Mission: Impossible Fallout (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Having revisited the Mission: Impossible franchise this summer on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format (our reviews here, here, here, here and my favorite one here) I was pumped to theatrically take in the latest one dubbed Fallout.  My giddy excitement for this latest installment was further fueled by the early reports of reviewer peers of mine that hailed this as one of the best action films of all-time.  That says a lot when you can make a bold statement like that.  In the olden days we would have said you have big you know what to make such a declaration, but we’re so politically correct nowadays I just have to digress for the best and safest results.  So without further ado ladies and gentlemen I give to you Mission: Impossible Fallout, which is coming out on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format December 4th.

Film 

Christopher McQuarrie pulls off the trifecta here.  He produced, wrote and directed Mission: Impossible Fallout, which if you’re keeping score up above makes this the sixth installment in the franchise.  This is also a first for the franchise too because no director has even done two of them until McQuarrie, who directed the last one, Rogue Nation.  The cast includes the fearless Tom Cruise, the hilarious Simon Pegg, the lovable Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin, all of whom reprise their roles from previous films, while Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett and Vanessa Kirby join the franchise.  And to me this one is literally “The Dark Knight” of the franchise.  Coming from me that’s one of the highest compliments a film can ever receive via my fingertips.  Let’s talk about that now!

In Mission: Imposible Fallout Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team spend the entire film basically stopping a familiar terrorist from the last one from wreaking explosive havoc on the world.  Oh yeah there’s also a CIA Agent (Cavill), whom we really never know what side he’s on before it’s too late.  From my point of view this is pretty much a sequel to all the films that have come before.  In my opinion too you really couldn’t ask for a better resolve than the way this one wraps up.  You basically have a direct sequel to Rogue Nation tackling the antagonizing storyline of anarchist Solomon Lane (Harris) and Ethan’s dual love interests, his ex-wife (Monaghan) and the one he’d be crazy in my opinion to ever turn away again, Ilsa Faust (Ferguson).  Like the past few films Ethan’s usual motley team of members joins him in all the fun err I mean dangerous moments.  Ha ha.

Now let me tie up some lose ends here.  I wish I could go into detail of why I compare this one to The Dark Knight, but to do so would be very much to spoil things.  I sit here the whole time watching this movie in awe thinking of all the similarities such as some of the themes, epic action moments and amazing score.  Then it happens.  In Act 3 it figuratively and literally speaking takes on the spectacle of The Dark Knight.  You’ll see why I say that when you see it for yourself, but let’s just say there are many larger than life moments sprinkled throughout here.  While I hate to say this one is better than my beloved Rogue One I’d be lying to you if I didn’t.  I didn’t think it was possible, but this one had it all.  Surprisingly though Tom kept his shirt on throughout, but who’s watching Tom when you have Rebecca Ferguson donning a tight black leather cladded biker outfit.  Vroom vroom!

James Bond, Jason Bourne who?  Ethan Hunt is one of the greatest international spy hero and Mission: Imposible Fallout proves this point in epic fashion.  This is everything you expected from a follow-up to Rogue Nation and at the same time so much more.  The action is BIGGER.  The stakes are BIGGER.  And most importantly for me, the payoff is BIGGER.  It has a whodunnit and who’s/who storyline, twists and turns, breathtaking cinematography, larger-than-life action sequences, unbelievable physicality, love interests (although Ferguson is a no-brainer) and oh yeah the real stunts (including the end of one that went “rogue” on Tom in real life).  Oh yeah…it’s also a lot of F-U-N too!  We have a new champ here, ladies and gentlemen.  I hate to say it because of my adoration of the last film so much, but we have a new King of the franchise.  It’s the greatest action show of the year for me.  My only question is will there be another?  As sad as it pains me to say this, I sure hope not.  It’s not that I don’t want another wild romp with Tom, Rebecca, Ving and Simon, but I couldn’t think of a better resolve than what we are given to work with here.  It’s P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

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 Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

