A Hologram For the King appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. This was a positive presentation.
Sharpness seemed mostly solid. Some interiors looked a little soft, but the film usually showed good clarity. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws were absent, as the movie looked consistently clean.
King gave us a stylized palette. Unsurprisingly, teal and orange dominated. Within those parameters, the hues were positive. Blacks seemed deep and dark, while shadows showed reasonable smoothness and clarity. No real issues affected this appealing presentation.
Don’t expect much from the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, as it remained restrained. That made sense for the story, though, so the sonic choices didn’t surprise.
The soundscape used music well and contributed reasonable environmental material, mainly during street/desert scenes as well as one party segment. I’d be hard-pressed to point out anything memorable, as ambience dominated, but the mix seemed fine for the material on display.
Audio quality was satisfactory. Music sounded warm and full, and effects demonstrated good clarity and accuracy. Speech appeared concise and distinctive. The soundtrack did what it needed to do.
Three featurettes fill out the set. The Making of A Hologram for the King runs 19 minutes, 56 seconds and offers notes from screenwriter/director Tom Tykwer, novelist Dave Eggers, production designer Uli Hanisch, Arabic advisor/dialect coach Jassim Alsaady,
and actors Tom Hanks, Tom Skerritt, Sarita Choudhury and Alexander Black. “Making” looks at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, and technical elements. “Making” offers an efficient overview of various areas.
From Novel to Screen goes for 11 minutes, 53 seconds and features Tykwer and Eggers. As expected, they touch on the source and its adaptation. Some of this repeats from the prior featurette, but “Screen” manages to expand the subject matter fairly well.
Finally, Perfecting the Culture lasts 10 minutes, 14 seconds and includes comments from Tykwer, Hanisch, Choudhury, Black and Alsaady. “Culture” looks at the film’s sets/locations and adaptation of the Middle Eastern settings. It offers another solid little exploration.
The disc opens with ads for Genius, Miss You Already, Café Society, Mr. Holmes and Love and Mercy. No trailer for King appears here.
Tom Hanks provides the anchor that makes A Hologram For the King entertaining. While the story itself never quite ignites, Hanks keeps the viewer involved. The Blu-ray provides very good picture as well as adequate audio and a few decent bonus materials. King turns into a moderately enjoyable experience.