Pan appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film offered a good transfer.
Sharpness appeared positive. Any softness remained minor and resulted from stylistic choices. This left us with a well-defined effort. No jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge haloes remained absent. The movie also lacked print flaws.
In terms of palette, Pan favored a combination of teal and amber. These remained restrained but appeared fine given stylistic choices. The hues managed to pep up some as the film progressed, and those moments worked well. Blacks showed reasonable depth, and shadows were good, though they could seem slightly dense at times. This felt like a “B+” presentation.
I felt consistently pleased with the enjoyable Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Pan. Downconverted to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix, the end result impressed.
With lots of action on display, the soundscape offered plenty of room for information to emanate from the various speakers, and it used those chances well. The mix delivered lots of auditory material that spread out across the speakers in a satisfying manner and that blended together nicely.
This meant an active track. The surrounds worked as nearly equal partners and kept the mix humming. The action/flying scenes fared best, but plenty of other lively moments made this a consistently positive soundfield.
Audio quality also satisfied. Speech was natural and concise, while music sounded peppy and full. Effects turned into the primary factor, and those elements appeared accurate and vivid. I thought this became an active, involving mix.
As we head to extras, we start with an audio commentary: with director Joe Wright. He provides a running, screen-specific look at story/character areas, stunts and action, cast and performances, sets and production design, visual effects, editing, and connected areas.
Wright brings us a consistently good but not great chat. He touches on all the appropriate subjects but there’s just something missing from the result. While enjoyable and informative enough, the track never turns into anything really strong.
Four featurettes follow. Never Grow Up: The Legend of Pan goes for 10 minutes, 50 seconds and offers info from Wright, screenwriter Jason Fuchs, producers Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Paul Webster, Peter Pan historian/playwright Piers Chater Robinson, and actors Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Levi Miller, and Hugh Jackman. “Legend” looks at the source work and its adaptation for Pan. Despite some fluffy moments, the program gives us a pretty good exploration of the subject matter.
During the six-minute, seven-second The Boy Who Would Be Pan, we hear from Jackman, Wright, Miller, Webster, Hedlund, Mara, Fuchs, and actor Amanda Seyfried. Here we learn about Miller’s casting and performance. This one includes a few decent moments but it mostly praises Miller, and that makes it tedious.
The Scoundrels of Neverland lasts five minutes, 49 seconds and features Wright, Fuchs, Jackman, Hedlund, Schechter, Webster, and actors Nonso Anozie, Bronson Webb, and Jimmy Vee. The show looks at Blackbeard and his mates. A moderate amount of information emerges here.
Finally, we go to Wondrous Realms. In this five-minute, one-second piece, we locate trivia about the film. These moments include a tour of various locations and trivia tidbits. Thought clearly aimed at children, “Realms” offers a few interesting elements.
The disc opens with an ad for The Iron Giant. No trailer for Pan appears here.
A third disc provides a DVD copy of Pan. It includes “The Boy Who Would Be Pan” but none of the other extras.
Although I appreciate the movie’s attempts to bring something new to the well-known legend, Pan falls flat. It simply lacks the excitement and fun one wants from an adventure such as this. The Blu-ray delivers very good picture and audio as well as a few interesting supplements. Pan could’ve been enjoyable but it ended up as a dud.