Video Quality
Kong: Skull Island was completed on a digital intermediate at 2K, thereby imposing a now-familiar limit on the ability of UHD presentation to reveal increased detail. Indeed, with K:SI there's even less room for improvement, because the standard Blu-ray is so superbly sharp and detailed. The benefits to be found on Warner's 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD are attributable more to HDR encoding than to 4K up-conversion, and the CGI creations are a prime example. Kong's delicately rendered fur is more subtly shaded and finely textured, although he has to be standing still for the differences to stand out. The giant spider creature with snapping crab claws that attacks the expedition from above the tree line is noticeably more detailed and defined—and even gooier when it's finally brought down. The massive squid that attacks Kong (and discovers what a mistake that is) features more variegated shades of brown on its tentacles and body, and the tentacle suckers are more individuated. The reptilian skin of the Skull Crawlers exhibits more variations in texture (and it's even more repellent).
Creatures aren't the only HDR beneficiary. Superior contrast renders many of the film's expansive tableaus noticeably sharper, especially those that have been extended with CG. Prime examples include the fog-shrouded mass grave of creatures killed by the Skull Crawlers and the interior of the wrecked ship where the Iwi record their history in a mosaic of totems. An occasional scene jumps out with added highlights, e.g., when Weaver is knocked into the river during Kong's battle with the Skull Crawler queen; the daylight above the water is brighter and more intense on the UHD. As for the extraordinary location photography, that was already breathtaking on Blu-ray, and there's little the UHD can add to make it more so.
Credit: blu-ray.com
Audio Quality
The 4K disc of K:SI contains the same excellent Dolby Atmos track previously reviewed here.
4K Bluray details
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (51.99 Mbps)
Resolution: Upscaled 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1
Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Tamil: Dolby Digital 5.1
Telugu: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
Turkish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Note: English DD=narrative descriptive
Subtitles
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Note: Portuguese=Brazil & Portugal
Discs
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD-66, 1 BD-50)
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
2K Blu-ray: Region free