Bad Times At the El Royale appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As expected, this became a mostly positive presentation.
Overall sharpness appeared good. Darker interiors could be a little soft, but the majority of the film seemed accurate and well-defined.
I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also failed to mar the image.
Colors went with a fairly typical teal and orange bent, though it threw in some neon reds as well. The hues appeared well-rendered given their stylistic constraints.
Blacks seemed dark and dense, and shadows appeared concise. In the end, this turned into a good rendition of the film.
In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack worked well, though it didn’t provide the most active mix. In general, the movie offered a fairly balanced soundscape, with information that spread around the room in a logical manner.
However, ambience dominated, without a lot of vivid moments on display. The omnipresent rainstorm used the various channels well, and occasional moments of violence added impact, but not a lot of active involvement occurred.
Audio quality satisfied, with music that came across as lively and full. Speech appeared natural and distinctive, without edginess or other problems.
Effects appeared accurate and realistic, and they lacked distortion or other issues. Despite the less than active soundscape, this was a solid soundtrack.
A featurette called Making Bad Times At the El Royale runs 28 minutes, 35 seconds and includes notes from writer/director Drew Goddard, director of photography Seamus McGarvey, producer Jeremy Latcham, art director Michael Diner, production designer Martin Whist, set decorator Hamish Purdy, music producer Harvey Mason Jr., costume designer Danny Glicker, and actors Jon Hamm, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Cailee Spaeny and Lewis Pullman.
“Making” looks at story/characters, cast and performances, sets, design and locations, costumes, music, cinematography and colors, and Goddard’s impact on the production. “Making” covers a lot of territory in a pretty concise way, so it becomes an informative show.
A Gallery spans 39 photos. These offer glimpses of the sets and various details. I like the ability to get a closer look at these production design choices.
The disc opens with an ad for Widows and Sneak Peek throws in promos for Red Sparrow and Sorry to Bother You. We also get two trailers for Royale.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Royale. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
Going into Bad Times At the El Royale, I expected a stylish, lively take on the thriller genre. While the film does come with an interesting visual sensibility, the story and characters connect too infrequently for the movie to prosper. The Blu-ray comes with positive picture and audio along with a fairly good featurette. Royale doesn’t flop but it disappoints.