Welcome to the September 2025 edition of the Blu-ray Bounty, where I review the latest 4K Blu-ray discs to judge if they’re worthy of adding to your collection. This month, it’s a bumper edition, as I’ll be looking at 7 discs!
If this is your first time reading, you can check out previous editions of the Blu-ray Bounty here, where we’ve reviewed some truly excellent 4K discs. For the August 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, I looked at three 4K discs: The Phonecian Scheme, Hearts of Darkness and Thunderbolts.
At TechRadar, we love 4K Blu-ray because it’s a staple source for testing the best TVs and best soundbars, thanks to its higher bit rate, which provides better picture and sound quality compared to streaming.
For this week’s setup, I’ll be using the LG G5, one of 2025’s best OLED TVs, along with the Samsung HW-Q990C Dolby Atmos soundbar and the Panasonic DP-UB820, a workhorse disc player that sits at the top of our best 4K Blu-ray players list.
As always, I’m not reviewing the movie itself, just the disc’s picture and soundtrack quality.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, a historical epic set during the Napoleonic wars, follows the exploits of the HMS Surprise, with a focus on captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), the ship’s surgeon. It was directed by Peter Weir and nominated for ten Academy Awards.
On 4K disc, Master and Commander’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack shines. During naval skirmishes, the bass from the cannon fire is thunderous and cannonballs ripping through the ship are rendered precisely. The crew running overhead and creaks of the wooden ship come from all around, creating an immersive atmosphere, and voices are clear in their presentation when coming from off-screen. The movement of the sea is conveyed with accuracy and power, and is a perfect flex for your home theater’s muscles.
Master and Commander uses Dolby Vision to create strong contrast in scenes such as one where Maturin works on patients by lamplight in the dark hull of the ship. Black levels are rich and deep in the many nighttime scenes, skin tones are true-to-life, and textures are refined and crisp. Color is used sparingly in the movie, but blood is nevertheless vibrant and the blue uniforms with gold details look realistic and accurate.
Elio
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Pixar’s latest movie, Elio, tells the story of a young boy (Yonas Kibreab) who is mistaken for an ambassador of Earth by a group of aliens, called the Communiverse. Elio is beamed up to the ship, where he befriends an alien named Glordon (Remy Edgerly) and the two must navigate a crisis involving Glordon’s father, Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett). The film also stars Zoe Saldaña and Jameela Jamil.
Elio’s 4K Dolby Vision presentation looks stunning. Colors are vibrant, with the different colored aliens and lights given a bright, vivid punch throughout. Contrast is also strong, with the rich blacks of space balancing well with the bright highlights of the stars and the lights of various ships. The animation style, while different from other Pixar movies, has a crisp look that really suits the movie’s tone.
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is as bright and punchy as the picture. The electronic score is clean and well-produced, and dialogue is clear and direct throughout. Bass is surprisingly weighty, whether it’s the pulsing, futuristic devices Elio uses on his arrival in the Communiverse or during the soundtrack’s more lively sections. Even movement is well mapped, connecting the sound and action on screen perfectly.
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (Arrow Video)
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One of cinema’s most iconic Westerns, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly stars Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach as three gunslingers competing to find a stash of gold during the American Civil War. Directed by Sergio Leone and with an epic score from Ennio Morricone, Westerns don’t get more classic than this.
Arrow’s restoration of The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, which uses the original 2-perf Techniscope negative, gives a sublime uplift to textures and color, particularly skin tones, which appear true-to-life. During close-up shots, it’s obvious just how refined and organic the detail is, with facial hair and dirt coming through clearly. Thanks to Dolby Vision, contrast is powerful in darker scenes, with rich blacks and punchy highlights. There’s also enough grain present throughout to keep cinephiles happy, but not so much as to be distracting.
There are two soundtracks available: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio mono. The 5.1 delivers strong bass and clear speech throughout. During gunfights, ricocheting bullets create a sense of immersion. The mono soundtrack, while obviously lacking the same sense of ambience, is clean and still delivers good impact during the movie’s more chaotic moments. The iconic score, with twanging guitars, vocals, and harmonica, sounds bright but well-balanced with the rest of the soundtrack.
