Why So Blu?

Resident Evil: The Complete Collection (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Based on the popular video game series by Capcom, the Resident Evil franchise stars Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) as Alice, a superhuman security expert pitted against the sinister Umbrella Corporation as the world’s population is transformed into flesh-eating creatures by one of its most dangerous biological weapons. Experience the exhilarating epic journey of Resident Evil from beginning to end, with ALL SIX LIVE ACTION FILMS, together for the first time on 4K UHD Blu-ray in the Resident Evil: Complete Collection! Bring home the must-have Resident Evil collection, with hours of special features and an extended cut of RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE!  Resident Evil: The Complete Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray is available now!

 

 

The Films 

Resident Evil

In the early 2000’s The wildly successful video game franchise finally made its feature film debit in Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil. Milla Jovovich stars in the film as an amnesiac who is somehow connected to the uber-powerful Umbrella Corporation. The company has loosed the T-Virus into one of its facility killing everyone and mutating them into zombies, along with other sorts of bio-hazardous organisms set to kill and consume…and not necessarily in that order.

The first film is peculiar in that it was an obvious testing ground for the adapted material. It looked like the studio wanted to see if folks actually cared to see a big screen adaptation of their favorite video game franchise, which is why it feels very self-contained, until the final shot. It paid off and was a worldwide success, that they made FIVE more films after the first one.

The first Resident Evil does well in introducing us to Alice and we’re with her all the way through no matter what. Some of the dialogue is rather clunky at times, but then again, it’s expected. The film holds up really well all things considered. It was a good steppingstone on what came next…

 

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Resident Evil: Apocalypse makes me laugh. Not in that kind of way, but in the way of the filmmakers just saying screw it, we’re gonna flip it on its head. Logic and reason will be defied in order for B-movie schlock to take over. I saw the sequel in theaters, and it was fun. When it came out on Blu-ray, it looked and sounded phenomenal. It’s been the red-headed stepchild ever since. Why? Because they threw everything AND the kitchen sink into this thing.

Paul W.S. Anderson wanted to explore other projects as a director and enlisted cinematographer and second unit director-extraordinaire Alexander Witt to take over the reins. I think Witt did a great job. He may have been a rookie feature film director, but he definitely knew his stuff on a technical level. Apocalypse bumps the body count to mad levels.

New characters are introduced like fan favorites Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) and Carlos Ortega (Oded Fehr). Mike Epps make an appearance as the comedy relief and the rest is history. The only thing I don’t like about Apocalypse is the jittery slow-motion technique used in some of the scenes involving zombies. It reminds me of the Smooth Criminal music video by Michael Jackson. Continuing!

 

Resident Evil: Extinction

On its continuing worldwide success, Resident Evil: Extinction fast forwarded it a bit to a time where the T-Virus had done a lot of damage and laid waste to most of the world. The survivors stayed together in close communities of buses and encampments. Alice had gone on her own for a while since she basically ascended to a higher level…literally and figuratively.

When Alice finally came back to the group from wherever she was at, some of the members introduced in Apocalypse were still alive and some just did not make it back to this third installment. Once again Paul W.S. Anderson enlisted outside talent to direct this third film in the franchise. Mr. Russell Mulcahy of Highlander and Highlander II fame came onboard and directed the hell out of Extinction!

Personally, Resident Evil: Extinction is my favorite film of the franchise. It’s like Mad Max meets zombies. Also, by this point Alice is literally a “mutant” with superpowers. That T-Virus is very unpredictable it seems. Also…yes, you guessed it: Resident Evil: Extinction was a hit, and a fourth film would be on the way!

 

Resident Evil: Afterlife (Full 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Click the hyperlink above to read Brian White’s full review on the individually released 4K disc!

 

Resident Evil: Retribution

With the success of Resident Evil: Afterlife, a fifth film, also in 3-D, hit theaters. Unfortunately, this is where the film franchise went to hell, in my opinion. Paul W.S. Anderson had come back to the fold that he nurtured. Hell, he married the star and started a family, so I am not really sure why the franchise took a nosedive. Retribution, outside of its spectacular opening is a hodgepodge of bad character actors that look the part and certain scenes that make no sense in terms of context.

