Ford v Ferrari (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

There was a time when the old Brian would have found such a movie like Ford v Ferrari to be an absolute wet dream.  Up until about two years ago my world literally revolved around my 2006 Mustang GT.  She, affectionately named Dark Angel after Jessica Alba’s failed TV show back in the day, was everything to me.  And I mean everything.  She was the only physical connection left to my old life in Cleveland, OH (Austin has nothing on that city) and my bridge to the proverbial road ahead.  I never imagined a day of my life without her.  Then some “great” guy in Austin, TX, whose hair just happen to get in his eyes while driving (no kidding), took my world away from me.  My life has never been the same.  I absolutely hate driving nowadays and pretty much want nothing at all to do with cars anymore to the point where I sadly drive a Honda Civic Hatchback I named Vegas.  However, I digress because secretly my motor revs for Ford v Ferrari.  So fill up your racing tanks and speed on down below with me as I test drive Ford v Ferrari on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

Film

The film is directed by the man who helmed my favorite two Wolverine movies, James Mangold.  The screenplay was assembled by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth and Jason Keller.  Ford v Ferrari stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale in the driver seats with Jon Bernthal, Caitriona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone and Ray McKinnon in supporting roles.  The plot revolves around automotive visionary Carroll Shelby (Damon) and his driver, Ken Miles (Bale), who are handed the impossible task of building a Ford that can beat the Ferrari racing team at the Le Mans 24-hour race in France.  Ford v Ferrari had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this past August.

Let’s further discuss the plot a little bit more as frankly one sentence about it up above just doesn’t do it justice.  While I would love to say this is simply a story about the late, great Carroll Shelby (Damon), it’s so much more.  First you have his driver, Ken Miles (Bale), who literally steals the show as equally as the lovable Damon does.  Second, you have all these supporting performances that are all equally fantastic too like Jon Bernthal as Lee Iacocca (vice-president of Ford), Tracy Letts as Henry Ford II, Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe and many more.  After witnessing the magic of Ford v Ferrari and these aforementioned performances I could care less that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were once attached to star in this.  Brad Pitt who?  Exactly!  No.  Ha ha.  I didn’t mean it Brad!

I realize I did not even really address the plot up above, but rest assured I’m getting there.  There are just so many thrilling aspects to explore here.  Yes, it’s a racing movie, but it goes way beyond that.  It’s also a buddy film.  Even deeper this one touches the battle against corporate greed and politics.  You see Ford Motors may have hired Shelby to build a car that can beat the Ferrari, but that doesn’t mean he truly had full carte blanche.  Oh no!  Corporate greed, interference and politics were just as antagonizing as battling the physics of designing such a car capable of accomplishing this seemingly impossible feat of besting the Ferrari in an event it easily wins every year.  And what they don’t tell you is just because you have a car such as the GT40, which can break every speed record, doesn’t equate to an instant victory.  You also need a driver!  However, just not any driver will do.  You need one who knows every nuance of the car and the patience/reaction abilities to overcome unpredictable issues.  It begs to differ though that the right driver could anticipate such problems.  Am I right?

Ford v Ferrari was easily my number three film of last year behind Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the Joker.  It’s a thrill ride, but not because of the obvious racing moments.  Don’t get me wrong they were amazing.  However, what’s equally amazing is the compelling story of these two gentlemen.  Against all odds they toppled the Ferrari empire, made driving a Ford cool and through the power of friendship conquered some very disturbing corporate politics that would easily sink any modern day company nowadays with their way of thinking herein.  So needless to say the thrilling racing moments and fast times were literally the icing on this perfect cake.  Make no mistake though that between races as you find yourself catching your breath you can kind of see how formulaic this one is, but the compelling story, fantastic performances, playful banter and humor and thrilling action quickly pull you back in the driver’s seat never looking in your rear mirror.  Short answer Ford v Ferrari never pumps the brake on delivering a good time.  Best of all you don’t have to be a racing or car fan to appreciate Ford v Ferrari.  You just have to love a good movie.

Video 

The below video score and related critique of things here are based solely upon my viewing of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Fox’s Ford v Ferrari.

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• HDR: HDR10
• Dolby Vision: No
• Size: BD-66
• Clarity/Detail: Ford v Ferrari arrives on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc courtesy of what I am told is an upscaled 2K DI.  However, I have to tell you there’s no way you’ll not mistake this for the real deal.  The fine details levels in this 4K UHD presentation are impeccable from the dust, dirt and grime found on cars to the asphalt and concrete cracks underneath them not to mention facial closeups revealing pores, stubble, hairs, beads of sweat and other imperfections.
• Depth: There are many great examples of how depth of field recreates a realistic three-dimensional environment throughout here complete with 3-d pop too.  There are obviously the vast roads where the cars unleash hell upon, but also the interiors too simply like Carroll Shelby’s trailer for example.  Everything I saw here has
• Black Levels: Black levels are consistently dark, natural and inky throughout.  HDR prevents the nighttime and dark sequences from losing the characters in the shadows.  That’s probably one of the most obvious differences between this presentation and the 1080p one.  Examine the sunset/nighttime sequence between Bale and his onscreen son as he’s talking about the perfect lap to understand where I’m coming from here.  
• Color Reproduction: The colors are all natural, organic, rich, vibrant and beautiful throughout.  I really thought it should be more drab, but I was mistaken.  Certain colors like the reds on Ferraris really pop or the blues in the Detroit Ford factory.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones all look natural and authentic throughout this 4K presentation here.
• Noise/Artifacts: In my viewing there was a very light veneer of grain, but nothing distracting whatsoever.

