Why So Blu?

The Suicide Squad (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

One of the more sad under performers at the US box office this year was James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Though, it did finish in the top 10 for global box office which is nice. The film was a breath of fresh air compared the that first whatever it was. Its made its way to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, landing on shelves October 26th. The film comes loaded with a native 4K image and Dolby Atmos track to support it. There is also a James Gunn commentary and a host of featurettes to line up some nice bonus features. You can order yourself a copy to own (You should, this movie is so weird and fun…and awesome) using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review. Doing so also helps out our little site, too.

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Film

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The Suicide Squad almost felt like James Gunn taking on some sort of “against the odds” challenge. After how bad the first one was, it felt like we could just leave that be. But, once his interest in the project came about, suddenly it felt like a second wind for what honestly is an interesting DC comics sidebar. Then when the casting and trailers started coming in, you knew Gunn both got it and nailed it. The release of the film confirmed such excellence in the world of comic books.

The first time around with Suicide Squad, after it was finished, the studio tried to market it and re-edit the fil as their Guardians of the Galaxy. Alas, it made loads of money but wasn’t much of a film. Now they have the guy that did Guardians and you can really see the difference in what a magnificent experience it is. The film is as this adaptation should be, rag tag, goofy, bloody, vulgar, weird and loads and loads of fun. I’d say if anything, Gunn adds to it the film the ability to throw it onto an epic scale that the first one had no clue on how to pull off.

This cast is a group full of scene stealers both known and unknown and characters familiar and wayyyyy not familiar. I love Gunn’s desire to fill this thing out with D listers as it gives him plenty of freedom and an ultimately fresh experience with little to no expectations on how they are going to come off. Even with the ones that are glorified cameos, you’re left remembering the fun. You’ll leave now enjoying and wanting more of the likes of Peacemaker and Ratcatcher 2.

One cool aspect of the film that was much more apparent this time around is how just non-stop action the film is. And it really never feels overdone as it makes a conscious effort throughout the film, even mid-sequence, to switch up its style and look. The Harley escape alone has three different stages that are all quite different in choreography and how they are shot. Gunn really has this thing bouncing in oohs, ahhs and laughs in a good balance and pop that really makes this movie just keep floating along.

The Suicide Squad continues DC’s streak of wild and weird movies and a little bit of a bounce back after a not so well received Wonder Woman 1984. They’ve been looking the other way from Marvel and finding their own things that work and its been a stronger and more exciting run of films since then. Its a shame the film couldn’t pull in big box office like the first one did, but I’ll just forever treasure that this one exists. Another success in the Gunn canon!

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: 1.90:1

Layers: BD-100

Clarity/Detail: To the surprise of no one, a James Gunn film shot in 4K comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and looks absolutely marvelous. The amount of detail, texture and color saturation on display is incredible. Even on something as simple as Joel Kinnaman’s yellow shirt, you get so much detail on the fabric and mesh and see through of it. Its sharp, crisp image that has framing feeling huge in scale and quite grand all around. In comparison to the standard Blu-ray, its a bit darker, but more saturated and well refined than it. The standard Blu looks a bit brighter and more vivid. The Suicide Squad is an outstanding looking film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray.

Depth:  As mentioned, the scale on this thing is really big You can feel the big screen awe on your home monitor. The depth of field is great as the camera movements are smooth and confident with a lot of pushback and spaciousness on display. Characters move naturally and fluid with no issues from rapid motions causing any distortions.

Black Levels: This is a more grim looking an dingier picture, with awesome natural black levels that really do well in dark areas as well as good shading and shadow. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors are still quite bold and striking even if this is a darker picture. Shiny metals have some good sheen, and contrast helps to bring out more primary colors. HDR helps add as glow and its especially cool on Polka Dot Man.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish of the film. Everything like wrinkles, dried blood/dirt, make-up lines, sweat and more on faces is clear as day.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Descriptive Audio (US), English Descriptive Audio (UK), French, Italian Dolby Atmos, Italian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Latin American) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Hindi 5.1 Dolby Digital, Hungarian 5.1 Dolby Digital, Polish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Tamil 5.1 Dolby Digital, Telugu 5.1 Dolby Digital,

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Italian SDH, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Danish, Finnish, Russian, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish

Dynamics: To match up with the fabulous image on screen, The Suicide Squad supplies a bangin’ Dolby Atmos track that works the room and delivers a kick in the face and an invite for you to sit and be a part of this movie. There’s a great balance and overly complex, thoughtful mix that keeps every speaker and environment busy, lifelike and playing for heightened theater. I had so much fun, just sitting and getting knocked around by this movie via this Atmos track.

Height: From above you get debris, gunfire, bullet ricochets, flowing water, Kaiju movement, crumbling and more. Its an active but accurate ceiling channel.

Low Frequency Extension: Stomping, explosions, engines, energy bursts, punches, destruction and so much more shake the room with the subwoofer’s contributions.

Surround Sound Presentation: This track is all over the room in the very best of ways. This as some of the best and enthralling rolling sound I’ve ever heard on an Atmos track. Every speaker is doing its job to the most important degrees and having a ball. This is truly twisted, truly on point and truly one of the best around.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

The Suicide Squad comes with the standard Blu-ray edition and a redeemable digital code for the film. Aside from 1 featurette and the commentary, all bonus materials are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.

4K UHD

Audio Commentary

• By Director/Writer James Gunn

Harley’s Great Escape: Scene Breakdown (4K, 7:17)

Blu-ray

Deleted & Extended Scenes (HD, 17:27) 

Gag Reel (HD, 10:23)

Bringing King Shark To Live (HD, 5:40) – James Gunn goes over how they pulled off King Shark as Steve Agee did the mo-cap acting. Margot Robbie, Steve Agee, Sylvester Stallone and effects people weigh in as well.

Gotta Love The Squad (HD, 11:37) – This is your brief little making of by way of what characters and actors went in the movie. Features interviews with Gunn, Robbie, producers and others.

The Way Of The Gunn (HD, 7:50) – This is your typical featurette where everyone praises the vision and genius of the director.

Scene Breakdowns – These are little featurettes to that go over the semantics of a few action scenes with interviews and behind the scenes footage.

• It’s a Suicide Mission (HD, 6:37)
• My Gun’s Bigger Than Yours (HD, 5:44)
• Harley’s Great Escape (HD, 7:16)
• The Fall of Jotunheim (HD, 5:38)

Starro: It’s a Freakin’ Kaiju! (HD, 6:17) – This featurette goes over the history of Starro, James Gunn’s affection for him and how they put him in the movie.

War Movie Retro Trailer (HD, 3:24) 

Horror Movie Retro Trailer (HD, 1:23)

Buddy-Cop Trailer (HD, 1:17)

Summary

The Suicide Squad is another terrific entry in the wild and weird world of the DC Universe (Which I’ve been loving). This disc from Warner Bros is an immaculate 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray presentation. The highest of high marks in the video and audio departments, this is one to crank up and show off your home theater system with. Accompanying that reason alone to pick it up, the disc is loaded up with some very high quality extras as well. James Gunn’s latest is both an easy and an instant pickup.

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