• Encoding: HEVC / H.265
• Resolution: 4K (2160p)
• Dolby Vision: Yes
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (also features a changing 1.85:1 IMAX aspect ratio during two main aerial sequences)
• Clarity/Detail: This one’s the real deal folks!  Captured in 8K and a DI furnished in 4K Mission: Impossible – Fallout looks like a million bucks on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format.  Everything you would assume is crystal clear in its capture and render.  Closeups reveal fine details like stubble and out of place hairs, but even more fantastic are the fingerprints that can be clearly seen on actors’ hands or oh my God are those wrinkles and grey stubble on Tom Cruise?  As one would expect textures are paramount throughout in clothes, woods, metals, etc.  I don’t want to ding it because of this fact, but there’s a huge noticeable uptick in detail when things go full screen IMAX.  If you chose to, I could easily see you making these your 4K TV’s wallpaper.  And then there’s the landscapes throughout, which makes the snow top mountains here appear that much more majestic.
• Depth: Due in part to the breathtaking framing of sequences and cinematography throughout the depth of field in this 4K presentation is outstanding.  There are so many things to write home about here and I don’t even know where to begin.  Of course we have that three-dimensional pop going on here, but the cinematography is a star in its own right here.  It doesn’t matter if your in a small environment like a men’s restroom or in a vast airfield space things just look incredible here.  Landscapes take on a life of their own as we fly over mountains and water or zip through “international” city streets evading police and whatnot.  I say international as Paris for example to me is such.
• Black Levels: The black levels are all gorgeously dark and natural looking throughout.  Nothing gets lost in the shadows here and that includes buddy skydiving sessions at night too.
• Color Reproduction: The colors are where I can see people having the most problems with here.  For me they felt very warm and natural, albeit almost golden like (think of how Rogue Nation looked).  However, the haters are going to hate and while I’m not going to ding it for this there is a slight difference when it comes to the colors in IMAX sequences as opposed to the non ones.
• Flesh Tones: The skin tones all look natural and authentic throughout.  There’s never a moment really where the colors or complexions are jacked beyond what I went into up above about the colors.
• Noise/Artifacts: Grain haters beware!  There’s a very thin veneer layer of cinematic grain throughout, but when it goes full screen IMAX it looks impeccable.  I had to state the obvious as while I have no issues with inherit grains, many others want their 4K presentations sans.  They just don’t understand.  Maybe one day they will.  Ha ha.  Other than that the image quality is flawless.

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 Paramount’s amazeballs 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation of Mission: Impossible Fallout.  I do want you to know that bot the 4K UHD Disc and the Blu-ray one comes armed with an absolutely incredible sounding Dolby Atmos surround track.

• Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Description
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
• Dynamics: For me this one is all about the powerful score employed throughout this feature.  Upon multiple listens if one didn’t know any better, you’d assume this is a MUST-LISTEN Hans Zimmer score.  But it’s not!  The emotions and rousing action throughout this picture is brought to life by the scoring duties of Lorne Balfe.  Like the cinematography I briefly touched upon up above in the video section the stupendous score here is a main character in itself too.  It breaths fury, fire, action and emotion into your listening environment.  It engulfs you in the middle of everything and keeps you on your toes always.  The dynamics of it all draws you right in and never lets you go.  Of course there’s also the action itself, which I did not forget.  So listen. There’s a lot going on in this movie.  It’s big, bold and robust in all the ways The Dark Knight was, but thankfully nothing (including the dialogue – my biggest peeve of the 4K Nolan releases) ever gets lost in the mix of it all.  This is truly one of my Top 10 audio experiences of the year on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format.  It’s that moving and good!
• Height: The Atmos height channels here only up the ante on a perfectly demo reference surround track.  Examples of use here include rain pouring down, overhead announcements, helicopter fun, lightning strikes, a drone, sirens, explosions and so much more!
• Low Frequency Extension: Your subwoofer never lets you forget you’re watching one of the greatest action flicks of modern times as it seemingly never sleeps.  It is alive and present throughout the feature’s runtime in the score and punching you in the gut during every explosion, gunshot, punch thrown, kick, car/bike engine, crash, collision and so much more.  I love the way they also use the bass here as an effect whether you’re walking through the club listening to the raving music or hearing it from with the restroom outside the bathroom walls.  You get the BIG picture!
• Surround Sound Presentation: It’s like being in the middle of a war zone here.  From the score that constantly keeps you on your toes by imprisoning you in all its glory to the rousing action pieces that play out onscreen with the utmost of directionality and priority in the surround channels.  The rears are constantly at play filled with drums, ambiance, rattles outside a plane, toilets flushing, gunshots, cars and bikes zipping by and everything else the filmmakers and Mr. Cruise throw at you.
• Dialogue Reproduction: The dialogue always remains prominent, directional, loud, clear and intelligible throughout and that makes this #1 fan ver, very happy.

