Zero Dark Thirty | 4K UHD Blu Ray Review

Zero Dark Thirty

4K Ultra HD

Blu Ray

  • Score
    74
    from 3 reviewers
  • Zero Dark Thirty's captivating UHD release, sharp visuals, and reference Atmos sound make Bigelow's subtly powerful film an unyielding experience.

    Zero Dark Thirty 4K UHD Blu-ray Front Cover
    2012
    157 min
    R
    2K Upscale
    HDR10
    Dolby Atmos
    Dolby TrueHD
  • Video
    86
  • Zero Dark Thirty's upscaled UHD 1.85:1 2160p image from a 2K DI showcases impressively complex and nuanced vibrant colors, maintaining accuracy and a warm tone that fits the film's setting, remaining a significant reference quality release.

  • Audio
    89
  • Zero Dark Thirty's Dolby Atmos soundtrack upgrade from Blu-ray offers evident improvements in audio clarity, natural staging, and low-end support, with superior directional nuance compared to the previous DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.

  • Extra
    70
  • Zero Dark Thirty's UHD disc offers limited supplemental content, featuring only a photo tab, categorized Moments, and no audio commentary or documentary specials. The Blu-ray version also lacks in-depth bonus features, missing opportunities to enhance the film experience.

  • Movie
    89
  • Sony releases Oscar-winning 'Zero Dark Thirty' in UHD, featuring 4K/HDR video. Successfully dramatized with a worthy cast, maintains high quality despite filmmaking challenges.

    2K Upscale
    HDR10
    Dolby Atmos
    Dolby TrueHD

    Director: Kathryn Bigelow

    Actors: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt

    Plot

    The plot centers around Maya, a young and resolute CIA intelligence analyst who is consumed by the global manhunt for the leader of al-Qaeda, following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The story captures her dedication and personal sacrifices over the course of a decade, as she navigates through the dangerous world of intelligence gathering, detention, and interrogation. Fatefully, her persistence leads to the discovery of a critical lead, having pieced together disparate bits of intelligence. As she becomes increasingly certain of her target's whereabouts, securing buy-in from superiors to act on her findings proves to be a challenging endeavor.

    With the essential lead in hand, the focus shifts toward the elite team of Navy SEALs tasked with the high-stakes mission to capture or neutralize the highly sought-after terrorist leader. The SEALs must grapple with the perils and uncertainties that come with such a covert operation. The complexities of executing the mission in foreign territory, together with the profound weight and secrecy of their assignment, are detailed, capturing the physical and emotional intricacies faced by these operatives at the sharp edge of counterterrorism efforts.

    Disc Release Date: 12 September 2017

    All Scores & Reviews

    Blu-ray.com review by Martin Liebman
    • Video
      90
    • Pores, facial hair, sweet, wounds, and blood reveal superior clarity over the Blu-ray, all of them adding to a greatly more stabilized and organically complex image....

    • Audio
      100
    • The sense of place in the interrogation room to follow is most impressive; the stage opens considerably, front, back, and top alike, to accommodate the reverberations, heavy creaks, screams, and dialogue...

    • Extra
      100
    • Zero Dark Thirty's UHD disc contains no supplemental content beyond Sony's cast and crew still photo tab and collection of categorized "Moments" (2160p/HDR/Atmos), here featuring Maya, Award Worthy, Military...

    • Movie
      100
    • <img src="https://images.static-bluray.com/reviews/16395_1.jpg" width="728" height="409" border="0">$(window).on('load', function() { var img = $('#load43459843392393').css({'opacity': '0'}); img.on('load',...

    • Total
      40
    • Razor-sharp picture quality and reference Atmos sound contribute to a highly satisfying viewing experience....

    The Digital Bits review by Bill Hunt
    • Video
      95
    • The colors are vibrant and nuanced – significantly more so than on the Blu-ray – and accurate at all times, with a slightly warm overall tone befitting the film’s setting....

    • Audio
      95
    • Dialogue and sound effects clarity is excellent, staging is smooth and natural, and there’s excellent low end support when needed....

    • Extra
      40
    • This film would really benefit from audio commentary or the inclusion of any number of great documentary specials that have been done on this subject, but such is not to be here....

    • Movie
      95
    • Add to this the complications of producing an entirely dramatized narrative for the big screen and finding a cast worthy of the challenge, and you have a project that could easily have gone bad in multiple...

    • Total
      81
    • Bigelow’s work in this film almost feels invisible, which is a deceptively simple and a significant achievement in and of itself....

    High-Def Digest review by Matthew Hartman
    • Video
      90
    • When Zero Dark Thirty arrived on Blu-ray five years ago, it was an impressive reference quality release. With an upscaled 1.85:1 2160p image from a 2K DI, I wouldn't go so far as to say that this Ultra...

    • Audio
      100
    • This new Dolby Atmos audio mix is where audiences are really going to notice the differences. While the previous DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix still holds up well, this Atmos mix gives a lot more directional nuance....

    • Extra
      40
    • Zero Dark Thirty debuted on Blu-ray with an anemic assortment of bonus features that didn't really offer much depth to the film beyond the traditional EPK talking head stuff. Sadly no new bonus features...

    • Movie
      100
    • "100% he's there. Ok, 95%, 'cause I know certainty freaks you guys out, but it's 100."Truth be told, I don't have a whole hell of a lot to add to the already terrific review our own Aaron Peck wrote up...

    • Total
      80
    • Zero Dark Thirty is a hell of a film. It's a challenging, unflinching look at the extent various agencies went hunting down the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. By planting itself as a Police Procedural,...