Review: ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’ Blu-ray, Digital
Disney shared details on the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD release of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms which featured an all-star cast, but failed at the box office.
The new fantasy stars Mackenzie Foy (Interstellar), Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), Morgan Freeman (Dark Knight, Red), and Helen Mirren (Red 2, Eye in the Sky, Hitchcock, Red, The Fate of the Furious).
The film is essentially an amalgam between Alice in Wonderland and the Chronicles of Narnia set against the Nutcracker theme and plot points. While the film is visually stunning, the plot seems too misdirected in too many different directions with very little truly engaging the audience. Full review HERE
VIDEO AND AUDIO
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms hits Ultra HD Blu-ray with an HDR transfer and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and a Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track.
The bold tone of the film visually really work with the home version of the film and the 4K version would be stunning. With that said, the film doesn’t carry a booming score and sadly, there seems something missing — this is NOT a problem with the transfer.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The “Conversation with Misty Copeland” is basically a behind-the-scenes (BTS) featurette, discussing the film and working with the amazingly talented ballet dancers. There is only ONE big dance sequence in the film.
“Unwrapping” is a more traditional BTS clip, focusing on design, but is the only film production feature. The deleted scenes are very short and carry no real impact on the final version. There are music videos and puts some focus on the sweet music in the film.
OVERALL the Four Realms is sweet, family friendly Disney film, but lacks much punch or key elements for parents and adults. The home theater version will make this is tolerable and enjoyable experience, but is void of anything particularly magical.