Why So Blu?

A Quiet Place Part II (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

If people want to see something, they WILL go to the theaters for it, as proven by one of the “return to cinemas” biggest hits in A Quiet Place Part II. The first film was wildly successful a few years back, so of course you know Paramount would want to capitalize on those big box office dollars. With a shortened home video window now, it feels like a literally just saw the film a few weeks ago (Tho its been 2 months). But nonetheless, here it comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray after an exclusive period on Paramount+. It has a nice array of bonus features, but one of the coolest things is that this is a modern movie with a native 4K presentation. There’s a lot of (nice) 4K upscales out there when it comes to today’s blockbusters. You’ll be able to grab this one (Also available on a double feature release with the first one) when it arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray July 27th. You can pre-order the film using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review.

Film

Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family (Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe) must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path in this “gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller” (Scott Mantz, BFCA) written and directed by John Krasinski.

A Quiet Place Part II is one of the better direct continuation sequels in more recent times. Picking up where we left off, Krasinski’s film delivers the goods you came to enjoy in the original, expands his world in a natural way and challenges with clever new set pieces from the elements introduced in the last film. And no bs, too. The film runs for a very adequate and thrilling lean 97 minutes including the end credits.

One of the more fun aspects of A Quiet Place Part II is watching John Krasinski grow as a director. He’s learned, he’s improved and he’s clearly exploring some thing from a technical aspect and some post production aspects (editing) with his sequel. Perhaps sometimes he’s a bit too blunt and on the nose with making sure you understand what he’s doing, but the idea behind stuff, like they paralleled finale work so well its okay if he’s over embellishing. There is also some really good rhyming going on with the first film in this movie that makes them feel quite in harmony with one another.

A more refreshing aspect of this second film is that while the world in which it takes place opens up a bit more and the mythology adds some new features, this film is a 100% complete thought and idea. There is a start and a finish. And if you want the series to continue, you could do that. If it ends here, its satisfying. Much like the first film, Krasinski and company tell a complete tale. A movie, rather than a franchise. Here, we get the same thing. It doesn’t hold back from going into bigger places, nor does it hold back exploring them. Some things are ambiguous, but these are the type of things that are better left to ambiguity.

Are the Quiet Place movies masterpieces? No, but they are terrific blockbuster fun with a director you can see really learning, improving and understanding films for the big screen. This second film especially plays great in the theater. The opening sequence is pretty outstanding and one of best sequences out there this year. It reminded me of the kind of thrilling statement 28 Weeks Later made with its opening when it arrived. If you enjoyed the first one, this one lives up to it and then maybe some more at that.

Video

Disclaimer: Screen captures used in the review are taken from the standard Blu-ray disc, not the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc.

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail:  A Quiet Place Part II debuts on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a true blue native 4K transfer, having been show and completed with a 4K digital intermediate. And needless to say, it looks spectacular. Great depth on display in a clear image that feels so open and big. There’s a beautiful color palette on display that is well saturated. Details and textures are rampant and clear as day to do check out (the damn sand/leaf/rock/dirt trails are a marvel of information to look at) in what I’m sure will be a demo disc for folks.

Depth:  John Krasinski’s film on the 4K Ultra-HD format is big, sweeping and feels very relaxed and open. The characters and objects in frame come off wildly three dimensional and free. Great pushback from foreground to background. Camera movements are confident and smooth. Motion is natural and has no issues regarding motion distortion or jitter.

Black Levels:  Blacks are natural and deep. The contrast here rocks to really bring out some of the more natural feel as well as showcase great looking color and information. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  Colors are very strong and quite luscious all around. There are a lot of natural colors that are really bold, pronounced and well rounded here. The discerning between dingier colors and ones that pop is quite great. Fires, the lights outside the home, displays and much more really gel and glow when necessary.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are on the natural side with a slight warmth to them. They stay consistent from start to finish. Facial details and texture are outstanding, showcasing, freckles, dried dirt/sweat, lip texture, moles, make-up lines, stubble, wrinkles and a lot more.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Audio Description, Czech 5.1 Dolby Digital, German 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Castilian) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Latin American) 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French (Canada) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Italian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Hungarian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Polish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Malay, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), French, French (Canada), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Hungarian, Mandarin, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Finnish, Swedish, Thai

Dynamics: A Quiet Place Part II decides to match its video transfer by having their audio track be a master class in Dolby Atmos mixing. This track is quite effective and has a great impact to engage the viewer in the louder intense moments and the quieter conversational whisper moments. This balanced music finds room to allow vocals, music and effects to rotate around to who gets front and center at the right time and lovingly processed through. The attention to detail on the layering and the where and how sounds are placed and presented is marvelous.

Height: The top channel has plenty to do in the film. It assists in crafting good ambiance, but also delivers some great moments of attacks from above, echoes, clever musical surround and more. Never abused in being available, but always present and used in both natural and ingenuitive ways.

Low Frequency Extension:  When the subwoofer strikes, it makes it count with a great boom. Cars smashing, creatures stomping, shotgun blasts, roaring fire, loud engines…it all prrs and pounds in much an effective degree as you could imagine.

Surround Sound Presentation: The mix here really knows the room and realizes it has 360 degrees of channels at all times. Everything is felt from no matter where you sit. Rolling sound is felt and effective. Ambiance is built to master degrees and environments and action sequences always account thoughtfully for what isn’t on screen.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Vocals are very clear and crisp. The film deals in a lot of whispers and they always feel like whispers but come across loud and yet not at the same time but to an ultimate degree of being able to easily take in what is being said.

Extras

A Quiet Place Part II comes with the standard Blu-ray version and redeemable digital code for the film. All bonus materials are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.

Director’s Diary: Filming With John Krasinski (HD, 9:38) – Krasinski from the set talks about how he wasn’t prepared to make a sequel, but coming with the idea of focusing on the kids having to grow up and take front and center. It then goes on a location by location behind the scenes and such behind some of the bigger action set pieces.

Pulling Back The Curtain (HD, 3:47) – Covers where the world is in this movie and the evolution of the creatures from the first to the second film.

Regan’s Journey (HD, 6:19) – Goes over the Regan character and how the film moves into her being the lead for the sequel. It goes over the mentality and the journey she has in the film.

Surviving The Marina (HD, 5:00) – This is about finding the right location for the marina (Wanted it to be like Jaws and old timey) and the sequence where it takes place and how they used it.

Detectable Disturbance: Visual Effects And Sound Design (HD, 8:26) – Krasinski talks the excitement and being impressed working with ILM. Its pretty much about how they take things to another level and evolve in the second film.

Summary

In all honesty, A Quiet Place Part II lives up to the quality of the first one and actually does some things better as we watch Krasinski grow as a director. The 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release features a stunning presentation that is easy to call one of the most demo-worthy of demo-worthy discs. Paramount has supplied a nice little array of extras to really round out a nice package of a release for a brand new blockbuster movie. An easy pickup for home theater fans and genre fans.

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