Why So Blu?

Love And Monsters (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Love and Monsters has had itself a bit of a production history. This film has a genesis dating back to 2012. And even after it was made it found itself shifting back and forth. At one point it was supposed to be releases last month. But with the pandemic and people trying out at home premieres for some movies, Love and Monsters founds its to VOD back in October of 2020.  I’m not sure of its financial success from taking that avenue, but the film sure was a bit of a critical and audience darling. Paramount has even opted to put it out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray for its debut on physical media. It only has a 7.1 audio track and some fluffy bonus materials, but in all honesty, I’d say that’s a pretty decent package for a new movie that’s gone through what Love and Monsters has. Its available now, having been released on January 5th.

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Film

Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson, along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over the radio with his high school girlfriend, Aimee, who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there’s nothing left for him underground, he decides to venture out to Aimee, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way.

Love and Monsters is a rather adorable film. No, its not the greatest movie to sweep the Earth, but damn it isn’t that breezy, carefree fun movie you want to just relax to. The film has its heart in the right place, has its characters make logical decisions and is able to treat them with both a down to earth and fantasy logic at the same time. Oh and there are some interesting and fresh monster designs going on in the film as well.

The film plays a bit like many of those post apocalyptic Young Adult movies that had a huge wave over the last decade, but don’t be scared. Love and Monsters isn’t like those. Its actually a happy and more pep take on it. Post apocalyptic Earth is actually bright, colorful and pretty to look at. The dark and grisly nature of many those is lifted from almost every facet of this one. The monsters, the weapons and the people are all unafraid to crack a smile and have fun. But they also get down to business when they need to.

Helping this charge is the lead, Dylan O’Brien. His name is over the title, but I really don’t have much familiarity with this guy. Nonetheless, we are with him the whole film and he actually makes it sing pretty well. We do get to have some buffers with Michael Rooker showing up for a bit and the fantastic Jessica Henwick coming on board in the back 1/3 of the film. O’Brien is there for almost every shot, and he does the most with it and helps to sell the vibe of the movie.

Michael Matthews’ Love and Monsters is a pretty wonderful film to kick back and check out for really any age. Despite one little joke bit at the beginning (That IS pretty funny), I think this is safe enough for kids and a pretty good family watch (If your kids are cool with monsters) as any Marvel movie. I’m late to the party, but its a nice surprise and fun adventure with good characters.

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: Love and Monsters debuts on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray as an upscaled 4K title. Nonetheless it still looks pretty. Jumping from the Blu-ray, you can see a little more crisp of a picture and more refined details. Colors are a bit stronger and better saturated as well as the black levels. This isn’t a massive jump in upgrade quality, but a decent enough one. Its easily the better of the two images.

Depth:  Good open spacing on display here, with backgrounds feeling multi dimensional and pushed back in the exterior sequences. Movements are smooth and natural with no issues coming from any motion blur or jitter.

Black Levels:  Black levels are deep and with good saturation and nuance. Texture, patterns and details are easily more visible and not swallowed by very dark colors. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  Colors are quite fun here with really good, bold greens. There’s some nice glow to the underground lights, bursts in the action and more.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish. Facial details and texture are strong from any given distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, English Audio Description

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish

Dynamics:  Love and Monsters comes to life with an insanely fun 7.1 track. This thing is so well envisioned, its hard not to have a good time watching. There are sounds that come from all around the room here and every environment is a full on 360 degree experience. Great balance and nice loud and impactful effects.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension:  Explosions, crashes, loud monsters and more really have the subwoofer pounding.

Surround Sound Presentation: As mentioned, stuff happens EVERYWHERE in this mix. Its super fun and the travel rolls all around the room so smoothly. 2021 is off to a great start with surround tracks if this is the precedent.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

Love and Monsters comes with the Blu-ray edition and a redeemable digital code. All bonus features are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 11:50)

Bottom of the Food Chain: The Cast of Love and Monsters (HD, 7:43) – The cast and director briefly go over the generalities of the characters of the movie. This is more of a promo piece than an in depth look or reflection. Most interviews are from the set or a press kit.

It’s a Monster’s World: Creating A Post-Apocalyptic Landscape (HD, 7:04) – Pretty similar to the other featurette, but this one focuses on the shooting locations and trying to create a “grounded” looking apocalypse that is still somewhat familiar and lacking a gloom many post apocalyptic movie carry.

Summary

Love and Monsters is quite fun and charming. Paramount brings it to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a very nice presentation. The video proves a decent uptick and the 7.1 is a well thought out mix. Bonus features are on the end of fluff, but add a little something. This is definitely a film to check out and own when the price drops a little bit.