Up appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. I expected a sumptuous visual experience from Up, and the 4K UHD delivered the goods.
Sharpness remained immaculate at all times. Even in the widest shots, the movie appeared crisp and distinctive. No signs of fuzziness or softness ever remotely affected the presentation.
Jaggies and moiré effects failed to exist, and no edge haloes appeared. Of course, outside of intentional “debris” from the use of 1930s newsreels, the transfer came completely free from source flaws.
With its varied settings, Up went with a broad, lively palette that looked great. The colors always came across as vibrant and dynamic. HDR added range and impact to the tones.
Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows appeared clean and concise. HDR gave whites and contrast extra punch. This was a gorgeous image.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 the Dolby Atmos audio of Up also felt strong. Given its story, the movie didn’t offer constant action, but it boasted more than enough good sequences to make it engaging.
Most of these showed up in the film’s last third or so. During earlier moments, we got nice usage of the five channels – the storm that carried the house to South America was especially involving – but the film favored ambience for its first hour.
That changed as we neared the climax. With many action elements in the final act, the movie offered plenty of opportunities for solid information.
It delivered these well, as the material meshed together well and created an exciting environment. In addition, music always delivered good stereo imaging, and speech featured a fair amount of localized dialogue. All of this combined to create a vivid soundscape.
In addition, audio quality was strong. Speech seemed natural and distinctive, and music offered nice range and vivacity.
Effects came across as accurate and dynamic. They boasted fine punch and appeared concise and full. Although the audio didn’t always dazzle, it soared often enough to earn an “A-“.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The Atmos audio presented a decent expansion of the source, if not anything revelatory.
The image came with the expected 4K improvements, mainly related to HDR. Blacks and especially colors got a noticeable boost in this exemplary visual presentation.
To complicate matters, a 3D edition of Up also sits in the marketplace. For those with the proper equipment, should they go with the 3D or 4K versions?
Both fared well, though the 3D didn’t offer dazzling stereo imaging, as it remained oddly restrained for a movie about a flying house. For that reason, I preferred the stunning 4K visuals.
No extras appear on the 4K disc, but we get a slew on the included Blu-ray copy. On Disc One, we start with an audio commentary from director Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson.
Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the tale’s origins and development, various story/character issues and influences, cast and performances, the flick’s title, sets and visual design, music, audio and editing, abandoned/altered sequences, animation and technical topics, and trivia.
Pixar commentaries are always good, and this is another winner. Docter and Peterson work well together, and they provide a great deal of information about the movie. They do this with nice humor as they create a smooth, enjoyable examination of their film.
You can check out this commentary solely as audio – which is how it appears on the DVD – or via the Cine-Explore option. Actually, that’s the only way to access the commentary on the Blu-ray, but it’s still the same track on both the DVD and the Blu-ray.
So what does “Cine-Explore” do to change the equation? It adds art and photos as the film progresses. These reflect the content of the commentary. We see concept art for characters and other early designs as well as photos of cast and crew. Unlike most pieces of this sort, though, no branching video or anything other than stills appears.
Nonetheless, the “Cine-Explore” option adds a little kick to the standard commentary. It certainly isn’t revolutionary, but it gives you a bit more content as you watch. This is a nice touch.
I tape commentaries and listen to them elsewhere, partially because it’s more efficient, but also because it’s so dull to stare at the screen as you check out a commentary. Cine-Explore provides added material that brings a bit more flair and involvement to the usual film discussion.
Two shorts crop up next. Partly Cloudy (5:49) accompanied theatrical showings of Up.
In it, we follow a stork who always gets stuck with difficult baby deliveries. It’s awfully cutesy, but it musters decent entertainment value.
A new cartoon called Dug’s Special Mission (4:43) provides more fun with the movie’s canine star. It actually connects to the final film, as it shows how Dug ended up in a place to meet Carl and Russell. It provides good amusement, and I like the manner in which it ties into the movie.
Adventure Is Out There runs 22 minutes, 17 seconds and includes remarks from Docter, Peterson, tepui naturalist/filmmaker Adrian Warren, production manager Mark Nielsen, story supervisor Ronnie Del Carmen, art director Bryn Imagire, environment art director Nat McLaughlin, production designer Ricky Nierva, producer Jonas Rivera, supervising technical director Steve May, art director Don Shank, and lighting direction Lou Romano.
