP3 does a nice job closing this chapter of women's lives and also in paying homage to the past movies. Look for references and scenes from the past and enjoy how far these women have come.