If you’re a 4K Blu-ray fan, you need to check out Gruv’s 3 for $39 Movie March Madness 4K Blu-ray sale. There are tons of excellent discs in here, with the chance to snag some huge savings. If you’re feeling a little lost, I’ve picked 6 of the best discs I’ve tested from the sale, some of which featured in our Blu-ray Bounty column!
If you’re looking for a visual and audio feast, you can’t get much better than Sinners, which has easily one of the best Dolby Atmos scenes I’ve experienced.
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Gruv 3 for $39 4K Blu-ray sale
Gruv is having a big, multi-buy sale on selected 4K Blu-rays. Some of these discs usually cost $25+ each, so play your cards right and you’re effectively getting discs for free!
My top 6 discs from the Gruv sale
Sinners
Sinners is a phenomenal 4K disc for showing off your home theater system for one scene alone: the time-bending barn sequence. When I tested this disc, I was blown away by the pinpoint mapping and the movement of sound during this scene. The music not only filled the room but travelled from speaker to speaker in the Samsung soundbar system I used for testing.
It’s a gorgeous 4K disc as well, with plenty of strong contrast scenes, vibrant colors and true-to-life detail that accurately captures the sweltering Mississippi Delta heat.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
I’ve been continually amazed by what 4K Blu-ray can do for classic movies, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is one of the best recent examples I’ve seen. The 4K restoration from Warner Bros. breathes new life into the movie, resulting in beautifully upscaled textures that look almost 3D. Colors have received a nice boost too, taking on a much bolder look.
There’s not a great deal to write about audio-wise, but again speech has been cleaned up and is crystal-clear throughout the movie, and subtle sound effects like dripping taps are refined.
F1: The Movie
What better way to let your home theater flex its muscles than with an action-packed racing movie filled with tons of bass and engaging sound effects. That’s just what F1 is, as cars deliver plenty of rumble for your subwoofer along with a big, Dolby Atmos soundstage where screeching tires and the wind whipping through a driver’s cockpit will test your surround speakers.
F1 is a very clean, crisp 4K presentation with realistic textures and punchy colors. There’s plenty of motion as cars weave around the track to test your display’s motion handling (you may need to experiment with your settings.)
The Wild Robot
A beautiful animated movie, The Wild Robot has a gorgeous art style that translates really well to 4K. A blend of computer animation with slick, crisp textures and paintbrush-style environments that are both detailed and vibrant, with colors really exploding on screen throughout. It’s a seriously good-looking disc.
There’s a spacious and engaging Dolby Atmos soundtrack that delivers rain overhead through the height channels, as well as bird calls, snapping twigs and screeching animals in a detailed and authentic manner.
The Batman
One of my main discs I use for testing, The Batman is excellent in 4K. There’s plenty of high-contrast scenes, with a great balance between light and dark tones. Textures show a lot of depth too, from the patchy stubble on Batman’s face to the detail in his armor. This disc will really test how your TV handles dark scenes (you may need to watch in a dimmer room, too).
A blistering Dolby Atmos soundtrack, The Batman features my primary audio testing scene: the Batmobile/Penguin car chase. From the room-filling bass of the Batmobile’s engine, to the pouring rain, screeching horns and tires of passing cars and the Penguin’s shouting, it really is a perfect scene to test every aspect of your home theater setup.
Oppenheimer
Visually striking, Oppenheimer again tests all aspects of your display. There’s punchy colors in the environments and true-to-life detail in people’s worn faces and the clothing they wear. I use this disc in my testing for its black and white scenes — these are great way of assessing screen uniformity and contrast, as there’s a nice, wide range of black, white and gray tones throughout.
There’s plenty to love audio-wise in Oppenheimer too. Ludwig Göransson’s score is dynamic and captivating, with the ‘Can you hear the music?’ scene as a particular standout. There’s also the raw, unyielding moments involving explosions and the sound of atoms in Oppenheimer’s head. A truly excellent DTS soundtrack.
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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
