Godzilla vs Kong 4K UHD Review

Monkey Poo

“Instead of admitting Godzilla was born of a brutal real world American military strike, Godzilla vs Kong invokes Jules Verne, uses preposterously stupid ancient scepters made by gargantuan apes, gravity flipping planetary cores, Pacific Rim-style brain controls, and two hours of incomprehensible nonsense to explain the radioactive lizard.”

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Video

Other than an occasional bursts of noise (with only average encoding parameters), this true 4K source produces superb clarity. Digital cinematography finds detail galore. Textural qualities impress throughout, as does the resolution. Sharpness makes full use of this format, a dazzler for sure even with some compression anomalies.

Brilliant Dolby Vision hits the peak of peaks, beyond generous when highlighting computer displays, Godzilla’s rays, explosions, or the reference neons flooding Hong Kong’s skyline. Black levels hit their deepest points regularly, acting as the perfect counter to this brightness showcase.

At times the palette reduces to a limited orange/teal (although intense on both counts), but generally offers up a rich, dynamic variety. There’s warmth to Kong’s jungle, chill at the Arctic, and everything once Godzilla vs Kong reaches the mainland for its city battles. Saturation doesn’t spare anything, the aesthetic aiming for raw eye candy suited to the blockbuster vibes.

Audio

Following Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ flawless Atmos mix, Godzilla vs Kong manages to match and conquer it step for step. This is an alpha titan pressed to plastic, as ridiculously aggressive in the low-end as any other disc in the market, now or in the past. In terms of subwoofer power, this is a consistent performer, with more rumble-per-minute than any other release. Roars, thunder, punches, stomping, explosions – whatever. The tightness is a constant presence, and enough to rattle walls every time.

Equally marvelous, channel separation sends audio through the soundfield, fully acknowledging the height channels and surrounds. It’s beyond showy, a full two hour demo that barely rests. Given the limited dialog scenes, Godzilla vs Kong just… keeps… going. There’s not a single opportunity missed, no matter the scene’s scale. Even in neighborhoods, car stereos pan between speakers, dogs bark for ambient material, and voices break from the center. Aural magic on a disc.

Extras

Adam Wingard drives a solo commentary as the lone 4K disc bonus. The rest is on the Blu-ray. Featurettes on both Godzilla and Kong are separated into their own sections with two for Godzilla, and four for Kong. Mechagodzilla gets his own featurette too, a bland EPK for seven minutes. The final three extras focus on each of the main fights, their designs, and pre-vis clips.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 74 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: