Poseidon appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Allegedly a native 4K product, this became a generally appealing Dolby Vision presentation.
I say “allegedly” because the end result didn’t “feel 4K”. The image lacked the precision I’d anticipate from a native 4K film.
Still, the movie tended to look solid, with the only minor issues connected to delineation, as I saw a handful of slightly soft shots. Nonetheless, most of the film brought positive definition.
.Jagged edges and shimmering created no problems, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also failed to become an issue/
The movie’s palette leaned toward a subdued mix of blue/teal and amber. The hues felt well-rendered and they got a boost from HDR.
Blacks felt deep and firm, and shadows delivered appropriate clarity. Whites and contrast enjoyed a jolt from HDR. The occasional soft spot nearly knocked down my grade to a “B”, but enough of the film looked strong to merit a “B+”.
In addition, Poseidon offered the kind of DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack that sells home theaters. I anticipated a terrific soundfield and that’s what I got.
With all the explosions, water and other dynamic elements, the mix occupied my ears with tons of good material. The initial assault of the wave presented a sequence destined to demo many a system, as it used all five speakers to great advantage.
I won’t directly specify the other standout moments since they’d reveal too much about the plot. Suffice it say that every speaker in your array will get an active workout from this broad, involving mix.
The track backed up the strong soundfield with excellent audio quality. Speech always remained intelligible and concise, and I noticed no edginess or other problems.
Music was bright and full. The score played a backup role given the dominance of the effects, but the music showed good definition.
And how about those effects? They filled out the movie well, as at all times they were accurate and vivid. No distortion or other concerns appeared..
Lots of deep, rich low-end occupied the mix and added a real kick to the proceedings. This was a consistently dynamic mix.
How did the 4K UHD compare with the original Blu-ray from 2010? Both came with apparently identical audio.
As for the Dolby Vision UHD, it came with improvements in sharpness, colors, and blacks. I still didn’t think the movie “looked 4K”, but it became a good representation of the source.
The Arrow release mixes old and new extras, and we start with a featurette called A Ship on a Soundstage. In this 22-minute, 44-second show, we hear from director Wolfgang Petersen, producers Mike Fleiss, Akiva Goldsman and Duncan Henderson, Gallico estate representative Jon Brown. NOAA meteorologist Mark Jackson, writer Mark Protosevich, associate producer Barbara Huber, co-produce Todd Arnow, visual effects supervisor Boyd Shermis, 2nd unit DP Mark Vargo, 1st unit stunt coordinator Allen Robinson, 2nd unit director Doug Coleman, director of photography John Seale, 2nd AD Basil Bryant Grillo, key makeup artist Gregory C. Funk, costume supervisor Bob Morgan, costumer John Voght, dyer Steven Porch, ILM visual effects supervisor Kim Libreri, special effects supervisor John R. Frazier, and actors Kurt Russell, Emmy Rossum, Jacinda Barrett, Kevin Dillon, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Josh Lucas, Richard Dreyfuss and Jimmy Bennett.
“Ship” looks at the adaptation of the original story and film and where this one fits in Petersen’s résumé. We hear about factual elements of the tale, the decision not to shoot on a real ship and the use of visual effects for the boat and other elements.
We also learn about the use of real sets, filming in continuity, stunts, cinematography, Petersen’s ability to work on a large-scale project such as this, costumes and makeup, and dealing with all the water on the set.
Should you expect to learn a ton about Poseidon here? No, but you’ll get a program that seems more satisfying than the average promotional featurette.
“Ship” gives us a reasonable overview of the various filmmaking elements. Though it doesn’t come across as fulfilling, it’s a decent teaser.
Next comes Upside Down. The 10-minute, 46-second featurette includes statements from Petersen, Russell, Lucas, Dreyfuss, Henderson, Grillo, Arnow, Barrett, Frazier, illustrator Daren R. Dochterman, set decorator Robert Gould, production designer William Sandell, art director Bradford Ricker, set designer Kevin Loo, assistant art director Luke Freeborn, construction coordinator Gary Deaton, location manager Michael John Meehan, and property master CJ Maguire.
“Down” looks at the design and creation of the titular ship. We learn a little more about why the film never uses a real boat, and we then get into the elements of the movie’s Poseidon such as challenges related to the sets and their construction.
As with the first featurette, “Down” offers some good moments, but it’s too quick and superficial to go as far as I’d like. We get a decent glimpse of ship-related issues and that’s about it.
A Shipmate’s Diary goes for 12 minutes, 23 seconds. As implied by its title, “Diary” consists mainly of behind the scenes footage.
We follow Petersen’s assistant Malona P. Voight as she leads us around the set. We also hear from Seale, Sandell, Frazier, Coleman, Lucas, Russell, Dreyfuss, Petersen, Henderson, makeup department head Edouard F. Henriques III, video and graphics supervisor Dean Striepeke, lighting programmer Scott Barnes, set PA Ryan Bonner, dummy wrangler Dirk Rogers, driver Dester Stowers, assistant production coordinator Michael Steinbach, staff assistant Sean Dennehy, extras Andy Deal, Rachel Vander Woude, Bob Buckingham, Adam Jones, Jesse Henecke, and Anthony Konopski, 2nd unit stunt coordinator Rick Avery, cablecam inventor Jim Rodnunsky, 2nd unit production manager RJ Mino, craft service’s Nick Mestrandrea, editor Peter Honess, supervising sound editor Wylie Stateman, and actor Stacy Ferguson.
“Diary” doesn’t become terribly in-depth, but it manages to spotlight some elements of the production these shows don’t usually address. Those moments allow “Diary” to become reasonably informative and interesting. Voight’s frequent comparisons of Poseidon to student films get old, though.
From here we go to extras new to the Arrow set, and we start with Ocean Views. It spans 14 minutes, 32 seconds and involves director of photography John Seale.
"Views" looks at aspects of Seale's career as well as his work on Poseidon. He offers a nice overview, especially when he looks at the use of multiple cameras all at once.
Big Sets for Big-Time Directors goes for 13 minutes, eight seconds. This one features production designer William Sandell.
Like Seale, Sandell talks about his progression in films along with his designs for Poseidon. Expect another useful little summary.
Next comes Surfing the VFX Wave. In this 18-minute, 23-second reel, we hear from VFX supervisor Boyd Shermis.
Unsurprisingly, "Surfing" follows the same scope as the prior two interviews. We find another worthwhile overview.
Bringing Out the Dead lasts 11 minutes, 47 seconds. Here we discover remarks from makeup effects on-set supervisor Michael Deak.
Yes, Deak looks at his career and his Poseidon experiences. This one fares less well than the prior chats because Deak digresses too much, but some good notes still emerge.
After this we move to Set a Course for Adventure. The 17-minute, nine-second reel features film critic Heath Holland.
Billed as a "retrospective", Holland examines the source novel and 1972 movie along with aspects of Poseidon. Holland offers some useful contrasts with the prior flick but this mostly feels like a less than substantial take on Poseidon, especially because Holland seems to view the movie's lack of substance and development as a positive.
The 4K loses one extra from the Blu-ray: a History Channel documentary called “Rogue Waves”. Whereas it should’ve been a serious look at the titular phenomenon, the program turned more into a promo reel for Poseidon so its absence doesn’t disappoint as much as it otherwise might.
A thin disaster flick too concerned with effects to involve us, Poseidon comes as a real disappointment. Despite its solid production values, the movie never creates any drama or tension, mostly because we simply couldn’t care less what happens to the sketchy characters. The 4K UHD offers very good picture, excellent audio and a reasonable roster of bonus materials. I wish I liked the movie more than I do, but I can’t complain about this quality release.
