Why So Blu?

The King’s Man (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

It feels like it too forever for Matthews Vaughn’s prequel to his successful Kingsman series, The King’s Man, to finally release. I remember seeing the trailer for it and 1917 back to back a lot in the winter of 2019. Low and behold it wouldn’t arrive until 2 years later in cause of the pandemic. And while I tired of seeing the trailer at pretty much every film I attended in 2021, there was still a desire to see the film. Unfortunately, with the load of quality material coming out in the Christmas holiday window, it was a low priority. But now, in the enjoyment of my own home, I’ve seen it on this 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray which is now available (Release date: February 22nd) and comes with Dolby Atmos sound and a feature length making of documentary. You can order the film now using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.

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Film

Set during WWI, The King’s Man tells the exhilarating origin story of Kingsman, the world’s very first independent intelligence agency. As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions across the globe, one man must race against time to stop them.

The King’s Man is an all together pretty fine film. If you’ve enjoyed both films in the series that preceded it, you’ll likely enjoy what this one has to offer. With a bit of a clean slate, it allows a whole new cast of characters and situational hijinks to fulfil the time and allow director Matthew Vaughn to play around in a new realm while also honing in on the craft both he and the series has made their bread and butter now for three ventures.

Vaughn wets his chops here with the World War I setting for the film. He takes the action aesthetic established in the first film and uses it in the traditional Kingsman ways as well as some fresh new arenas. The Rasputin fight is a centerpiece for the film but there are also some rather fun and impressive set pieces, like that of the nighttime No Man’s Land battle. All in all, Vaughn here is very much akin to that of Jackie Chan utilizing his skills in different period settings and genres.

While the film isn’t perfect, it does find its characters, events, action and setting a little more fresh and interesting than The Golden Circle, which felt like it was running in place and desperate to return to the status quo from the first act of the original film. This prequel is one I’m not sure is what people wanted, but its something the filmmaker did and he’s very much enjoying himself here. The King’s Man still isn’t up to that level of the first film, but it keeps the franchise afloat quality-wise.

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: 239:1

Layers: BD-66

Clarity/Detail: The King’s Man arrives at home on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a lovely, crisp and detailed image. Its a full and bold looking movie that really captures and presents its color timing well with good saturation as well as contrast with the black levels. Overall, the film carries some impressive depth to it that makes for a rather top notch presentation.

Depth: Really good depth of field here that plays in concert with the high flying camera action that appears smooth and confident and gives the film a bit of a more three dimensional look. Movements are natural and smooth with no issues regarding motion distortion or anything of that nature.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and to natural levels. There is good saturation that allows from some nice contrast as well as good definition showing the patterns and textures of the darker areas of the frame. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors have the illusion of carrying a colder, more mutest early 1900s European feel, but they are well saturated and carry a bolder pop to them on the browns, grays, greens and more boring natural colors. Fire, explosions and some fabrics/upholstery contain a nice touch of burst and glow to them thanks to the HDR.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from the start to the finish of the film. Facial features and textures are quite easily discernible from any given distance, down to the littlest spec of dirt or red blemish on someone’s face.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, Japanese 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese

Dynamics: The King’s Man presented in Dolby Atmos is much better than your typical Disney 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray product, coming from their 20th Century Studios wing (Giving me hope for West Side Story next month). Its base is set a bit low, but turning the dial up a little bit will get you a rock solid performer, with good engagement and balance in this mix that features some good nuance and depth to the arrangement.

Height: There are some nice touches from above, especially in the action moments where characters, objects, bullets, debris and all sorts of things are flying around. It also captures and helps with some travel as well.

Low Frequency Extension: Some solid boom from the subwoofer. Explosions, gunfire, impalements, punches, crashes, loud engines and more get a good rumble tumble from you box(es) of boom.

Surround Sound Presentation: This one whirls around the room pretty effortlessly, translating the audio from a spinning camera or travel across the the screen. There are some good ambient sounds filtering through the rear and sides as well as accurate attention to off screen presence and action.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp, always feeling a good part of their environments.

Extras

The King’s Man comes with the standard Blu-ray edition and a redeemable digital code. All bonus materials are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.

The King’s Man: The Great Game Begins (HD, 1:29:33) – Vaughn opens up by revealing that he was thinking of a TV series for this background origin story for The Kingsman, but he also had an itch for a period film. We then are taken through an incredibly detailed, feature length making of for the film featuring interviews with the cast and crew as well as behind the scenes footage, historical photographs and more.

No Man’s Land: Silent Knife Fight Sequence Breakdown (HD, 15:43) – A more specific rundown of how this sequence came together, complete with interviews, historical footage, storyboards, concept art and more.

Remembrance and Finding Purpose (HD, 26:28) – “This is an anti-war film but its not an anti-soldier film”. This featurette highlights actual organizations and such that remember and take care of soldiers and veterans.

Official Red Band Trailer (HD, 1:47)

Summary

The King’s Man is a solid enjoyable period action romp. Disney brings it to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a pretty delightful presentation in both audio and video (Crank the audio up just a little bit). Its quite surprising how terrific the extras provided are, given the film tanked at the box office. But, there’s a feature length making-of on here as well as some other goodies to go along with it. This is a really nice, well rounded disc for a decent film.

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