Video Quality
Thor: Ragnarok's 4K UHD presentation, presented at the 2160p resolution with standard HDR-10 color enhancement, offers a pleasantly obvious upgrade from the companion 1080p Blu-ray release, even as the film was reportedly upscaled from a 2K digital intermediate but photographed at a significantly higher resolution. The boost over the Blu-ray is clear upon re-watching the film closely after viewing the Blu-ray. Details are firm and colors are more dense. Textural efficiency and clarity receive a boost even beyond the incredibly revealing Blu-ray. Various armor, fabrics, and environmental details, particularly on Sakaar where there is no shortage of both complex and clean locales, are all impacted by the increased resolution and clarity the UHD formats afford to the image. Even digital construct environments and characters, like Sakaar's vistas and the rocky Korg and the vascular Hulk, look precisely presented down to the finest digital nuance the artists have created for them. The HDR-10 coloring gives the movie a modestly darker edge about it, with colors remaining significantly vibrant with many impactful highlights, including more robustly diverse, intricately nuanced, and obviously punchy colors on the richly colorful world of Sakaar. Additionally, various blue-white lightning effects are intensely bright, as are the color variations on green as the people of Sakaar celebrate their champion, Hulk. Black levels are wonderfully firm and detailed and flesh tones appear spot-on. No significant source or encode issues are apparent.
Credit: blu-ray.com
Audio Quality
Thor: Ragnarok's Dolby Atmos soundtrack adds height channel effects to the presentation that are absent on the 7.1 DTS-encoded Blu-ray. The differences aren't substantial, but neither are they insignificant. The arena battle midway through the film enjoys heightened top-end awareness and engagement both as the Grandmaster addresses the crowd and as the crowd cheers and jeers prior to, and during, the fight between Hulk and Thor. Minor added effects and a greater sense of space and place are present within the track. Action effects range from more than a bit puny to somewhat substantial. A number of crashes during the arena battle lack significant depth. Even as Hulk crashes around the arena's walls, there's not a significant sense of power, of heft. Clarity is strong and sound distinction clear, but intensely powerful the scene is not. Laser blasts in chapter 13 -- whether from rifles or a flying craft -- lack punch but not detail. A large-scale battle on the Bifrost Bridge at the film's climax, particularly as Thor wields his devastating powers, delivers a little more in terms of low end depth and dynamics, but still not to great, meaty substance. Musical clarity and spacing, like everything else, are stellar, whether orchestral score, techno beats, or a bit of Led Zeppelin at the film's bookends, but, frankly, the menu screen music is more intense and dynamic, at least at a very crude level. This is a frustrating track; it's not lacking in detail but it is lacking in intense dynamism, which is certainly not new for some Disney tracks; much the same was observed with the companion Blu-ray's DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack.
4K Bluray details
VideoCodec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
(more)
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-66, 1 BD-50)
Digital
Digital 4K
Movies Anywhere, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Embossed print
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region free