John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a quality presentation.
For the most part, sharpness worked well. A little softness occasionally hit some wide elements, but the majority of the movie boasted accurate delineation.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no instances of edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.
To the surprise of no one, Parabellum heavily emphasized teal, though it threw out orange, amber, green, red and purple as well. I guess that passes for a “broad palette” these days. The disc replicated the hues as intended.
Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate smoothness and clarity. The Blu-ray reproduced the film well.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack added oomph to the proceedings, as the soundscape opened up matters in a positive manner. Music offered nice breadth and filled the channels in a consistent manner.
With a mix of lively scenes, the soundfield offered a lot of chances for fireworks, and it used them well. Gunfire, explosions, car chases – all the usual action components popped up and created an involving impression.
Audio quality appeared good, with speech that came across as natural and distinctive. Effects also seemed accurate and tight, with clear reproduction of these components.
Music worked well, as the songs/score boasted solid range and dimensionality. This became a more than satisfactory track for the film.
The disc includes a bunch of featurettes, and Legacy of the High Table fills 10 minutes, 57 seconds with notes from director Chad Stahelski, producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, production designer Kevin Kavanaugh, and actors Keanu Reeves, Asia Kate Dillon, Jason Mantzoukas, Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston and Saïd Taghmaoui.
“Legacy” looks at challenges related to sequels as well as story/character domains, sets and production design. Some decent notes result but a lot of this remains promotional.
Next comes Excommunicado, a nine-minute, 44-second reel with Stahelski, Reeves, Lee, Mantzoukas, Dillon, fight choreographer/stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio, ballet choreographer Tiler Peck, ballerina Unity Phelan, writer Derek Kolstad, and actors Mark Dacascos, Laurence Fishburne, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman.
With this show, we take a look at supporting characters, stunts and action. Like “Legacy”, this one lacks real depth, but it gives a few useful insights.
Check Your Sights occupies nine minutes, 55 seconds with remarks from Eusebio, Reeves, Stahelski, stunt double Jackson Speidel, stunts Heidi Moneymaker, and actor Halle Berry.
Here we learn about the actors’ physical training, with an emphasis on the work Reeves and Berry put into their parts. Like the other clips, this one mixes facts and fluff.
After this we find Saddle Up Wick, a five-minute, 10-second piece with Reeves, Stahelski, stunts/horsemaster Tad Griffith, supervising stunt coordinator Scott Rogers, 2nd unit director Darrin Prescott, and VFX supervisor Robert Nederhorst. “Saddle” examines the movie’s horse-riding scenes, and it becomes another decent overview.
Bikes, Blades, Bridges and Bits fills six minutes, 35 seconds with comments from Reeves, Stahelski, Lee, Eusebio, Nederhorst, Rogers, and Prescott.
“Bits” covers elements related to the movie’s bike chase scene. It follows the same path as its predecessors, so expect a moderately informative program.
Next comes Continental In the Desert, a 10-minute, 15-second featurette with Reeves, Iwanyk, Kavanaugh, Stahelski, Berry, Lee, Taghmaoui, location manager Christian McWilliams, director of photography Dan Laustsen, co-writer Shay Hatten, and actors Jerome Flynn and Aïssam Bouali. “Desert” views the Moroccan shoot and delivers some decent notes.
Canines come to the fore in the eight-minute, four-second Dog Fu. We hear from Lee, Rogers, Moneymaker, Flynn, Stahelski, Berry, Reeves, dog trainers Kimberley Andrews and Greg Smith Aldridge, and executive producer Jeff G. Waxman.
As expected, we learn about the movie’s furry cast and their use in the movie. The show gives us some fun insights.
In House of Transparency, we get a seven-minute, 10-second clip with Stahelski, Waxman, Lee, Eusebio, Kavanuagh, Dacascos, Rogers, Laustsen, Ruhian, Rahman, Nederhorst, senior illustrator Alex Nice and stunt double Jackson Spidell.
“House” digs into one major set that appears late in the film. We get some good details from this program.
Finally, Shot By Shot occupies eight minutes, 57 seconds with info from Stahelski and editor Evan Schiff. They discuss some aspects of the film’s editing in this fairly informative piece.
The disc opens with ads for Hellboy (2019), Rambo: Last Blood, Anna, American Gods Season 2 and Angel Has Fallen. We also get two trailers for Parabellum.
Also in the promotional realm, we see a game trailerBehind the Scenes reel for John Wick: Hex. The latter runs six minutes, 54 seconds and features Eusebio and game director/writer Mike Bithell. It comes with some decent notes but lacks anything to make it special.
After the first movie launched the series well, the second flick sputtered and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum continues the downward spiral. Though its action thrills for much of the first act, the film soon becomes repetitive and tedious. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio along with a decent array of bonus materials. Maybe John Wick: Chapter 4 will rebound, but Parabellum disappoints.