Tron (1982)
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Disney’s Tron tells the story of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), a software engineer and video game developer who is transported inside a computer world as he attempts to hack the corporation ENCOM, led by Ed Dillinger (David Warner). He must then work with Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) and Yori (Cindy Morgan) to escape the computer world. Tron was a groundbreaking movie on its release in 1982, as it was one of the first movies to use extensive CGI.
While Tron’s computer graphics now look dated, this 4K restoration has breathed new life into the movie. The neon colors of the characters’ costumes in the digital world are punchy and vibrant, with Dolby Vision providing bold highlights. Skin tones are realistic, and textures are crisp, providing a 3D look. This is particularly true in the real-world scenes, where the picture’s sharpness makes it look modern. Even the dated computer graphics get a touch-up, and they look refined and clean in every scene.
Tron’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack is delightful. Bass is tightly controlled, allowing a subwoofer to show off its nuances and dialogue is crystal clear. Light cycles glide around the grid, and their movement was delivered with pinpoint precision by the Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar when I watched the movie. There’s an excellent balance to the various keyboards in the score, too, and a great home theater system will bring this to life.
Tron: Legacy
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The sequel to Tron (1982), Tron: Legacy tells the story of Sam Flynn (Garret Hedlund), son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges, Tron’s protagonist), who finds himself teleported into a cyber-world like his father before him and must escape with the help of Quoraa (Olivia Wilde). This movie is best remembered for its visuals and its Daft Punk soundtrack.
The picture on this 4K disc shines with its vivid highlights and punchy neon-laden oranges and whites. Dolby Vision delivers deep blacks, which balance well against the illuminated costumes. Textures have been uplifted and have a crisp, clean look. Jeff Bridges’ digital de-aging has been improved, though it still looks a little odd. The light cycle scene is a particular highlight that demonstrates just how visually stunning this 4K disc is.
Tron: Legacy’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack will give your home theater system a real workout. Daft Punk’s score is as pulsing and punchy as you could want, and is delivered with clarity and precision, with more bass-heavy sections allowing subwoofers to show what they can do. The sound of the disc as it flies around in the ‘disc wars’ scene early on has a real 3D effect. Bass also has plenty of impact, and speech is clear.
Thief (Arrow Video)
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Thief is director Michael Mann’s (Heat, Last of the Mohicans, Collateral) debut and tells the story of Frank (James Caan), a jewel thief who agrees to one last job with the mob before retirement. But his employers aren’t quite ready for him to retire yet and Frank must try and escape. The movie also stars Tuesday Weld, Jim Belushi and Willie Nelson.
This 4K restoration from Arrow Video (there is one by The Criterion Collection as well) displays refined detail and contrast. Skin tones look true-to-life and colors are accurate. I had a copy of the Thief Blu-ray from Arrow Video in our testing room, and decided to compare the two. The standard Blu-ray is noticeably brighter in some daytime scenes, but the 4K version has better contrast, giving the image a more balanced look. Skin tones and textures look great on both, but the 4K has the edge again. The 4K version also has less film grain, but there’s enough to keep cinephiles happy.
Thief comes with two soundtrack options: DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio and stereo 2.0. Tangerine Dream’s excellent electronic score sounds clean, with bass synths coming across as rounded and deep, and other synths sounding bright. When I watched it, effects such as passing traffic and noise during the safecracking sequences were accurately delivered by the Samsung HW-Q990C, and gunshots had a powerful impact.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
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A live-action remake of the first entry in the beloved animated How to Train Your Dragon series, this movie follows the adventures of Hiccup (Mason Thames), a young Viking who befriends a dragon he names Toothless. Gerard Butler reprises his role as Stoick, the chief of the clan and Hiccup’s Dad.
How to Train Your Dragon is a very good-looking movie. Skin tones and textures are true-to-life, colors of the dragons and ships are rich and punchy, and contrast is strong, with night sequences showing deep blacks and bright highlights in torches. Textures are crisp and look striking throughout.
How to Train Your Dragon’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack is an excellent showcase for your home theater. Fireballs and crunching impacts have weighty bass that will give your subwoofer a workout. Flight sequences are immersive, with effects in the rear and height channels creating a dynamic soundscape. Speech is also consistently clear and well-balanced with all other aspects throughout the movie.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
