TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT 4K REVIEWED
“Transformers: The Last Knight” is the first one of these films to feel like the cartoon. Bringing an insane degree of world-building while willing to go cosmic, Michael Bay seems like he finally has a grasp on this concept. There’s goofy things like letting Stanley Tucci play Merlin or having talking robots influence Western Civilization. But, is it more annoying than watching a never-ending action demo reel (the first movie)? Is it more annoying than watching racially offensive robots (2), Patrick Dempsey try to act like a Trump kid (3) or whatever the hell that last movie was meant to be outside of introducing Dinobots.
The concept of a dying Cybertron smashing into Earth is pretty intriguing. But, then there’s things like Optimus Prime being turned evil and learning what has happened to all of the Witwicky heroes. It moves the films past a Shia world, but Anthony Hopkins doesn’t bring the same friendliness to the material. At times, he feels like Peter Ustinov in “Logan’s Run”. This kind of film makes me wholeheartedly welcome to the impending Hasbro shared universe. Make toy movies goofy again.
I covered this release in Dolby Vision rather than HDR 10. Whenever I have the option, I’m going to choose Dolby Vision, so know that going forward. As it is, the color scale works wonders in 4K and blends with what appears to be a digital IMAX presentation. Opening the frame in this way will benefit those with 4K basic sets rather than the 3000 dollar plus 4K projectors. I salute Michael Bay for thinking about this in terms of staging scenes and thinking about how film experiences translate to the home realm. In a way, it makes him a bit like Kubrick.
The Dolby Atmos track is impeccable, as should be expected. However, the special features can tend to skew into multiple pats on the back. It’s typical for a Bay movie, but I wanted to learn more. Especially about the sudden push to make the films much more like the cartoons. Oh well, Stanley Tucci is a wizard in this one. Still, the selling point is the transfer which finally makes a 4K disc look as close to the DCP as possible. Check out the opening Arthurian assault and the final battle for the reference quality moments.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Featurettes
- and more!
A/V STATS
- 1.90:1 2160p transfer
- Dolby Atmos