Audio 

Like I mentioned up above in the video section, the below audio score and critical comments of such are based solely upon my viewing of Fox’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Ford v Ferrari.  

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: Alright so humor me here.  Did you ever want to be in the driver’s seat within your living room and feel like you’re hurling down the track going 230 MPH?  That’s a rhetorical question because of course you have!  Well this Atmos surround track recreates that for you with discrete prioritization to wildly sweeping effects across all channels.  Every decision the driver makes you feel recreated in the dynamics here that never seem to miss a beat.  Dialogue, effects, score and more are all recreated flawlessly in this surround track.  In the extras they mention that every car itself had about 15 microphones to recreate its sound not to mention all the external ones.  Wow!
• Height: You wouldn’t ordinarily think of the Atmos or height channels within a racing film, but hear me out.  Get it!  Hear me out…LOL.  The following are examples of such height moments I noticed, but are definitely not limited to all: explosions, thunder, rain, roaring and revving engines and one of my favorite sequences the moment where a car’s wreckage literally flies over your head.
• Low Frequency Extension: The LFE channel handles itself incredibly well here with aggressive tones in revving all the engines, roaring by others on the track, car braking, pounding on doors, crashes, deep bass in the score and so much more.
• Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels  puts you in the middle of all the action.  You’re literally immersed in the racing.  Right from the beginning I felt like I was in the middle of a circle as a car was driving all around me.  You can’t beat that immediate sense of immersion.  Other tiny effects such as voices, crowds and ambiance fill the rears always trying to recreate that feeling like you’re part of this.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialog levels are all clear and intelligible throughout.  I never not heard any spoken word.  Some are softer than others, but even with the cars screaming by none of the dialogue gets lost in the shuffle.  Commendable!

Extras 

Well there’s some good and bad news here in the way of Extras.  The good is there’s a pretty hearty documentary found on the Blu-ray Disc that will keep you busy for an hour. The bad is well there’s not much else unless you count trailers or a flipping iTunes only digital exclusive plus two others that don’t appear on the Blu-ray Disc either.  I hate when studios do that, but fret not as I have you covered on all of this down below.  There’s obviously the Movies Anywhere redeemable code found within this package here too.  I mean how else you going to get to that iTunes digital exclusive featurette.

• The 24 Hour Le Mans: Recreating the Course (HD, 14:39, Digital) – This digital extra allows you to discover how the climactic race of the film was achieved, from recreating the track to capturing and editing all the action.  This one deeps dive into the Le Mans for those who are initiated to this unbelievable and incredibly dangerous race.  It’s also interesting to learn how they recreated this race in the historical sense since nothing looks the same nowadays.
• Pre-Vis (HD, 26:08, Digital) – Here you’ll see how these animated pre-visualization sequences worked as a roadmap for filmmakers throughout production.  There are two segments here: Daytona (7:23) and Le Mans Races (18:45).
• Bringing The Rivalry to Life (HD, 59:52, Blu-ray Disc) – Here you’ll go behind the scenes of the film with this 8-part, 60-minute documentary featuring Prologue: The Perfect Lap, Directing The Rivalry, The Real Ken Miles, The Real Carroll Shelby (a personal hero of mine by the way), The Real Ford GT40, What Makes A Good Movie Car, Creating An Era and Epilogue: Brotherhood.  There’s a Play All option to make this one easier for you to digest with one button click.  I loved the way this one opens up with Bale and the childhood actor who played his son filming a pivotal scene.  The actors and director James Mangold also sit down and discuss the scenes and what makes this one tick whether it be the perfect story, chasing achievements and more.  I’m not sure if many people know this, but this is another film in which Christian Bale had to do a complete weight change for having dropped 70 pounds before shooting.  Race car drivers need to be thin, right?  Of course!  It was also interesting to hear how Christian Bale met with Ken Miles’ real life son to understand his father.  He also went to driving school for this one too!  It’s also interesting to think about how all the various race car designs were actually characters in the movie too.  Wow!  It was very impressive how they recreated the Firestone and Goodyear tires.  That’s all I’ll say there.  Last but certainly not least I immensely enjoyed the various auto rigs utilized to capture all this footage.
• Theatrical Trailers (HD, 4:56, Blu-ray Disc)
• Matt and Christian: The Conversation (HD, 14:39, iTunes Extras exclusive) – In this iTunes Extra you’ll sit down with Christian Bale and Matt Damon for an intimate reflection on the making of the film.  There’s a lot of film footage and behind the scenes material here.  Refreshingly there’s new stuff here too not seen in the above 60-minute documentary.  Christian Bale said what I was thinking this whole time.  How do you make a film for people who don’t love racing, but for others that do?  And that’s why this film is a winner as it achieves both in my opinion.  I love how they touch upon how absolutely dangerous these cars are including Matt Damon’s peel out in the Cobra.

Summary 

Well folks I don’t know what else to say here that I haven’t said already.  Ford v Ferrari is a film that both racing fans and non-racing fans will equally love.  You just have to like great characters, impressive productions and above all else a compelling story.  You got the complete package here with Ford v Ferrari.  Best of all Fox doesn’t skimp with the audio and video presentations here.  They’re both 5/5 presentations and you even have almost two hours worth of extras if you include the digital ones too.  All in all I feel extremely comfortable in recommending Ford v Ferrari being a MUST-OWN and MUST-BUY on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format.  Start your engines now!  Vroom!  Vroom!

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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.  Make sure to check out all our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray reviews archived here.  The images used above within the review are not actual 4K screenshots.  They are for illustrative purposes only.  

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Ford v Ferrari

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