Knowing 4K Blu-ray 2009 Ultra HD

A single father and chairman of his town's historical society is summoned when a time capsule buried behind an elementary school in 1958 is prematurely unearthed because of a water-main break. The man, whose son attends the school, sifts through the contents and finds drawings of what 1958 tykes predicted the modern world would be like. It's all flying cars and fantasy stuff, with the exception of one chilling entry. One child predicted some of the most horrible events in recent history, and there's one that hasn't yet occurred, which the man attempts to prevent.

For more about Knowing 4K and the Knowing 4K Blu-ray release, see Knowing 4K Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on April 7, 2018 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

Story movie
Knowing is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with a 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. In the "different reviewers, different opinions" category, I'm giving Knowing's 1080p version a 4.5 rather than Marty's 5, as I personally was a little less than perfectly pleased with a couple of brief instances of banding (one of which makes it through to the 4K UHD presentation), as well as occasional crush in the darkest scenes. Knowing was digitally captured with Red cameras, and according to the IMDb had a source resolution at 4K, which was then finished at a 2K DI. I'd be really interested to see some kind of presentation of Knowing sourced from the Redcode RAW data files, since in my estimation the biggest changes to Knowing in its 4K UHD version are not in fact the expected if subtle upticks in detail levels from a 2K DI, but the really interesting new look Dolby Vision has given to this already distinctively graded feature. There are upticks in detail levels, something that's noticeable as early as the credits sequence, where some of the tiniest numbers are more easily visible sooner as they come into view and/or focus, or even some more "material" elements like the fur on a petty bunny of Caleb's. But over and over what really impressed me about this presentation was the difference in palette. The opening flashback is actually more desaturated looking in its 4K UHD version than on the 1080p Blu-ray, something that clearly separates it from the bulk of the "contemporary" moments. That said, there's still interesting desaturation combined with an almost sepia tone that defines a lot of the rest of the film, with a somewhat more ochre or slightly orange-beige look in a lot of scenes than is evident in the 1080p Blu- ray version. There are also a number of much cooler gradings employed, including long stretches of gray and/or blue, especially in some of the torrential downpour sequences. These tend to have what I'd call a slightly more slate quality to the grading now. As with the original version, the unrelenting darkness (as in lack of light) does tend to defeat even some of the interesting additions Dolby Vision gives to the presentation. Very brief bookending moments look a bit soft, with the opening credits underlay looking a bit fuzzy and with a very brief flirtation with banding on the left side of the frame as planetary light breaks through. That same softness accrues in what is the film's most potent visual conceit (see screenshot 2), but the unreality of the moment is probably only enhanced by the gauziness.

Info blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision + HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH, Spanish