Meg (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

I know The Meg is based off a book, which we’ll cover in a moment, but one look at its insane trailer, crazy cast and cute name had me instantly at hello many months ago.  I didn’t even care if the movie was a turd or a shipwreck of events.  I had to go see it if for nothing else than to get my DC Batwoman err I mean Ruby Rose fix, but I digress.  I just like saying Ruby Rose for some reason.  It flows off your tongue effortlessly and it’s fun to say and count all her tattoos too.  Didn’t I say I digress a second ago?  Well this time I really do mean it.  More importantly The Meg is really just a movie about a big @$$ shark.  It was released in my favorite summer month of August.  It features something that I never see here in Austin, TX…beaches and water.  What was not to love about it already?  Am I right?  Damn right I am!

Film

The Meg is billed as a science fiction, action, horror film.  That’s a mouthful to say.  Why can’t we just declare it’s a shark movie and be on our way?  You get the “drift” anyway.  It’s directed by Jon Turteltaub off a screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber.  As I already made mention of up above it’s based on a book called Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Allen, which was published in 1997.  In addition to the aforementioned Ruby Rose the film also stars the charismatic Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Winston Chao and Cliff Curtis from TV’s Fear the Walking Dead.  The Meg’s premise basically sees us following a group of scientists trying to ultimately stop a big shark from terrorizing a…ahhh…beach in Singapore.  How big is this shark?  I’m so glad you asked!  Put your flip flops on and I’ll show you around.

Sorry guys AND gals the main focal point of The Meg is not Ruby Rose, but instead it’s the shark.  It’s not just any shark though.  Oh no!  It’s a mammoth 75-foot Megalodon shark.  Now I’m sure you can see where the film gets its name from.  If not, then you should probably stop reading this now because nothing is ever going to sink in.  So yeah!  Long thought to be extinct this humungous shark resurfaces from its ocean floor bed and attacks a research submarine.  We’re also supposedly led to believe as seen in the opening sequence that Diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) has encountered this massive, frightening beast before.   Therefore, he’s called in to not only to help in rescuing the crew of this submarine escape the grasp of this shark, but reluctantly also stop “Meg” from storming the mainland and eating all the people on the beach.  Yes!  Ha!  I mean no!  That’s terrible.  Come on people.  It’s a cheesy, summer shark movie.  Have fun with it!

The interesting thing to note here before we go on was initially the rights to the book were acquired by Disney back in 1997.  I would say thank goodness that didn’t happen, but regardless we still only have a PG-13 cut of the film with Warner Bros. here.  Relax though it’s actually quite bloody and gory when it wants to be.  If you let yourself have fun with it, you also don’t notice the lack of F-bombs or anything remotely close.  Jason Statham also helps serve as a distraction there as his usual charismatic charm and wide, playful smile will make you forget just about anything leaving you with no choice but just to have fun and laugh with it all.  Scenes involving this little Asian girl and him are also quite heartwarming too.  So there’s that as well!

The action as you could expect from a movie of this genre is larger-than-life.  It’s not realistic at all and is more akin to the fun you probably had with the first Pacific Rim.  This one is all about accepting what you came to see, checking your brains and expectations at the front door and having fun with it all.  It’s popcorn entertainment and in this scenario The Meg does not disappoint.  It delivers upon the insane, the one-liners, cliches (at times like Deep Blue Sea) and entertainment value that you can only find in a shark movie of the same.  You picking up what I’m dropping?  Lastly, the supporting cast is lively, engaging and quite a bit of fun to be around.  There was never really a dull moment to be had.  Now granted at times The Meg can take itself a little too seriously in the drama department, but it does so with good intentions and appropriate measures.  It gives people second chances and after all isn’t that what life is all about?  If nothing else, there’s always the VFX.  I am sitting here watching a Syfy shark movie while writing this and thanks be to God The Meg is on a completely different level of looks and feel than say a Sharknado.

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 Meg.