As I mentioned before, several characters from Afterlife are nowhere to be found in Retribution and new characters are introduced from the video games making their big screen debuts. Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) featuring a fully dubbed voice and Barry Burton in a thankless role filled in by Kevin Durand. Other characters from the video games also make appearances like Leon Kennedy (Johann Urb), who is just horrid in the part. Michelle Rodriguez and Sienna Guillory come back but are also set awkwardly placed in the film.

By this time, it was obvious that Anderson and company were trying to re-write, reboot, retcon some of the parts from the previous films. The most glaring ommissions were that of the Red Queen and her creator. Never mind the dumping of Claire (Ali Larter) and Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller). Where did they go? Well, Claire came back for the final chapter and Wentworth Miller went on to even more greener pastures. The final nail in the coffin of this iteration of the franchise is left to my colleague in the link below. He reviewed the standalone 4K when it was released. I was not a fan of the final chapter but will let you read his full review of the film.

 

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Full 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Click the hyperlink above to read Brian White’s full review on the individually released 4K disc!

 

Video 

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 2160p

Dolby Vision: No

HDR: HDR10

WCG: Yes

Size: BD-66

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 2.39:1

Clarity/Detail: This Resident Evil 4K UHD Blu-ray set one of the sets to end all sets in this 6-film collection and no expense was spared in order to get these films looking the best they have ever looked. They all have an equal balance of sterile, grimy, and urban environments. The clarity and detail in some of these moving images look quite remarkable. Contrast and sharpness levels do vary but it’s an aesthetic decision. After Extinction the palette develops a new sheen of sorts. All 6 films feature HDR10. They do not have Dolby Vision.

Depth: The first RE film looks as three dimensional as ever, which brings out the claustrophobia in the early scenes where Alice wakes up in the mansion. As we progress the scale and scope of each subsequent film only works to envelop the viewer and take them to Raccoon City and beyond. Extinction may as well be Fury Road. The scorched Earth elements drive the film, and you can see dirt and debris hit people since they actually shot a lot of it in the desert.

Black Levels: Black levels fair nicely across the set. I only detected minor instances of crush in a small group of scenes in the first film. Considering the first film is nearing its 20th-anniversary, it can easily be forgiven. The rest of the franchise looks exquisite at nighttime and in enclosed in darkly lit interiors.

Color Reproduction: The color palette also varies throughout the franchise in that it starts out in a nice neutral pattern in the first two films before getting toasted under the radioactive UV rays in the third film before coming back down to the cool palette in the mid-section. Of course, we take a detour back to the oven baking sun in the final chapters. Pixilation and banding were also not detected.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones look exquisite until they don’t. In Extinction would be the roughest some of the characters go through in terms of complexions. While everyone looks good, they’ve all got this “sun kissed” look to them. Alice has a more sun burned look to her considering she’s extremely fair skinned. Yep, just one of those things that the superior clarity of 4K HDR brings out in addition to shooting in real life locations and not a studio set.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean for the most part.

*A clarification should be made on Resident Evil: Extinction. Back when it was released in theaters, DVD, and Blu-ray, there were several instances where Milla’s face had this weird artificial softness to it, as if it she was posting a selfie on social media and using one of those lame filters that scrape away detail and leave a smooth mess. It’s as if she were channeling her character from Ultraviolet, but in the scorching desert of Extinction. It was obvious and distracting. I don’t know what the wizards over at Sony did, but they have removed the filter that was there in some of her close-ups and she now has an actual pore structure.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, French (Canada) Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, Korean Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Tamil Dolby Digital 5.1, Turkish Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Thai

Dynamics: The Gods of immersive audio have blessed us with SIX English Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Resident Evil: Apocalypse gets TWO for each cut of the film on its respective 4K disc. The films were already demo material in the audio department but with Atmos it just took it to the next level. Each film just exudes insane lossless fidelity 4K disc. Hyperbole aside, the franchise sounds the best it has ever sounded on disc.

Height: The new height channels incorporate all of the action and make it “new” again. Watch for the sound cues during the fight scenes, along with the endless moments of survival horror, gunfire, and giant mutants (the flying kind, too) ripping folks to shreds. It really is like hearing these films for the first time again. If you’re on the fence about immersive audio, then go to a friend’s house and pop one of these films in and you will be transported to a brand-new listening experience.

