Video Quality
The improvements to both color reproduction and textural accuracy and overall clarity are greatly enhanced over the companion Blu-ray. 1917 was photographed at a resolution of 4.5K and finished at 4K. The presentation is resplendent, to say the least. The Dolby Vision color grading proves absolutely vital to any viewing. The feel of fullness, tonal accuracy, and perfect color depth are striking, areas all greatly improved over the Blu-ray, which looks superb on its own but appears flat and creamy and dreary in comparison. Dolby Vision's complimentary transformative qualities cannot be overstated here. The palette is not different, but the added depth and contrast, which maintain the image's core lifeblood with great enhancement, certainly brings a new feel for accuracy and intensity to the image. Much of the movie is made of bleak grays and beiges and greens. All of these enjoy greatly increased accuracy, offering oftentimes staggering boosts to both core color saturation and nuanced tones alike. Improved flesh tones, highlights, and black levels are also notable, the latter particularly vital in several key moments. For a movie as generally bleak as 1917, it's amazing how much more life Dolby Vision brings to it without sacrificing -- but actually enhancing -- artistic merit.
From a resolution perspective the native 4K source certainly finds great improvements over the Blu-ray as well. The increases to object sharpness and overall screen clarity are obvious. The picture finds greatly improved detailing to all of the elements that are vital within the visual parameters, including mud, wood and sandbag supports in the trenches, uniform patches and seams, and helmet wear-and-tear. Facial clarity is beyond superb even in more challenging low light scenes, whether inside dimly lit bunkers or under cover of night. Even fine point detail -- individual blades of grass, for instance, in those places where some grass still exists -- bear much visual fruit, as do countless examples of worn and decayed objects, like war-torn buildings or a collapsed bridge seen midway through the film. This is a dazzling UHD presentation from Universal.
Credit: blu-ray.com
Audio Quality
1917's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is an exercise in sound engineering and delivery excellence. The soundstage expands almost immediately to pull the listener into the trenches and across the battlefields. In the former, there's a hectic din at times, more subdued rustling at others, but the feel for immersion within the confined space is evident with surround and overhead engagement regular. Listeners will find the first example of discrete overhead usage when a pair of planes pass above Schofield and Blake within the 20-minute mark as they make their way across the abandoned battlefield. An explosion within the confines of an abandoned German bunker in chapter six offers an impressive blast rushing through the stage, sending debris flying across and then falling from above, both with seamless surround detail and top end presentation. Rushing waters in chapter 15 soak the stage with intense depth and ferocious movement, and gunfire punches hard and impacts surfaces with alarming ferocity, notably from a sniper's rifle partway through the film. Music plays with superb low end depth to solidify widely engaged, fluid, and very lifelike notes; like action and atmosphere, it's enveloping but with perfect balance. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized from a natural front-center position. Film audio doesn't get much more complete and immersive as this.
4K Bluray details
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (70.11 Mbps)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10+
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Note: French = Quebecois, Spanish = Latinoamerica
Subtitles
English SDH, French, Spanish
Discs
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-100, 1 BD-50)
Digital
Movies Anywhere
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Embossed print
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region A, B
Digital
Movies Anywhere
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region A, B (C untested)