Why So Blu?

Logan (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Logan is a film that really needs no elaborate setup to whet your appetite for.  If you have not already, you should be practically dying to see this one.  The mere fact that this even got made with an R-rating is no doubt thanks to the brilliance and success of last year’s Deadpool.  Had it not been for that film, which proved in a world of failed Kick-Ass movies R-rated comic book films can indeed thrive, I’m quite sure Logan would have been slapped with that dread PG-13 rating.  Luckily for us that’s not the case in our present scenario.  So let the bloodshed ensue with glorious reveal and the F-bombs roll off tongues like spit flies when yelling because we’re gathered here to talk all things Logan releasing on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD May 23rd.  Let’s go on one more ride with mighty Wolverine who has given us his all the past 17 years!  Makes me feel old, what about you?  Ha ha!

Film 

Logan is obviously in reference to the real name of the Marvel Comics superhero Wolverine.  For all intent and purpose it’s the tenth installment in the X-Men film series and supposedly third and final film in the Wolverine solo adventures.  I say supposedly because this is intended to be Hugh Jackman’s final portrayal of the deadly character, a role he played for a whopping 17 years now.  He’s such a class act, but I digress for the moment as I want to keep the focus on the film itself for the time being.  Just know that it feels very “final” for the Wolverine.

This superhero movie is directed by James Mangold, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Green and Scott Frank, from a story by David James Kelly and Mangold.  The flick takes inspiration from the graphic novel Old Man Logan by Mark Millar (hence my Kick-Ass reference up above as well as my review title) and Steve McNiven.  In a nutshell it follows a past-his-prime Logan undertaking a final “mutant” adventure in the post-apocalyptic future.  And supposedly this future I speak of is set 5 years after the events in Days of Future Past in 2029.  Furthermore it’s stated no mutants have been born in the past 25 years.  You confused yet?

Wait!  I forgot to talk about all the obligatory major players and big cast names involved here.  In addition to Jackman Patrick Stewart returns to the series co-starring as Charles Xavier with Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Elizabeth Rodriguez in supporting roles.  And like I said Logan is set some five years after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2029, where a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border in Texas.  One could also say Logan has been in hiding these past five years, but still his legend precedes him.  However, he has also been real busy at his day/night job.  Yep that’s right he has been working his butt off as a limousine driver to save up money to buy a boat (I kid you not), but alas has come out of the shadows in protection of a certain young female mutant (Keen) with some extraordinary powers.

If you had to categorize Logan or differentiate it amongst all the other X-Men films that have come before I guess you can say it’s pretty much a western picture.  There are cues here and there kind of insulting your intelligence that it is such as western movies playing on a TV, the locations and of course the music, but at the end of that day it’s alright.  Logan is a western film I very much enjoy mostly in part to that hard R-rating that makes it ultra enjoyable to watch the Wolverine tear his opponents mercilessly apart like the animal his name suggests he is.  All the various F-bombs throughout were just the icing on the cake.  This could not be done nor shown in the previous X-Men and Wolverine installments and it begs to reason, shouldn’t all the X-Men films have been rated R?  Hell yeah I believe!  While there are some good ones the hard R-rating could have made them even better in my opinion.  Could you imagine how brutal and ultimately more insane/intense that fight scene between Wolverine and Sabertooth could have been in that first outing?  Wow!  It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it now.

The real crux of the story here though is it’s time to pass the torch.  What I mean by that is not only is Professor X dying, but so is Logan slowly.  The fictional metal alloy, Adamantium, that Wolverine skeleton is infused with giving him nearly invisible powers and recovery is the same material that’s killing his body too.  You see the irony there?  I bloody love it!  I mean I don’t love that our hero is dying, but I heart the fact that eventually everyone has their Kryptonite in life that will eventually kill them.  For some it’s smoking, cancer, HIV, etc., but rest assured we find out here that even Wolverine has an expiration date like all of us.  Now I did mention passing the torch in the beginning of this paragraph.  You see there’s this subject of a younger mutant girl.  Who is she?  Where did she come from?  Is she the only one of her kind?  Rest assured again all these questions you may have about here and more will be answered throughout the film’s 2 hour and 15-minute runtime.  I can guarantee that.

So like I was saying Logan is very much about out with the old and in with the new.  Thankfully the new, Laura (Dafne Keen), is worth the price of admission here.  I haven’t had this much fun watching a little girl kick ass since Kick-Ass.  Ha ha.  Like the Wolverine she’s very much modeled after her fighting style is like watching Yoda pounce on opponents if he had no lightsaber mercilessly beating them with his cane.  However, in this respect the girl has weapons.  I’m of course referring to the Weapon X program in the X-Men lore, but mostly her um…claws.  Yes ladies and gentlemen when I said modeled after Wolverine she has the trademark claws too, well sort of.  She also has a hidden surprise that even Mr. Logan doesn’t have, but no spoilers there.