Low Frequency Extension: The low-end subwoofer LFE bass channel has always come through and continues to wreak havoc on the sound stage. From the low roars to the deep explosions (this film has them all), the bass will definitely be in your face. Not only that, but it’s tight and free from distortion. It doesn’t rattle, it shakes and bumps.

Surround Sound Presentation: In cooperation with the height channels the surround channels will envelop you in its sweet and tender grasps before pummeling you back to Earth. Again, these films have always had awesome surround sound presence that the 4K has just sweetened ever so gently for 4K. Be aware of your surroundings, there be zombies.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are nice and clear. Some of the dialogue may be corny as hell but that’s not why you watch these films. Mike Epps gets more moments to shine on Apocalypse, and his diatribes sound crisp.

 

Extras 

98% of the special features in this set are included on the standard Blu-rays included in each 4K case with each of its respective films. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the clear winner in the race due to having the UNRATED extended cut of the film that features additional gore and violence inserted throughout the film. Mike Epps’s character also gets some more screen time and added wisecracks. As noted, both the theatrical and UNRATED cuts are also in 4K with full immersive audio. Some of the featurettes that are on the Blu-rays also make their ways onto the 4K discs, as well, but default to their HD origins. The only 4K exclusives found are that of the film’s teaser and theatrical trailers that may have originally been omitted in earlier editions. Resident Evil: Afterlife and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter have been previously released in 4K and their special features are identical the ones in this limited collector’s set.

RESIDENT EVIL BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• Cast and Filmmakers’ Commentary
• Visual Effects Commentary
• Alternate Ending with Director Paul W.S. Anderson’s Video Introduction
• 12 Featurettes
• “My Plague” Music Video by Slipknot

4K ULTRA HD:

• Theatrical Trailer

RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• Filmmaker Commentary
• Cast Commentary
• Writer / Producer Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• “Game Over: Resident Evil Reanimated” Documentary
• “Corporate Malfeasance” Featurette
• “Game Babes” Featurette
• “Symphony of Evil” Featurette

4K ULTRA HD

• Theatrical (93 mins.) and Extended Cuts (97 mins.)  of the film
• Theatrical Trailers

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• “Under the Umbrella” Picture-in-Picture
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• 4 Featurettes

4K ULTRA HD:

• Resident Road Map: Reflections on the Future of the Series
• Theatrical Trailers

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• “Undead Vision” Picture-in-Picture
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Outtakes
• 7 Featurettes

4K ULTRA HD:

• Alice Activated
• Theatrical Trailers

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• Director and Cast Commentary
• Filmmaker Commentary
• Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Outtakes
• Project Alice: The Interactive Database
• 8 Featurettes

4K ULTRA HD:

• Evil Goes Global
• Undead Retribution
• Theatrical Trailers

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER BONUS FEATURES

BLU-RAY:

• Retaliation Mode with Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich
• 3 Featurettes

4K ULTRA HD:

• Maximum Carnage: Best Kills
• Creature Chronology
• Theatrical Trailers

Summary

The Resident Evil films were never that deep when it came to the subject matter. They were horror films, with action and science-fiction sub-genres mixed in. Just like the games. I think the franchise started out strong through Afterlife but then teetered out with Retribution and Final Chapter. This limited boxed set has everything you could ever ask for in a 4K UHD Blu-ray set. The video is near demo quality across the board and the Atmos soundtracks on all the films is fantastic and of demo quality. The special features are also great and the bulk of them are contained within the Blu-rays themselves. The 4K discs do have some extras like trailers and making-of featurettes, which are presented in HD quality. What else can be said about this behemoth of a set? For fans only? Sure, and for those that want to discover the franchise in 4K. Please remember that outside of Afterlife and Final Chapter the rest of the films have not been released individually on 4K disc. The Resident Evil: Limited Edition Collection is highly recommended!

 

DISCLAIMER: The Resident Evil: Limited Edition Collection 4K UHD Blu-ray was judged and graded using the following 4K certified Ultra HD Premium television set found HERE , 4K UHD Blu-ray player HERE, and Dolby Atmos 7.2 AVR 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.  

 

 

 

Resident Evil: Limited Collection is available on 4K UHD Blu-ray!

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