The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season UHD Review

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier makes its long-awaited debut on 4K Blu-ray in a nice steelbook package.

The Production: 3.5/5

I’m a sucker for the “buddy” genre, usually relegated to police detectives (Lethal Weapon, 48 Hrs. Running Scared, etc.) yet it has been used in other types of team-ups (Midnight Run). When the initial trailers dropped for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, those trailers highlighted the “buddy” theme – two people who try to work together despite their differences and engage in witty banter. And it is those sequences in which this series excels with Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Sam). The only problem is that they are not quite as plentiful as the trailers had you believe, although the two do have great chemistry during those scenes. Instead, the series gets bogged down with a group of terrorists who just want equal footing in the world (they represent those who were wiped out in Thanos’ snap but resurrected at the conclusion of Avengers: Endgame) with those who survived the snap. It also gets bogged down in Captain America’s shield being handed to an undeserving John Walker (Wyatt Russell), who winds up misusing the shield and making a mockery of everything that the Cap stood for (and taking a rather dark and bloody turn for Marvel). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is still a fun series, but it suffers from some very uneven pacing and tone.

Video: 5/5

3D Rating: NA

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was captured in 8K resolution on Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema cameras and completed as a 4K digital intermediate in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The series streams on Disney+ in a highly compressed 2160p encode with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range. The episodes on the discs in this set utilize a 2160p HEVC encode (at much higher bitrates) with HDR10 high dynamic range. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the episodes on these discs outshine the streaming versions hands down. Overall, this is a brighter, sharper image with more defined detail and gradient colors.

Audio: 5/5

Default audio on these discs is lossless Dolby Atmos (with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core) that, like the video, outperforms the lossy Atmos tracks of the streaming versions found on Disney+. The action sequences are the highlights of this mix (especially the opening sequence in the first episode), but even the quieter sequences benefit with the added ambience from the height speakers. LFE is also strong here, providing added support for crashes, explosions, etc. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.

Special Features: 3/5

Disc One
Assembled: The Making of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (1080p; 59:30): This is the excellent documentary that looks behind the scenes with the cast and crew that has been available on Disney+.

Disc Two
Cap’s Shield (1080p; 5:04): A brief exploration into what the shield represents.

Gag Reel (1080p; 2:40)

Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2:26): Two scenes are included – Flight Lesson and Still Not Funny.

Concept Art Cards: Three post-card size cards with concept art.

Overall: 4/5

Season one of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a fun series, but suffers from some very uneven pacing and tone.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The : Season 1 [4K …

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Todd Erwin

Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.