Why So Blu?

Plane (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

In the era of dwindling star power, Gerard Butler is still a guy who can open a movie pretty well. Granted, he’s more known for sort of mid-tier action movie, but there’s proven to be a pretty rock solid audience for that when he’s in them. His main franchise is the …Has Fallen series, but people will go see him in other things, which said other things are original action movies or knock offs. Plane is the most recent one, coming out to good reviews and decent business back in January. Its now making its way to home video with a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray that is set to drop on March 28th. It comes loaded with a Dolby Atmos audio track and three featurettes. You can order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.

Film

In the white-knuckle action movie Plane, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island – only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI. In order to rescue the passengers, Torrance will need Gaspare’s help, and will learn there’s more to Gaspare than meets the eye.

Plane was a bit of an intense thrill ride I wasn’t quite prepared for. Going in, I figured it’d be a nice, goofy, B-level action pic like Gerard Butler cranks out with good consistency. And while it carries that element to it, this one also has the smarts to know how to build the narrative, take chances and have you move just a little closer to the edge of your seat. A straightforward movie like this shouldn’t leave you with surprises like this one does, but its smart enough to get the details right and pull it off.

Gerard Butler’s commitment is to be commendable as he buys us in to this concept of his pilot being a bit more than he has any business being. You can do it in a tongue in cheek way, sure, but this one pulls it off in a more serious manner. There’s care for his profession and those on his plane that feels genuine. The script also isn’t afraid to pluck out people in this film in a bit of a cold hearted manner that really raises the stakes and weighs on him which helps sell the drama and suspense.

This latest Gerard Butler action/thriller Plane pulls together a lot of the hallmarks of your classic “pure action” picture (Man against a terrorist mob, character actors filling up small parts – HEY Tony Goldwyn) in successful fashion. However, its able to make it feel fresh again with its good character work, set ups and payoffs and altogether well orchestrated action. No, its not giving John Wick a run for his money, but it makes the classic 80-90s aesthetic feel a little more fresh again.

Video

Disclaimer: Screen captures used in the review are provided courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, not the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc.

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail:  Plane lands on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a pretty rock solid transfer. Its a sharp, clean image that showcases plenty of detail, especially in the vivid daylight island scenes. There’s plenty of good color saturation and depth on display in an image that should be enough to satisfy.

Depth: Depth of field is pretty good here, with some good sense of scale in the interior and exteriors. There’s a decent pushback and some nifty distance when looking through a foreground doorway or window. Movements are smooth and natural and no issues occur with blur or jitter from rapid action.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and natural. No issues occur from information being hidden in the shadows or dark surfaces. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty general here but blue and reds do stick out a bit more. Its a bit pretty during the first third of the movie on the plane where much more color is showcases. Once you get to the island its a lot of greens and browns. HDR offers some glow in the form of fire or the displays and lights on the plane before the power goes out.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish of the film. Facial features and textures are clear as day, even the gore make-up looks genuine.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: Plane has an Atmos track that gets the job done well and then some. Its a mix that is able to add some good effect to your viewing with some powerful, effective action effects. We have a good balance on display as well as some strong layering and depth to do its best job at tossing you in the middle of the hellstorm.

Height: From above you get some ambiance, like the air on the plane. But later there are bullets, debris and more coming from above.

Low Frequency Extension:  The subwoofer helps to add some thrust to engines, crashing, gunfire, explosions, punches and more.

Surround Sound Presentation: This one hangs up from, but does accurately track things from the rear channels be it off screen action or environmental ambiance. Sound rolls around the room with good power in big traveling across screen moments.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

Plane comes with the Blu-ray edition and a redeemable digital code.

This Is Your Captain (HD, 14:18) – The cast and crew talk about what its like to work with and how great “Gerry” is. Its mixed in with on set footage and an audio interview with Gerard Butler.

Plane Clothes (HD, 6:51) – “Small details matter”. This featurette talks about building a character to believe in and focuses a lot of costume designing.

Brace For Turbulence (HD, 19:14) – This featurette focuses on doing the action in the film while also crafting a safe environment and keeping people from danger and not taking big risks.

Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:29)

Summary

Plane surprised me pretty well. Its a fun, suspenseful little pure action flick. Lionsgate brings it to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a terrific presentation in both sight and sound. The extras here a pretty good, especially for a new midlevel movie nowadays. Pick this one up when it hits a nice sale price or the $10 bin someday!

This is a paid Amazon Associates link