Extras 

With the 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack Mission: Impossible – Fallout fans can go deeper into the “Mission” with not one, but three audio commentaries and over an hour of high-octane, behind-the-scenes footage highlighting all the incredible stunts, heart-pounding action, exotic locations and more.  Drop from the sky, race through Paris, and cling to a cliff with Ethan Hunt as the cast and crew reveal the incredible work that went into creating the breathtaking action.  Plus, check out deleted scenes, storyboards, multiple commentaries and much more as we have extras spread across the three discs housed within this 4K UHD set.  In addition you can always count on a Digital Copy of the film included here that redeems in 4K UHD.  Now let’s take a closer look at everything you’ll find across the three discs here: 1 UHD and 2 Blu-rays.  However, before we begin I am also including shots of the enclosed book you’ll find housed within this set.  Click on the below thumbnails to open them up for maximum viewing pleasure.

  

  

4K UHD Disc:

• Feature Film in 4K
• Commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise – What a fun way to spend time with a Tom Cruise commentary track.  Always a blast!  This one goes behind the scenes of it all.
• Commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton – This one is a bit more technical than the Cruise track up above.
• Commentary by composer Lorne Balfe – Brought to you by the man himself who delivers an unforgettable score for the generations here in this one.
• Isolated Score Track

Blu-ray Disc:

• Feature Film in 1080p
• Commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise
• Commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton
• Commentary by composer Lorne Balfe
• Isolated Score Track

Blu-ray Disc #2 – Special Features:

• Behind the Fallout (HD, 53:32) – There’s a Play All function available here too.
  • Light the Fuse (HD, 11:10) – This one discusses the scope, locations, stunts (including the ankle break), characters and mission contained here within this film plus more.  Tom Cruise said the main thing he wanted to do was tie up the love story between Ethan and Julia, which I feel it did perfectly.  We also take a look at who comprises the IMF team in this feature.  It actually kind of goes over all the characters within this entry including the White Widow!
  • Top of the World (HD, 10:48) – This one is all about the thrilling/challenging halo jump, which Tom is the first actor to ever do on film before.  They even built a wind machine for training for this.  The UAE Air Force provided the ultimate ride to train with.  It took over 100 jumps to get the scene.  Tom clearly knows no fear here.  This scene involves three separate long takes based on the original animatics.  Even the cameraman is unbelievable here. H e has done 23,000 jumps.  Wow!
  •  The Big Swing: Deleted Scene Breakdown (HD, 3:44) – All this money spent on this stunt it’s a crying shame this was never used.  It looked really cool too.  Just to see the way Tom is strung up here is worth the price of admission.
  • Rendezvous in Paris (HD, 7:21) – The motorcycle/car chase scene here is inspired by the movie Rendezvous, which provided the inspiration for it.  The city of Paris happily complied with everything location-wise.  Tom even did all the stunt driving too.  Amazing!  Tom also had to do a lot of motorcycle training too.
  • The Fall (HD, 5:57) – This one is all about Tom’s descent or should I say fall during the helicopter fight sequence within the thrilling Act 3.  What a cold ride/journey it was too.
  •  The Hunt is On (HD, 11:08) – This one is all about the very unique helicopter chase/fight in cold New Zealand.  There’s also some nose touching in this extra too.  You’ll have to wait and see what I mean.  Ha ha.  Tom’s helicopter training started two years ago.  Amazing, huh?
  • Cliffside Clash (HD, 4:02) – Finally!  We’re down to the last big stunt sequence, the climatic fight sequence on a cliff in Norway.  The entire set had to be brought up by helicopter.  I don’t have anymore adjectives for “unbelievable” to use here.
• Deleted Scenes Montage (HD, 3:41) – Complete with Optional Commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton
• Foot Chase Musical Breakdown (HD, 4:50) – Composer Lorne Balfe discusses the instruments used in the foot chase scene.
• The Ultimate Mission (HD, 2:51) – This is just a quick recap of pretty much everything we’ve seen up above as narrated by Tom Cruise and what these Mission Impossible films all mean to him, especially this one.
• Storyboards
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:33) – I think y’all know what this one is!

Summary 

Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to see the biggest action film you’ll ever see this year on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, or as I call it my “Dark Knight” of the series (no recent Bond or Bourne adventure can touch this).  It’s one of the best reviewed movies of the year, thrilling critics and audiences alike and boasting a 97% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  No words I can ever put into text here can ever convey how utterly amazing this motion picture is.  It takes everything you love about this franchise, action/adventure features, spy thrillers and more and gives you a cornucopia of incredibleness with it all.  You want the best?  Well you get the best with this 4K purchase.  Don’t sell yourself short with only streaming this one.  Bring Fallout home on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and enjoy a demo/reference 4K UHD presentation in every which way.  This will definitely be going on my best releases of the year list.  Fallout is a MUST-OWN!  Hell yeah!

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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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Mission: Impossible Fallout

Will Make Your Jaw Drop on

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

December 4th

PRE-ORDER NOW!

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