Blu-ray movies: Places 32 – 22

Place 32: Kung Fu Panda

Picture: 38    Sound: 35    Extras: 8       Total: 81 points

As is often the case with animation films, the picture is almost perfect! And “Kung Fu Panda” also sounds amazing: In contrast to older Dreamworks films such as “Shrek” or “Bee Movie”, this film can easily stand alongside Pixar releases such as “Cars” or “Ratatouille”: plenty of great rear effects, acoustic panning, and powerful bass. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about the extras: an audio commentary, a trivia track, a picture-in-picture track, and a few unspectacular featurettes.

Place 31: Wanted

Picture: 35    Sound: 38    Extras: 8       Total: 81 points

Wow! This Cinemascope transfer blows you away with its powerful colours and first-rate sharpness. And the sound is even better: Whether it’s explosions, gunshots, or derailed trains, the soundtrack crashes and clatters until the floor is shaking. The bonus material, however, is meagre — at least if you consider quality over quantity. In “Cast and Characters” (20 minutes), for example, the cast spend most of the time explaining the film’s plot.

Place 30: Blade Runner (The Final Cut)

Picture: 33    Sound: 30    Extras: 19       Total: 82 points

It’s amazing how much a new 4k transfer has done for this film — “Blade Runner” never looked so good, and there’s not a trace of dropouts or noise. Vangelis’ famous synth soundtrack sounds better than ever before, and, for the first time, the classic now conjures up surround effects. Still, the sound is no competition for modern sci-fi productions. On the plus side, the disc is brimming with bonus material — it’s worth buying “The Final Cut” even just the three-and-a-half-hour retrospective documentary.

Place 29: Crank

Picture: 40    Sound: 32    Extras: 10       Total: 82 points

This picture shows you what Blu-ray can really do — and easily earns full marks! The sound isn’t quite as high-flying, but competently underscores the tense on-screen action with powerful deep bass and surround effects. The bonus material is average — we were only impressed by the picture-in-picture track and the ‘making of’ material (around 30 minutes).

Place 28: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Picture: 33    Sound: 38    Extras: 12       Total: 83 points

Picture- and sound-wise, “Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” is the best of three “The Mummy” films — the picture is first-class, apart from a few slightly iffy scenes. Occasional, overly hard contrast and colour filters take their toll on the depth, but the sound is as good as flawless — growling bass, massive dynamics, and non-stop action from all directions. As well as a director’s commentary, you get various picture-in-picture tracks, as well as around 80 minutes of ‘making of’ material.

Place 27: The Bourne Ultimatum

Picture: 35    Sound: 37    Extras: 11       Total: 83 points

Although the basic look is grubby and dark, the details and edges are mind-bogglingly crisp. Especially in the aerial shots of European cities such as Berlin and Madrid, this is the kind of Blu-ray demo material that’s sure to impress friends and family. The sound even manages to top the picture: Powerful effects from all directions transport the viewer to the very centre of the high-speed action. Overall, the extras are OK, but they could have been a bit more extensive: a director’s commentary, a picture-in-picture track, deleted scenes, various short featurettes, and BD-Live.

Place 26: Beowulf (Director’s Cut)

Picture: 39    Sound: 37    Extras: 7       Total: 83 points

One of the best Blu-ray pictures we’ve ever seen — the digitally animated action-adventure is ultra-sharp and portrays even the finest details accurately. In the many action scenes, surround effects fly around the living room, accompanied by a powerful deep bass.

There are only a few extras, but they are at least all in HD: a ‘making of’ (25 minutes), ten mini-featurettes (22 minutes in total), and some short films about: the monsters, the computer animations, the main cast members, deleted scenes, and the material on which the film is based.

Place 25: King Kong

Picture: 39    Sound: 38    Extras: 7       Total: 84 points

Here’s yet another picture that achieves reference level: Radiant, sharp, and vivid, “King Kong” looks simply amazing! The same goes for the sound, which is extremely powerful — just like the ape himself. But the bonus material turns out to be more of a chimp than a great ape: There’s an audio commentary and a picture-in-picture track — and that’s it! The three-disc DVD release, for the sake of comparison, provides a whopping four hours of ‘making of’ material.

Place 24: Rush Hour 3

Picture: 37    Sound: 29    Extras: 18       Total: 84 points

“Rush Hour 3” offers a sharp, detail-rich picture with first-rate plasticity. Only the sound struggles to keep up: The mix is way too front-heavy and delivers too little detail and too few surround effects. But it’s easy to forgive all this when you see the extent of the bonus material: The whole film was transferred to the disc a second time with picture-in-picture information! The remaining extras come on a second disc: a superb ‘making of’ (88:11), a production diary (65:05), outtakes (2:33), deleted scenes (7:33), and a feature on special effects (2:03).

Place 23: The Golden Compass

Picture: 32    Sound: 34    Extras: 19       Total: 85 points

Compared to the DVD version, this Blu-ray release improves the sharpness of edges and details, as well as doing away with compression artefacts. Unfortunately, though, the soft-focus filters haven’t done the actors’ faces or the CGI effects any good, and the picture just looks too smooth overall. The DTS-HD soundtrack puts the viewer right in the thick of the action — most impressively in the polar-bear fight. An especially high score goes to the bonus material, which include almost three hours of featurettes.

Place 22: The Incredible Hulk

Picture: 33    Sound: 38    Extras: 14       Total: 85 points

The picture is as colourful, sharp, and punchy as you’d expect from a recent blockbuster, but the Hulk isn’t quite as radiant as the recent film adaptation of “Iron Man”, for example — overall, the picture is a bit too dark and, in close-up shots, insufficiently detail-rich. 

On the plus side, powerful surround effects crop up almost constantly; when the green mutant roars, it’s like a herd of elephants charging into the living room — this is some of the most impressive Blu-ray sound we’ve heard. The extras aren’t bad either: an audio commentary, a picture-in-picture track, deleted scenes (37 minutes), and around 80 minutes of ‘making of’ material.