I write about streaming a lot – you only have to check out my author page here on T3 to see that a big part of my job is keeping up with the latest trailers and releases across all the biggest and best streaming services. Still, while streaming has revolutionised how easy it is to access many movies, it's not yet a perfect solution if you're a true audio-video nerd.
Whether it's because of bit-rate issues or a reliance on your internet connection, streaming currently can't match physical media when it comes to pure video and audio quality, which means that a good 4K Blu-ray master will generally be the best way to watch a film. Case in point: Disney just sent me a copy of its new remaster of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and it blew me away when I watched it this week.
As you can see from the sample clips above, this is one of the best-looking films you could choose to pick up on 4K disc right now, not least because, for a good number of years, it was a go-to choice for display testers. More than one of my colleagues remembers using the original home video release back in the 2000s to run new TVs through their paces, and it turns out the 4K re-release is just as suitable.
The movie, which tells the story of a lengthy game of cat and mouse between an English navy vessel and a more powerful French privateer crew during the Napoleonic wars, is simply gorgeous to look at. Across its 2.5-hour runtime, it runs the gamut of lighting conditions, from dim nighttime scenes to scorching sunny daytimes, and even has plenty of obscure mist to check out – all of which can showcase how much better a disc looks than choppy streaming.
Mist often shows up pixel blocking and artefacts when bitrates aren't high enough, so the opening sections of this film, which see an enemy ship slipping in and out of view, are arguably a perfect showcase of what a proper disc transfer can look like.
Equally impressively, the film now comes with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision mixing to make sure that it shines on surround sound and compatible TVs. HDR implementation really shines, with the brightest and darkest spots on-screen now looking vividly lifelike, something that really comes through in the Galapagos sections later on in the movie.
Of course, part of the attraction of a 4K release like this is the sheer detail that's captured and reflected compared to older 1080p versions. When a cannonball crashes through the hull or a mast here, you can really see every splinter, and the surround sound brilliantly conveys the booming terror of incoming fire, even on my relatively modest 5.1 system.
The simple fact is that this is as much as I've enjoyed a movie experience at home, in terms of pure visual and audio quality, since I picked up the 4K versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you remember enjoying this naval adventure back when it came out, or if you've never seen it, I'd urge you to consider picking up the disc, which is available on Amazon now.
The world of physical media can be a little daunting price-wise, but the fact that you come out of every purchase with something you actually own, rather than just a license to watch it until a platform disappears or a license expires, makes it super attractive to me.
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