Wrath of the Titans appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Across the board, the movie boasted a terrific Dolby Vision transfer.
Sharpness worked well. Outside of stylistic choices, virtually no softness materialized here, as the film was consistently tight and accurate.
I noticed no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to appear. Print flaws also weren’t a factor in this clean presentation.
The movie’s palette opted for a pretty standard mix of amber/orange and teal. These choices limited the color range, but I thought the hues looked solid given those decisions and HDR added some zing to the colors.
Blacks were deep and dense, and shadows showed clear definition; low-light and nighttime shots offered positive visuals. HDR gave contrast and whites added impact. This turned into a strong image.
Similar praise greeted the intense DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Wrath. I’d expect non-stop action from a movie about a battle among the gods, and that was what I got here.
From start to finish, the movie used all five channels as nearly constant partners. Music filled the whole spectrum in a satisfying way, and effects demonstrated tremendous breadth.
Wrath certainly gave the audio plenty of opportunities to excel, and it delivered. We got plenty of winged creatures, explosions and similar elements, and all added pep to the film.
The components showed fine localization and blending. Everything came from the right spot and the pieces fit together in a smooth way.
Audio quality lived up to the standards of the soundfield. Music was bold and dynamic, and speech seemed concise and crisp.
Effects demonstrated terrific range, so highs were tight, and lows seemed deep and full. Bass response added a real kick and gave the movie great power. Everything worked here and this became an engrossing sound experience.
How did this 4K UHD compare to the simultaneously released Arrow Blu-ray? Both offered identical audio.
As for the Dolby Vision visuals, it appeared to stem from a 2K source, so improvements in terms of sharpness didn’t seem substantial. HDR gave colors and blacks a bit of a boost, but don’t expect the 4K to clearly surpass the already strong BD.
The Arrow disc combines old and new extras. Two collections of video programs port over from the original 2012 Blu-ray.
Path of the Gods offers four featurettes with a total running time of 12 minutes, 50 seconds. We find “Who Are the Titans?” (3:21). “Hephaestus: God of Fire” (2:34), “Lost in Tartarus’ Labyrinth” (2:51) and “Creatures of the Titans” (4:04).
In addition, Path of Men spans a sum of 21 minutes, 46 seconds. It offers six segments: “Battling the Chimera” (3:55), “Agenor: The Other Demi-God” (3:00), “The Cyclops Fight” (3:35), “Prison of the Titans” (3:46), “Minotaur: The Human Nightmare” (3:03), and “The Heavens Raise Hell on Earth” (4:27).
Across all these, we hear from director Jonathan Liebesman, producers Polly Johnsen and Basil Iwanyk, writers Dan Mazeau and David Leslie Johnson, visual effects supervisor/2nd unit director Nick Davis, stunt coordinator Paul Jennings, Framestore visual effects supervisor Jonathan Fawkner, special effects supervisor Neil Corbould, semior armoury technician Tim Wildgoose, MPC CG effects supervisor Anders Langlands, MPC animation supevisor Greg Fisher, LMU Dept.of Classics and Archaeology Professor Chiara Sulprizio, UCLA Department of Classics Professor Richard Rader, CSYDH Department of History Associate Professor James Jeffers, Framestore animation supervisor Paul Chung, prosthetics designer Conor O’Sullivan, prosthetics sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, prosthetics makeup second supervisor Goran Lundstrom, location manager Martin Joy, assistant costume designer Joe Hobbs, and actors Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Edgar Ramirez, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Toby Kebbell, Spencer Wilding and Bill Nighy.
The pieces look at creatures and their creation, story/character issues and the film’s tone, various effects, cast and performances, sets, locations and production design, stunts and action, costumes, and elements of the mythology at the film’s core.
The content offers good information. The clips deliver a lot of useful material and entertain as they go.
Three Deleted Scenes run a total of 10 minutes, 50 seconds. We get “Perseus Owes Helius an Explanation” (4:27), “Perseus Addresses the Troops” (4:50) and “Zeus Is Led Past Missing Olympians” (1:33).
The first two are the kind of slow, unnecessary exposition that harmed the prior movie, so I’m glad they were cut. “Olympians” is a bit more interesting, though, as it shows a little more of what happened to the other gods.
The remaining extras are new to the 2024 Arrow release. Unleashing the Beasts goes for 13 minutes, 36 seconds and provides a new interview with producer Basil Iwanyk.
He tells us about the development of the sequel as well as bringing in a new director, cast/performances, aspects of the production and thoughts about a third film in the franchise. A companion to a chat on the Clash disc, Iwanyk provides a solid view of the movie.
In addition to the film’s trailer we find an Image Gallery with 50 elements that mix movie shots, photos from the set and advertisements. It turns into a decent compilation.
Note that the 2024 Arrow release drops a picture-in-picture feature from the 2012 disc called “Maximum Movie Mode”. This brought a form of multimedia commentary that worked well and becomes a lamentable omission here.
Because I felt lukewarm toward 2010’s Clash of the Titans, I didn’t expect much from its sequel. Happily, Wrath of the Titans works much better, so while it lacks the depth that would elevate it to a higher level, it still offers more than enough action and excitement to create a pretty entertaining 99 minutes.
The 4K UHD offers excellent picture and audio along with a moderate roster of supplements. Even if you didn’t care for Clash of the Titans, Wrath merits a look, as it consistently surpasses its predecessor.
Note that this 2024 Arrow release of Wrath of the Titans comes only as part of a two-film When Titans Ruled the Earth package. This set also includes 2010’s Clash of the Titans.
To rate this film visit the prior review of WRATH OF THE TITANS