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: 4K (2160p)
• HDR: Yes
• Dolby Vision: Yes
• Aspect Ratio: 2.4.1
• Clarity/Detail: The Meg comes to the 4K UHD format from a 2K DI filmed with Arri camera and lenses and is equipped with outstanding levels of clarity and detail.  Closeups reveal stubble, pores, moles and even wrinkles in Jason’s near perfect face.  Even individual beads of water stand out here.  Textures such as fuzz on sweaters or plaster on walls looks quite splendid too.  Some of the effects shots can be a bit soft though.  So keep that in mind.
• Depth: All the onscreen characters pretty much have a three-dimensional pop to them in contrast to their environments.  Depth of field looks great here whether its inside crammed spots like a submarine or boardroom or the vast shores of Thailand and never ending water in sight throughout the film’s 113-minute runtime.
• Black Levels: The black levels are mostly dark and natural throughout, but never truly solid if that makes any sense.  The good thing though is nothing gets lost in the shadows here.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are kind of all over the place here.  Hence, why my video score is not the usual 4.5-5 for new releases.  For the most part colors are both bold and natural, but buyer beware are they ever bright and overexposed when you’re outside on the water under the sun.  The background becomes so blinding white that the foreground gets a little washed.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones all look natural and authentic throughout.
• Noise/Artifacts: There’s not a single thing to complain about here in way of noise or nasty artifacts.

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 Warner’s 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Meg.

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos (True-HD), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, French (Both Parisian and Dubbed in Quebec) Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish (Castilian and Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Dynamics: This one is all about creating a sense of robustness and peril.  I believe this Dolby Atmos surround track delivers effectively on both front.  It puts you in the middle of the action giving you a sense of weight of what it’s like to be hunted by a gigantic shark from the many thuds, knocks, etc.  However, what makes the dynamics fire on all cylinders here is how it uses directionality to ensure nothing ever gets lost across the soundstage.  Turn it up loud!  After all, you spend a lot of time in the water and this track makes you feel like you’re down in it.  The sheer weight of the track will have you believe you’re under it all.
• Dolby Atmos: Moments of peril are amplified here in the height channels with explosions, water pouring in, helicopters, score, showers, poking head above water and so much more.
• Low Frequency Extension: I mentioned up above the weight of things and I did that because the LFE plays a hand in making you experience the submergence of it all here.  This one is all about the water and the surround tracks keeps you wet throughout with some really excellent underwater gurgle.  Of the score, explosions and other events are noticeable too.  I like how you can almost feel the shark pounding the submarine from the outside.  You know what I mean, right?
• Surround Sound Presentation: You’re immersed in things here from the Meg knocking the ship walls from outside, water spilling in your viewing area, voices carrying, bumps under water and so much more.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialogue levels are decently loud, clear and intelligible throughout the presentation.  No complaints!

Extras 

The Meg 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack is really light in the extras department here.  All three extras as detailed below are housed on the included Blu-ray Disc.  In addition them as you would expect there is a redemption sheet for a Digital Copy of the movie too.  Read on below to learn about everything you’ll find here…which is not much.

• Chomp On This: The Making Of The Meg (HD, 12:09) – Jon Turtletaub wanted the challenge of making a monster movie.  He got it here!  He also talks about how this was a unique opportunity for Statham too as he’s an adventure hero here not his usual action hero self.  The cast and crew also talk about the challenges of filming on the water.  It gets pretty exhausting as you’ll see here.
• Creating The Beast (HD, 10:25) – This one is all about creating the Meg here and how it differs from a Great White.
• New Zealand Film Commission (HD, 1:53) – This one is about you guessed it…New Zealand!  The cast and crew all him in real quickly about filming this movie here.

Summary 

Your mileage is really going to vary on this Meg 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release.  While I loved it the first time I saw it in the theater I must say the second time around wasn’t extra special or anything like that.  I see it more as a guilty pleasure.  There are aspects of it I like a lot for example Ruby Rose or the heartwarming chemistry between Statham and the little girl (Shuya Sophia Cai), etc.  Other than this is a summer shark movie, albeit not a very serious one like say The Shallows from a few years back.  So with that being said while I can recommend The Meg 4K release on its technical assets I would say this purchase is for the fans only who really enjoyed it in the theaters.

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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.

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MEG

Makes Waves On

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

November 13th

PRE-ORDER NOW!

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