Why So Blu?

The Lost City (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

The Lost City looked like a last hope for saving the box office and theater going from being only franchise tentpoles all the time. And hey – there are still some stars that’ll put the butts in the seats. There are few better at that than the incredible Sandra Bullock. She does her thing and people follow. Someone able to walk the line between big theater movies and Netflix original movies. This 100 million plus domestic earner will be hitting 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on July 26th. The release will come with a digital code (no back up Blu-ray, as per usual with Paramount), Atmos sound and a host of little quick featurettes to satisfy post-viewing. You can order yourself a copy to own by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.

.

Film

Brilliant, but reclusive author Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) has spent her career writing about exotic places in her popular romance-adventure novels featuring handsome cover model Alan (Channing Tatum), who has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, “Dash.” While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient lost city’s treasure from her latest story. Wanting to prove that he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the ancient treasure before it’s lost forever.

The Lost City doesn’t ever apologize or shy away what it is and all it strives to be. Its a bit of a love letter to romantic adventure films of old while being a vehicle for a few stars to ham it up to their strengths. Fueled by great chemistry from its leads, the side characters fill in quite nicely including veteran character actors and up and coming ones. Its basically a group let loose in an exotic environment, surrounded by different action/adventure sequences. And yeah, Brad Pitt is a gem here.

One of the big breaths of fresh air in the film is that it was all shot on location with a grand scale and actual stunts one for the action and chase sequences. It really adds to both the comedy and the danger of the film with that actual tangible sense of reality. And for what the film is, these are actually pretty well staged and deliver a nice degree of intensity you may or may not have expected from a film of this ilk. Its a real treat.

Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe lead a cast and film that really delivers quite well on its premise. No, The Lost City is not going to blow your mind, but it is also going to entertain you at a pretty high popcorn level nonetheless. This is a fun escape, a fun afternoon matinee and the type of film we say we want more of and people actually pulled out their wallets to show that they do.

Video

Disclaimer: Screen captures used in the review are taken from promotional photos provided by Paramount 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:  The Lost City comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray looking very radiant and pretty with a gorgeous, sharp transfer. Tropical blockbusters tend to lend themselves to a vivid look like that shares loads of detail and crispness, and this is no exception. Overall a really bursting, fun candy for the eyes.

Depth: Depth of field is pretty strong here, with good pushback and great sense of scale. Movement is smooth, natural and has no issues with motion distortions like jitter or blur.

Black Levels: Blacks are near natural levels, deep and working good on contrast to really bring out the colors. No details get hidden in the shadows, dark surfaces, hair or fabrics. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors really burst here, being a vivid tropical film its easy to lend. The purple jumper really shines here, but also greens and oranges from fire really radiate and look good with the HDR.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish. Facial features and texture are clear as day from any given distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English Audio Description, Czech 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Castilian) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Latin American) 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French (Canada) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Italian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, German, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), French, French (Canada), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Roman, Simplified Chinese, Slovakian, Finnish, Swedish, Thai

Dynamics: The Lost City finds itself with a pretty rocking Atmos track that is able to handle both the raging action moments as well as the quieter jungle ones. This mix leaves no part of the jungle uncovered. There’s a great balance between vocals, effects and score/music that lends to some nice depth and layering.

Height: From above you get gunfire, underwater noises, things flying over and much more that feels true to the picture in front of you with a little bit of wiggle room for play.

Low Frequency Extension: The rumbling and punching from the subwoofer is effective as you get revving engines, gunfire, crashes, explosions and more.

Surround Sound Presentation: This is really fun, accurate mix around the room. There are unique, environment building sounds from the trees that are fun to build and keep track of what is not on screen at the same time. The rolling sound is good and impacting as things fly across the room and front to back, back to front.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

The Lost City comes with a redeemable digital code.

Dynamic Duo (HD, 4:42) – This focuses on the comradery and chemistry of Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum on the film and how none of it was ever really forced, they had to make it feel like they didn’t get along.

Location Profile (HD, 7:09) – This featurette talks about the importance of on location shooting the Dominican Republic and shooting on real oceans and getting the scale to make it feel like a true adventure. They also talk how they shifted their site in 3 weeks due to Covid.

Jungle Rescue (HD, 6:25) – A detailed look at a few of the action sequences in the film.

The Jumpsuit (HD, 3:41) – A featurette dedicated to the “character all unto itself” in the film; the purple sequin jumpsuit. How they made it work, how it fits with the movie and the character.

Charcuterie (HD, 3:32) – When you use 30 feet of charcuterie in a film, it deserves its own featurette.

The Villains of The Lost City (HD, 5:29) – We get a look at Daniel Radcliffe and his goons. The process of casting them (Stunt guys) and how they got the most out of everyone.

Building The Lost City (HD, 7:23) – Lastly we have one dedicated to the production design of the film.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 8:52)

Bloopers (HD, 5:33)

Summary

The Lost City is a nice refreshing throwback to movies just being movies and the star vehicles that used to be a dime a dozen now showcasing a novelty. It comes with a terrific audio and video presentation and a pretty nice array of quick hit extras. For a new film in 2022, this is a solid little home video package.

This is a paid Amazon Associates link