The beauty of Logan for me may be it’s unrestricted R-rating, which gives it plenty of breathing room.  However, truth be told I’m also very much smitten by the straightforward, simple story.  It’s part a buddy road trip and part coming of age, for all three of the main characters: Professor X, Wolverine and the new young mutant, Laura.  I’ll be honest with you though that I am a big fan of Professor X’s albino caretaker (Stephen Merchant) here, but I’ll be the first to admit I’m completely unfamiliar with his character in the greater grand scheme of things.  Other nice surprises include how much I loved the various performances such as Boyd Holbrook as one of the chief antagonists and even ER’s Eriq La Salle in a small, but very effective role.  In addition to all of this there’s the comics too.  No I’m not talking the physical comic books themselves, but how they’re ingeniously woven into and applicable to the overall story arc here.  There’s a lot of stuff hidden from us in the theatrical trailers and I say to Fox thank you for that!

I guess if I had one complaint about Logan it’s that I didn’t love it the first time around as much as I wanted to.  I wanted a perfect 5 star score with that very first outing.  Ha ha.  After multiple watches though it’s definitely a game changer in the world of superhero movies.  I thought the filmmakers did a great job of pretty much hiding all the Act 3 surprises from you in the film’s theatrical trailers, but the conclusion for some reason didn’t make me want to cry until my second viewing.  I wanted to cry more the first time.  I mean sweet baby Jesus that first trailer set to Johnny Cash’s cover of “Hurt” is so damn perfect.  It makes you want to cry.  However I will say this.  The ending here gets more climatic with every viewing I get under my belt of this.  Maybe it’s because it was such a given the first time I saw it.  I don’t know.  At times it also felt like I was watching a dystopia Mel Gibson sort of Mad Max world, but I digress because to explain that would be to really spoil things here.

I think for what it’s worth there’s a lot to adore here in Logan.  For fans of hardcore Rated-R action, like myself, Logan is bloody, brutal and grizzly.  God bless Fox for that!  On the flip side, there’s a lot of heart and redemption to go around too.  That’s always a big plus.  But what it all boils down to is the overall sentiment that this felt like a bonafide X-Men movie.  It fit as a perfect bookend or a whole new chapter to something yet to come.  You’ll have to see how you feel about it.  And how about a round of applause for Mr. Hugh Jackman who’s hanging up the yellow tights after nearly 20 years of portraying this heroic, violent beast of a character?  Not only was he able to flex his muscles one last time here, but he was also able to deliver a heartfelt, sincere performance and goes out on top with it all.  Who can ask for anything more than that?  Just an FYI though, much to my chagrin, there’s no after credits scene.  So it’s anybody’s guess as to where they’ll go from here.  Enjoy!

Video 

The below video score and related critique of things here are based solely upon my viewing of both the color and the noir versions of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Logan.  SPOILER ALERT – I JUST LOVE THE WAY THIS ONE LOOKS!!!

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: 4K (2160p) – As reported by The Digital Bits website here Logan was shot digitally in the ARRIRAW codec using ARRI Alexa XT cameras and was finished to a native 4K Digital Intermediate. The result is presented here in full 4K.  Yay!
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 2.39:1
• Clarity/Detail: You ever hear of that phrase the attention is in the detail or something like that?  Well if that’s the case, you’ll pay close attention to everything here as the detail is impeccable making this one of the finest 4K presentations I have taken in.  There’s too many “details” to discuss here, but things on the top of my mind include  individual stones in gravel, Hugh’s veins and scars that take forever to heal, Logan’s beard, the diagonal patterns and stitching in the leather seats within Logan’s limo, fine pores, enhanced robot limbs, textures in clothing and fabric on elevator walls in the casino hotel, beads of rain resting on Logan’s limo, the intricate aging of the X-Men comics props, the pasty white albino skin, stubble and age spots on forehead of Professor X and so much more.  I didn’t even mention the incredibly detailed and fabulously rendered sets and various environments.  Everything onscreen is seen with the utmost of authenticity and realism.
• Depth: The onscreen characters pop against their backdrops they share scenes with in the utmost of three-dimensional.  Examples of depth in the image itself include such highlights as the sprawling forest in Act 3, various enclosed spaces like Professor X’s Texas bunker hideout, vast Texas desert landscapes and barren roads, Harrah’s casino floor, corn fields, the canyon and probably the most impressive of them all the image behind blades of grass gently blowing in the Act 3 forest.
• Black Levels: Here’s where this 4K Ultra HD presentation of Logan is the most stunning…the brilliant infusing of the HDR color grading in the nighttime scenes.  the black levels are off the chart here and completely unbelievable.  The HDR looks exemplarily in night time scenes and other interior ones like the dinner party and more.  Everything is dark and natural, and scenes like Professor X’s hideout where the albino character lives in the dark and only sources of light are fluorescents inside are breathtaking.  How about that pitch black night sky outside the hotel building illuminated with lights on the outside or Charles working on his plants under fluorescent lights in darkness?  How about it indeed!  Other times the black levels are gorgeously deep and inky at times like when Logan is watching the cell phone video in his now shot up limo.  Lighting is key and paramount here and I for one just simply adore the way this one is enchantingly lit.  The brilliant use of natural light at times is jaw dropping in 4K.
• Color Reproduction: The colors want to be dystopian, but instead they are rather Earthy and natural. Neon signs and boldly lit objects like sirens pop.  However, it’s the naturally lit environments that are the stunning winners here and in my opinion are comparable to the naturalism of The Revenant‘s 4K UHD presentation.  I know that’s a bold statement to make, but I feel confident in saying so.
• Flesh Tones: The Caliban’s pasty skin is very albino-like. Ha ha.  And his bloody burns from the sun are very realistic, but I digress.  Instead I want to report on the fact that all the skin tones throughout here look healthy, natural and authentic.
• Noise/Artifacts: I didn’t notice a single nasty thing about this 4K presentation. There’s a crowd pleasing, very light veneer of cinematic film grain to it and it looks simply marvelous.

