Sicario: Day of the Soldado appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, this was an appealing transfer.
Sharpness always looked strong. No signs of softness marred the presentation, as it gave us a tight, well-defined image.
Jagged edges and moiré effects remained absent, while edge haloes also failed to appear. Print flaws stayed absent as well.
Like most modern films of this sort, Soldado went with teal and orange. These tones seemed predictable, but they worked fine within the movie’s design parameters and showed good delineation.
Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed nice clarity and smoothness. I thought this was a consistently strong image.
I also felt pleased with the film’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack. With a fair amount of action on display, the mix used the channels in an involving manner throughout much of the film.
This meant gunfire and other mayhem all around the room, and the elements connected in a concise, smooth manner. Add to that music as a bold participant and the soundscape turned into an aggressive partner.
Audio quality always satisfied. Music was dynamic and full, and effects followed suit, so those components came across as accurate and well-developed.
Speech seemed distinctive and crisp, without edginess or other issues. Everything impressed in this strong soundtrack.
Three featurettes fill out the set, and we start with From Film to Franchise. This eight-minute, 26-second reel includes comments with producers Thad Luckinbill, Edward L. McDonnell, Molly Smith and Basil Iwanyk, director Stefano Sollima, executive producer Erica Lee, and actors Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, and Jeffrey Donovan.
“Film” looks at the decision to make a sequel and aspects of the continued story. A few decent notes arrive, but a lot of the show feels promotional.
An Act of War fills 15 minutes, 34 seconds with info from Del Toro, Brolin, Sollima, Luckinbill, McDonnell, Iwanyk, Smith, Donovan, director of photography Dariusz Wolski, location manager Shani Orona, production designer Kevin Kavanaugh, military technical advisor James D. Dever.
With “War”, we learn about how Sollima came to the film and aspects of his work, photography, sets and locations, research and realism, action/stunts, and various production specifics. Like “Film”, this one leans toward hype, but it comes with enough useful material to merit a look.
Finally, The Assassin and the Soldier takes up 14 minutes, four seconds with notes from Iwanyk, Sollima, Smith, Del Toro, Brolin, Wolski, McDonnell, Donovan, and actors Catherine Keener, Isabela Moner, and Elijah Rodriguez.
This featurette examines we take a view of cast, characters and performances. It acts as a decent take on the subject matter.
The disc opens with ads for Searching, Equalizer 2, Venom, Patient Zero, The Girl in the Spider’s Web and The Padre. No trailer for Soldado appears here.
While the first film offered a rich, dramatic tale, Sicario: Day of the Soldado falls short of its success. Although it comes with a few good action scenes, the movie lacks the drama and heft it needs to work. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio along with a handful of bonus features. I can’t claim to actively dislike Soldado, but it does become a disappointing sequel.