Video Quality
Not surprisingly, this FX-heavy blockbuster aims for the rafters from a visual perspective, and Warner Bros.' 2160p, HDR-enhanced transfer is absolutely up to the challenge from every perspective. Godzilla vs. Kong was sourced from a 4K digital intermediate and is thus a true UHD title on home video, with the 113-minute film basically getting an entire 66GB, double-layer disc all to itself and running at a consistently high bit rate. Fine image detail and textures practically leap off the screen, especially visible in fur, scales, clothing, jungle foliage, and dense cityscapes. Black levels and deep shadows are rendered especially well, showing no apparent signs of crush or blocky artifacts even during the film's darkest moments while helping to balance out the strong saturation of its HDR color palette -- the Blu-ray falls a little short in that department. It's an incredibly dense and rich image that also owes a lot to the HDR-ready color palette, which showcases rich blues and oranges, copious amounts of vivid neon signage, razor-sharp on-screen graphics and computer displays, and imaginative lighting schemes that, while rarely realistic, sure do look cool. Overall, this is an extremely dynamic and attention-grabbing visual effort that should certainly appeal to its target audience, and even fence-sitters will find themselves enamored with the image even when the story lags a distant second.
Credit: blu-ray.com
Audio Quality
As impressive as Godzilla vs. Kong's visuals are, they just might be slightly outmatched by this absolutely reference-level Dolby Atmos track, which automatically folds down to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 if your receiver doesn't support the format. But this is as good a reason as any to consider upgrading your audio setup, as the mix's robust use of height channels brings a new level of sonic excitement to all the mayhem that unfolds on-screen. From fighter jet fly-bys to torrential downpours and, well, every appearance of the two title characters (even when they're not slugging it out), the terrific use of overhead audio blends in seamlessly to create that desirable "sonic bubble" that completely envelops the listener during key moments of the film. Elsewhere, all the usual highlights are present and accounted for: clean and crisp dialogue, well-placed rear channel effects, dynamic panning, and thunderous use of LFE that might just take your subwoofer(s) to new and exciting territory, and possibly the repair shop. Not surprisingly, it's probably the most impressive- sounding mix I've heard this year and almost makes this disc worth a spin on its own merits.
4K Bluray details
VideoCodec: HEVC / H.265 (49.77 Mbps)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10+
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: Dolby Atmos
Italian: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
(less)
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-66, 1 BD-50)
Digital
Digital 4K
Movies Anywhere, Vudu
Packaging
Slipcover in original pressing
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region A, B