So the story of how the whole Noir version of Logan came to be is best told by letting Director James Mangold tell y’all.  “During production of Logan I took many black and white photographs and noticed how striking and dramatic our gritty settings and characters appeared in monochrome,” said Mangold. “The western and noir vibes of the film seemed to shine in the format and there was not a trace of modern comic hero movie sheen. Then, while editing, Fox and I started posting some of the black and white stills online and fans also began to respond enthusiastically, many hoping that they would get a chance to see the finished film in carefully timed, high contrast black and white. Well. Sometimes hope becomes reality.”

Truth be told when I reviewed my favorite film from a couple years ago, Mad Max: Fury Road, in its Black & Chrome Edition I was less than impressed.  It looked horrible in my opinion and completely ruined what should always be a profound movie experience of it for me.  If you’re interested in reading more about it, you can check out my review of it here. So needless to say when a Noir version of Logan was first announced I was less than excited to partake in it.  However, a Facebook Friend of mine, Sach Sharma, got his hands on an early copy of this 4K Ultra HD set a week ago and made my apprehension of it a tad less.  He broke the news that this set comes with the Noir version in 4K and most importantly with HDR, something the Mad Max release did not.  So down below I give you my most simplistic thoughts on…drum roll please…Logan Noir.

So I never thought I would be saying this, but I somewhat like the looks of Logan Noir.  The opening scene that pits Logan against the thugs trying to remove the wheels from his limo reminded me of the classic Universal Monsters movies I grew up watching in B&W as a kid.  It has a more vintage, dare I say Casablanca look to it compared to that garbage Mad Max presentation I suffered through last year.  You lose a little fine detail in motion like rain falling or the crimson in blood, but you gain that classic, vintage, old western feel to it all that I’m sure fans of this film will completely eat up.  Truth be told though I’d watch the superior color version over this any day as I feel it’s one of the finest 4K presentations I have ever sat through.  Although the HDR does this noir version justice it’s just too dark for my tastes (faces for example) compared to the reference alternative.  That’s just my two cents.  YMMV completely different from mine.

Audio 

Like I mentioned up above in the video section, the below audio score and critical comments of such are based upon my viewing of Fox’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentations of Logan in both color and noir, which both utilize the same Dolby Atmos surround track.  However, keep this in mind the 1080p Blu-ray presentation only gets a English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track.

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: The haunting western score infiltrates the fronts heavily and gently oozes into the rears causally like perfect serenity almost.  There’s just a restrained grace to this surround track, but make no mistake when Logan‘s Atmos decides to flex its muscles its no holds barred.  The action booms, thrills and satisfies wildly while at the same time no dialogue is lost in the shuffle.  All the onscreen events and actions are rendered perfectly with authenticity in the Dolby Atmosphere surround track.  It’s a crowd pleaser.
• Height: It’s not the greatest Dolby Atmos surround track I have ever heard, but there are certainly some examples to write home about such as rain falling down from overhead, gunshots firing off from above, the riveting score bleeding in, Laura and Logan’s claws stabbing and slashing downwards on their unsuspecting opponents, a lone truck explosion and another truck being lifted up in the air and smashed down and more.
• Low Frequency Extension: This is not your typical superhero film, but as one can expect      you have all the usuals like shotguns, wild fight scenes and action sequences, bone breaks, slashes and stabs, party music in Logan’s limo, explosive gun shots, score, glass breaking, vehicular carnage and crashes, Professor X’s seizures that rumble and shake the viewing room, various thuds, a heft to vehicles and so much more.
• Surround Sound Presentation: My only nitpick here is I wish the surround channels were utilized just a wee tad more as I had to strain a few times to hear the score in them.  However, at other times they are most impressive like in the beginning where a shotgun goes off in the front and you can literally hear the slow residue from the blast behind you.  That sounded awesome!   Other examples like in the LFE category up above include your typical rear channel engagements such as trains going past, bullet spray, score, driving through cornfields, vehicles approaching from behind and more.  Equally impressive to that aforementioned shotgun blast is Professor X’s seizures.  They immerse you in the tension filled panic of it all within the situation.
• Dialogue Reproduction: I’m pleased to report the dialogue levels are all clear and intelligible throughout.

