Willow (4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Review)
Willow exists in a time where a live-action fantasy film could appeal to not just children, but adults too. The film, once a revolutionary one for the advent of computer-generated special effects was a minor hit in 1988. Thanks to home video and repeated viewing from Gen X and Millennials, the film’s cult following came to a Blu-ray release in 2013, and a TV show sequel all the way in 2022. The show has since disappeared from Disney+, but Disney did think of the fans in bringing the film to a new format. This is why we now have a Willow 4K UHD Blu-ray, and it’s a steelbook edition too! Read more about the film and its shiny new transfer, or Madmartigan may come after you!
Film: 
From legendary filmmakers George Lucas and Ron Howard comes Willow, a timeless fantasy tale where heroes come in all sizes. When Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) finds an abandoned baby girl, he learns she is destined to end the reign of wicked Queen Bavmorda. Willow teams up with a rogue swordsman (Val Kilmer) to protect the child against the darkness. It’s the ultimate story of good versus evil — with magic and danger.
Willow is a happy family man, living with his family in a small village. He finds a baby, not like the people in his village and he learns that he’s to return the baby to her rightful home. Immediately, Willow is followed by others looking for the baby. When Willow discovers that the baby is Elora a princess whose destiny it is to overturn Queen Bavmorda, Willow and Elora become an even bigger target. Willow teams up with mercenary Madmartigan to get Elora safely home and get that big bad queen defeated before worse fates fall amongst Willow’s village and the surrounding lands as well.
Willow has a storied cult following. The film balances a sword-and-sorcerer story and takes motifs from Moses’s story in The Bible as well as ideals from The Lord of the Rings tales. It’s a long walking journey with battles and obstacles and the occasional stop to make new allies just in case something goes down on the journey. The tale is a simple one for fantasy fans to follow as it relies on well-worn story arcs to carry the whole affair along.
The main criticism for the film in 1988 was that there wasn’t much of a story to tell. There were complaints of pacing issues and an emphasis on special effects over storytelling. As someone who didn’t see Willow as a child, I can see how those complaints can come to pass, but I do wonder where those critics failed to see the heart in the characters. Willow and Madmartigan are both fantastically fleshed out characters, embodied by capable, giving actors that make their respective roles shine. The film as directed by Ron Howard works as most of his do, with a workman quality that delivers because of the simple ways Howard lenses scenes. He lets the sets and locations speak and gives his actors free reign to work freely in scenes. This may be a good reason the film dragged for some critics.
For me, I think that Willow is a sweet, kid-friendly fantasy. This one feels perfect for kids between 6 and 10 who want to elevate their cinema game a little bit above the standard cartoons and franchise material we are so used to in 2024. Visual effects still find ways to dazzle in their vintage ways, while story beats flow right along. Music is fabulous by James Horner and overall, Willow feels right at home among The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride as a fabulous fantasy story, made for universal audiences to enjoy. 36 years later, the film still feels fresh and fun, and its lighter heart makes it easier to swallow, sacrificing overly heavy story arcs for a sweet and fun entry into the genre for newcomers.
Read Aaron Neuwirth’s Legacy Blu-ray Review HERE
Video:
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Layers: BD-66
HDR: Dolby Vision
Clarity/Detail: Disney surprises us with a very true-to-source 4K transfer for Willow. Free of any DNR or image enhancement, the film is a grainy presentation that is sure to please purists and first-time viewers alike. The color palette is as bland as I’ve remembered it, with only a few very colorful elements coming by way of flames and some costuming. Detail-wise, we lose nothing and see everything as was always intended.
Depth: Special effects and optical effects make some of the shots in Willow appear soft. The trademark George Lucas screen wipe between scenes can cause the image to blur a bit, but that’s baked into the image, as are the bits of noise around the early digital effects.
Black Levels: Blacks are crush-free but are occasionally imperfect, again inherent to the source and not because of the new 4K master. Night scenes show better blacks than the black levels on some of the costuming.
Color Reproduction: Colors have always been a little funny watching Willow at home. In 4K, the colors don’t pop per se, but the browns and the greens and the blues all look natural, without appearing oversaturated or overcooked.
Flesh Tones: Flesh tones look natural overall, aided by the film grain that remains intact.
Noise/Artifacts: If grain is noise to you, then you won’t love that the film grain here can occasionally feel noisy. For the rest of us, the film looks better than ever, and any grain noise is a part of the enjoyment of the film overall as an artifact of 80’s cinema.
Audio:
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DTS-HD HR 5.1, Spanish DTS 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, German DTS-HD HR 5.1, Italian DTS 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish. French, German, Italian, Japanese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
The Audio included on this 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook edition of Willow is the same audio featured on Fox’s 2013 and Disney’s 2019 Blu-ray editions. The review of that can be found HERE.
Extras:
Extras for Willow consist of legacy bonus material from DVD and Blu-ray releases of the past. The Steelbook is a nice new image with warm tones and nice illustrations. The 2019 Blu-ray is bundled in the steelbook with the 4K disc and digital code.
BONUS FEATURES
- Audio Commentary by Warwick Davis
- Deleted Scenes with Ron Howard Introduction
- The Making of An Adventure with Ron Howard
- From Mort to Morphing with Dennis Muren
- Willow: An Unlikely Hero – Personal Video Diary of Warwick Davis
- Matte Paintings
- “W”
- TV Spots and Trailers
- The Making of Raziel’s Transformation
Summary:
Willow found its biggest audience on home video. It’s Columbia/RCA VHS was a huge hit, and the Fox DVD from 2001 also went a lot of miles with fans. A Blu-ray was scarce until Disney re-released Fox’s 2013 release. Now we have the film in 4K, with a very nice transfer, it’s already great legacy audio and a wealth of good bonuses too. One hopes the sort-of steep pricing of this new edition will come down for collectors to grab it! It’s worth a look if you love the film and the best way to discover Willow if you’ve never seen it before. If you love George Lucas, Ron Howard, Val Kilmer or any form of medieval style fantasy, this is a can’t miss film!
Get your copy of Willow 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook HERE
Adam Toroni-Byrne
Adam is a lifelong physical media collector. His love of collecting began with a My First Sony radio and his parent's cassette collection. Since the age of 3, Adam has collected music on vinyl, tape and CD and films on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray. Adam likes to think of himself as the queer voice of Whysoblu. Outside of his work as a writer at Whysoblu, Adam teaches preschool and trains to be a boxer although admittedly, he's not very good.
