The Fall Guy appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Expect the usual high-quality presentation from this Dolby Vision release for a native 4K production.
Sharpness looked good. No issues with softness occurred, so the film felt accurate and concise.
No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes remained absent. Source flaws also failed to create problems.
In terms of colors, Fall Guy went with “action-standard” amber/orange and teal. As much as I dislike those choices, they worked fine given the stylistic choices, and a few scenes broadened the tones some. HDR added zest to the colors.
Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Contrast and whites enjoyed a boost from HDR. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.
Similar thoughts greeted the good Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Fall Guy. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience in which the action scenes offered a nice sense of impact.
The film packed plenty of these elements, so we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, moving vehicles and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying manner.
Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.
Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a very fine soundtrack.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Both offered identical Atmos audio.
As a Dolby Vision presentation of a native 4K production, the UHD version shined, however, as it boasted superior colors, blacks and definition. While the BD looked great for the format, the UHD took it to another level.
This package includes both the film’s theatrical (2:06:22) and extended (2:26:26) cuts. How do the two differ?
Overall, the longer version offers more exposition, character beats and action. Given that I thought the theatrical edition ran too long already, the question becomes whether or not Fall Guy benefits from the added footage.
In my opinion, the extra material doesn’t fix the issues that befall the 126-minute cut. The 146-minute Fall Guy adds some exposition and character beats, but these never seem especially necessary.
The longer cut also extends some action scenes. In theory, that seems like a good idea.
However, sometimes these tend to run too long and they get a bit tedious. The shorter and tighter segments pack a better punch most of the time.
All that said, I don’t find the 146-minute Fall Guy to actually fare worse than its 126-minute counterpart. Both are too long but the extra footage doesn’t really hurt the movie.
That material simply doesn’t help Fall Guy, however. Whichever cut you choose, you’ll end up with a similar cinematic experience.
Alongside either cut of the film, we get an audio commentary from director David Leitch and producer Kelly McCormick. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, stunts and action, score and songs, changes for the extended cut, costumes, hair and connected domains.
Expect a passable but ordinary commentary from Leitch and McCormick, as they give us a decent view of the movie and nothing more. While we find a reasonable number of film insights but they also ladle out an awful lot of praise and don’t dig too deeply into the production.
Note that both cuts of the film feature the same commentary. The track for the theatrical simply edits out remarks that accompany the 146-minute version.
On the extended cut’s disc, the commentary becomes the only extra, but a bunch of components appear on the theatrical platter. A Gag Reel fills four minutes, 36 seconds with the usual goofs and giggles. Don’t expect anything memorable.
Next we get a five-minute, 52-second collection of Alternate Takes that show us unused lines. Some of these deliver amusement.
Seven featurettes ensue. The five-part Breaking Down the Action occupies a total of 18 minutes, 58 seconds and offers details from Leitch, McCormick, stunt doubles Ben Jenkin and Logan Holladay, stunt coordinator Keir Beck, SFX supervisor Dan Oliver, animal wrangler Kirstin Feddersen, assistant stunt coordinator Leo Stripp, 2nd unit director Chris O’Hara, SFX mocon/electronics supervisor Dan Carlisle, stunt performer Troy Brown, and actors Ryan Gosling, Stephanie Hsu, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
We learn about the aspects of various stunt scenes here. The ample use of behind the scenes footage makes this a nice look at the topic.
Making a Meta Masterpiece goes for 16 minutes, three seconds. It offers info from Leitch, McCormick, Gosling, Blunt, Waddingham, Taylor-Johnson, O’Hara, Hsu, producer Guymon Casady, stunt double Justin Eaton, and actors Winston Duke, Adam Dunn and Ben Knight.
“Meta” looks at the project’s development and adapting the TV show, story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, and Leitch’s approach to the flick. “Meta” mixes decent insights with happy talk.
After this we go to How to Break a World Record. In this six-minute, four-second reel, we hear from Leitch, O’Hara, Holladay, McCormick, Gosling, and Blunt.
In this clip, we learn about the film’s extended cannon roll. This gives us a good examination of the stunt specifics.
Nightclub Mayhem lasts three minutes, 30 seconds. It offers notes from Leitch, O’Hara, McCormick, Gosling, fight coordinator Sunny Sun and actor Matuse.
This one covers another of the movie’s action sequences. Though brief, it delivers an efficient summary.
Up next we move to The Art of Doubling. This one fills four minutes, 22 seconds with remarks from Gosling, O’Hara, Jenkin, Leitch, McCormick, and Eaton.
As implied by the title, “Art” covers the film’s use of stunt doubles. More homage than informative reel, it seems mediocre.
Making Metalstorm runs four minutes, 31 seconds. It gives us material from McCormick, Leitch, Gosling, Duke, Oliver, Taylor-Johnson, Waddingham, Blunt, costume designer Sarah Evelyn and production designer David Scheunemann.
Here we take a look at aspects of the movie within a movie. A smattering of useful notes emerge along with the usual fluff.
Finally, Falling for The Fall Guy takes up four minutes, 24 seconds as professional parkour athlete Bob Reese recreates some of the film’s stunts. I don’t completely understand the purpose of this reel – couldn’t we learn about this work from the people who did the stunts for the flick?
A third disc offers a Blu-ray copy of the theatrical cut. It comes with the same extras as the 4K minus the extended version.
As a mix of comedy, action and romance, The Fall Guy comes with the potential to deliver a fun and frothy tale. At times it succeeds but the end product tends to seem too long and too muddled to hit the mark. The 4K UHD brings excellent picture and audio as well as a generally solid collection of bonus materials. Expect a spotty cinematic experience from this one.
To rate this film visit the Blu-Ray review of FALL GUY
