Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 4K (2016) Ultra HD 2160p REMUX

Jane Austen's classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in 19th century England is faced with a new challenge: an army of undead zombies.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 4K (2016) Ultra HD 2160p REMUX Review
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies arrives on UHD Blu-ray with a 2160p transfer that's an honest, though not overwhelming, improvement on an already stellar 1080p presentation (also included with purchase). The uptick in quality results in finer, more appreciably dense and detailed textures. Darcy's leather jacket seen at film's start, for instance, manages finer crease and fabric textures that aren't quite so well defined on the 1080p transfer. Much the same can be said for most any surface in the movie, whether other examples of period attire, facial textures, natural elements, or stone and brick surfaces. The digitally sourced image doesn't quite pass for film quality, but the 4K (upscaled from a 2K digital intermediate by all accounts) UHD transfer boasts a triumphant cinematic grandeur, particularly in parts of the movie where scope supersedes intimacy. Everything is crisp and sharp, but naturally so. Viewers will find the period set pieces and costumes a treasure trove of visual robustness. Colors are noticeably more dense; even before conducting A-B comparisons and watching the UHD/HDR version hours after screening the film's standard 1080p release, the palette's enhancements are clear. While clothing stands tops amongst the most noticeable changes -- red is particularly more saturated -- earthy tones, from natural exterior elements to blonde hair shades, showcase greater depth in every scene. Black levels, as they were in the 1080p version, hold deep and accurate. Flesh tones push a fair bit warmer during a candlelight dance early in the film than they do in 1080p but otherwise retain a similar neutral shading. Light noise also remains, but never to the image's detriment. Overall, this is a very nice UHD presentation, not worlds better than the excellent 1080p outing but certainly one worth a look and worth choosing, assuming UHD and HDR capability.

Again it's the added surround-back channels, not the height channels, that are the unsung heroes in an Atmos soundtrack upgrading from a 5.1 lossless presentation. Sony's UHD Blu-ray release of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies offers an upgraded sound experience, replacing the 1080p Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack with a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core) soundtrack. The Atmos track, sampled through an 11.1 setup with four "overhead" channels added to the more traditional 7.1 setup, offers a marked increase in aggression and raw volume over the 5.1 track, in addition to an increased sense of space about the track. The added back channels help create a fuller, more involved, more natural sound field, particularly when it comes to musical delivery. Music remains firm up front, but its surround footprint clearly benefits from the opportunity to extend through more channels and more precisely saturate the listener in Composer Fernando Velázquez's score. More prominent than that, however, is the track's extra aggression. Bass hits substantially harder. The first zombie kill at the card game drops the hammer and sets the tone for some serious bone-cracking bass to come. The track never relents in its action scenes, and it doesn't sneak up on the listener, either. It's full-on dynamite, often epitomizing that grand, big, and effortless cinematic flair for the extra-dramatic.