Civil War appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Shot with 8K cameras and finished 4K, the film looked great.
Sharpness satisfied. Nary a soft spot emerged in this tight, accurate presentation.
Neither moiré effects nor jaggies marred the image, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws failed to materialize.
The film opted for a heavy amber/orange palette, with some of the usual teal tossed in as well. While tedious, the disc replicated the colors as intended.
Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered appealing clarity. Everything about the picture worked well.
Downconverted to Dolby Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack added good involvement to the experience. With the occasional bombast expected from a movie with some scenes of combat, the soundfield used the various speakers well.
Obviously, violent elements proved the most involving, as they engulfed the viewer with the sounds of the settings. That side of things worked best, but other sequences also seemed good.
Even quieter sections placed the viewer in the action and consistently satisfied. Surround usage felt pleasing throughout the film, as the back speakers bolstered the various settings well.
Audio quality was also good. Speech appeared natural, and the lines never demonstrated intelligibility problems.
Music was quite dynamic and lively, as the score showed excellent range and delineation. Effects were also bright and bold, with nice low-end to boot. This turned into a more than satisfactory soundtrack.
Entitled Torn Asunder, a six-part documentary runs 56 minutes, 58 seconds. It offers notes from writer/director Alex Garland, stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw, co-stunt coordinator Wesley Scott, military advisor Ray Mendoza, visual effects supervisor David Simpson, producer Gregory Goodman, costume designer Meghan Kasperlik, stills photographer Murray Close, production designer Caty Maxey, and actors Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.
The documentary covers story/characters, sets and locations, action and stunts, various effects, cast and performances, costumes, and general thoughts. “Torn” follows the production in the story’s order, so it starts with the scenes in New York and winds up in the DC segments.
That becomes an efficient way to examine the shoot, but the end result seems a bit less successful than I’d like. While it gives us a lot of good footage from the set and a mix of insights, we get a bit too much fluff along the way.
In addition to the trailer for War, we get more promos under Also from A24. This domain provides ads for MaXXXine, Men, Ex Machina and The Iron Claw.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of War. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
Even if we ignore the movie’s “bait and switch” advertising, Civil War becomes only sporadically successful. While aspects of it hit the mark, it lacks real clarity and narrative thrust. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals, solid audio and a decent documentary. Civil War deserves a look, even if it doesn’t live up to expectations.