Extras 

In addition to nearly 90 minutes of original content, including deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes documentary, the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set also includes Logan Noir, a black and white version of the film that gives the acclaimed story an all-new look.  It should be noted there’s a whopping total of 4 discs found within here, 2 4K discs, one for each version of the film (see below for a screenshot of what they look like), and the same for the included 2 Blu-ray discs.  The only caveat is the deleted scenes and Making Logan documentary are only on the Blu-ray.  Like always this Fox 4K Ultra HD set also comes with a Digital HD file good for redemption either with iTunes or UltraViolet.  Just an FYI I redeemed in VUDU and the noir version is available to watch as a VUDU extra.  I wonder what the iTunes option provides.

• Audio Commentary – This audio commentary track features Director James Mangold and can be found on both the 4K Ultra HD and 1080p Blu-ray discs.  For fans of the film, this one’s obviously a MUST watch!  I just want to make mention of the fact that the audio commentary track found on all four discs in this set.  How about that for a win, huh?
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7:45) – Here we have 6 deleted scenes complete with optional audio commentary by Director James Mangold and a Play All selectable option too.  The following Deleted Scenes can be found here: Logan Gets A Ticket, Alternate Dinner Scene, Caliban’s Death, Bobby’s Action Figures, Medical Tent – Connect The Dots and Mutant Kid Puppet Master.  I liked the Dinner Scene because of the uncomfortable, awkward situation Professor X puts Wolverine in and Bobby’s Action Figures because well I like action figures. LOL.  However, that Puppet Master deleted scene is something else too.  LMAO at the fiery conclusion of it.
• Making Logan (HD, 1:16:05) – Here we have a very lengthy multi-part behind-the-scenes documentary split into 6 parts available with a Play All selectable option.  The six segments clock in at over an hour and are broken out as Crafting The Story, Casting The Film, Designing The World, Creating The Score, Stunts And Fights and Wrapping Logan.  I loved every minute of this because well this all interests me, but the inception of the idea for Logan is what spoke to me the most since this story is so different narrative, genre and tone wise compared to the other X-Men films that have come before.  I adored the way the filmmakers talk about how a superhero film could be character driven rather than just action driven.  What an awesome point in addition to how it’s not fun watching a superhero movie of a hero that cannot be hurt!  The greatest quote found here though in my opinion is “He’s not a hero anymore, he’s a f#$%ing mess.”  I love it!  Ha ha.  Hearing Hugh Jackman say he winced every movie he made as he feels Wolverine would never be a PG-13 rated movie in his mind is just the icing on the cake.  Alright I could go on and on, but given the the naming convention of the six parts here I think you get the big picture as to what y’all can expect in this riveting multi-part documentary found only on the 1080p Blu-ray disc that houses the “colored” version of the film.

Summary 

Hailed by many as the greatest X-Men film there has ever been I believe the following two lines are really all you need to know.  And by that I mean why this is the MUST-OWN Wolverine film in your home media collection!

“Someone will come along.” – Logan
“Someone has come along.” – Professor X

So celebrate Hugh Jackman’s 17 year run as the iconic Logan/Wolverine with a bang!   Celebrate it by bringing home May’s BIGGEST and BEST 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release, Logan.  You’re basically getting 4K 2 movies for the price of one here with a bombastic Dolby Atmos surround track and 2 immersive, visually satisfying versions of the presentation plus their matching Blu-ray counterparts.  For me the Making Logan documentary is worth the price of admission alone not to mention how amazing the 4K footage looks here thanks to the HDR on both versions.  Bring home Logan on 4K Ultra HD today!

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DISCLAIMER: This 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray review was judged and graded using the following 4K certified Ultra HD Premium television set found here and player here.  For your maximum reading pleasure make sure to check out all our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews archived here.

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Logan 

Slashes & Stabs One Last Time

on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray May 23rd…

ORDER NOW!

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