The featurette looks at the South American locations and the crew’s research trip there. I enjoy pieces like this, as it’s always interesting to see the work done to create a real world. We get a good idea how the trek influenced the film.
Entitled The Many Endings of Muntz, we get a four-minute, 56-second discussion of alternate scenes. We hear from Docter, Del Carmen, Rivera, May, and Peterson.
The piece looks at the various ways the filmmakers considered using to finish off the Muntz character. It’s an interesting glimpse at some unused possibilities.
A few ads open Disc One. We get clips for Toy Story 3, The Princess and the Frog, and Santa Buddies.
These also appear in the Sneak Peeks area along with clips for Dumbo, Ponyo, Disney Prep and Landing, Disney Movie Rewards and Blu-ray Disc.
If you click to the left of the main menu, you’ll find The Egg. This one-minute and 57-second snippet includes notes from Peterson, , Nierva, Del Carmen, and Rivera.
Yes, this is an Easter egg about an egg! It tells us about an abandoned story concept. It features a magical egg Muntz uses to stay young. This is a good snippet that should’ve been a “regular” feature, not a hidden bonus.
Over on Disc Two, we start with seven featurettes. We go through Geriatric Hero (6:24), Canine Companions (8:26), Russell: Wilderness Explorer (9:00), Our Giant Flightless Friend, Kevin (5:04), Homemakers of Pixar (4:38), Balloons and Flight (6:25) and Composing for Characters (7:37).
Across these, we hear from Docter, Peterson, Rivera, Nierva, Del Carmen, May, Imagire, Shank, McLaughlin, supervising animator Scott Clark, directing animators Mike Venturini, Shawn Krause and Dave Mullins, character supervisor Thomas Jordan, dog behaviorist Ian Dunbar, character modeling and articulation lead Tom Sanocki, simulation and crowds artists Edwin Chang and Paul Kanyuk, story artist Peter Sohn, character art direction Daniel Lopez Munoz, writer Tom McCarthy, character cloth lead Claudia Chung, animator Dan Nguyen, art director Albert Lozano, sound designer Tom Myers, character shading and grooming artists Byron Bashforth and Laura Hainke, sets modeling artist Suzanne Slatcher, lighting director of photography Jean-Claude Kalache, camera director of photography Patrick Lin, and composer Michael Giacchino.
The titles indicate the subject matter of the clips. Most of them focus on the creation/evolution/animator of the story’s characters, and we also get into sets and score as well as some performance and plot areas.
Expect quite a few good details here. The featurettes dig into characters in a satisfying manner, as they provide many nice notes.
The programs don’t combine to form a complete “making of” take on the movie, but they have more than enough useful bits to make them positive.
Next comes an Alternate Scene entitled “Married Life”. In this nine-minute and 12-second reel, we begin with a three-minute and 54-second intro from Docter, Nierva, Del Carmen and Peterson.
They give us some notes about the montage that depicts the Carl/Ellie relationship over the years and chat about other concepts for it. We then watch a story reel that shows one of the versions of this.
It’s much more comedic than the take used in the final film. I don’t think it would’ve worked as well, but it’s fun to see.
An Up Promo Montage runs five minutes, 52 seconds. This consists of a collection of little tidbits with a variety of movie characters.
We’re never told where these clips appeared, but they’re consistently entertaining. Essentially they play like alternate/deleted scenes from the movie, so they’re a lot of fun.
Many Disney discs include games, and Up is no exception. The Global Guardian Badge Game sends you on quests to earn various badges.
You can play at both “easy” and “hard” levels, and these require you to identify various capitals of states and countries. It’s an interesting learning tool, but it comes with a frustrating interface that makes it a chore to play.
Disc Two ends with a collection of Worldwide Trailers. We find two ads here, both of which seem designed for US consumption.
Perhaps the same trailers ran all around the planet. If not, I don’t know what makes this set “worldwide”.
In addition, we find “Trailer #2” and “Trailer #3” – where the heck’s “Trailer #1”? Minor complaints aside, it’s nice to get these ads. Most releases these days totally omit original trailers, so I’m happy to find this pair.
After two movies that I liked but didn’t love, Pixar rebounded with the wholly satisfying Up. Sweet, funny and exciting, the movie is a consistent delight. The 4K UHD provides stellar visuals along with very good audio and extras. This is a terrific release for a very enjoyable film.
To rate this film, visit the prior review of UP
