War of the Worlds 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Thanks for that - great review. I've seen this film a few times, for me it's on of those films I find unsettling and hard not to look away from because of the overall tone and styling, - no spoilers 'the river scene' and Tim Robbins character being just two examples - the main thing I really struggled with with this film though was Dakota Fanning's character (the daughter) - my God enough with the screaming!! And Justin Chatwin (the son) - bit of a sad sack... which I suppose adds to the unsettled feeling I get with this film. But it's Spielberg, it's so well made and damn it I'm probably going to have to watch it again now ;)
Thanks.
 
Watced the 4k disc, and as you say, it's a stunning presentation. One not to miss, and that Atmos track!! Wowsers.
 
Thanks for the Review, Simon.
I too loved the book as a child (Not required reading, but rented from the library), and as I've written elsewhere, always lamented the lack of a true film interpretation of the Novel.
But I truly Love this Movie, as it takes the core of the Book & moves it to modern times. Yeah, the pre-buried craft I think was a bad, but the rest works for me.
And, as you say, a lot occours that we don't see as we stay in the small area of knowledge of Ray & Rachel. It reminded me of "Signs" (Another Movie I personally thought did the job very well).
It's high on my future purchase list, but finances won't allow more than that right now
 
Can't agree with the 10 sound rating after the bass has been butchered compared to the bluray release.

Nice review otherwise.
 
Thanks for the review - saw this at the Empire theatre in Wellignton NZ while on honeymoon.....loved it back then and the sound was brilliant. It always struck me how here's very little obvious music in the film until the first machine attack.... well it seemed that way to me at the time. I liked the "family POV" aspect of the film rather than an Independence Day type approach.

Will be buying this at some stage.
 
Can't agree with the 10 sound rating after the bass has been butchered compared to the bluray release.

Nice review otherwise.
Always strikes me as odd that the review states the player and screen used but not the speakers or subwoofer. For these types of movies the sound is just as important as the picture and it would be good to know the speaker setup. I wonder how much the 10/10 score for the audio would be reduced if a sub capable of going lower was used for the review?
 
The blu ray is one of those where they place footage of the big action scenes running in the background of the menu screen.

You're made to watch the exploding highway sequence whilst the disc options are coming up.

Always an annoyance is that. It's like 'Stop selling it?! I've clearly already bought/rented the bloody film...'

I'll be buying this on 4k anyway, sounds like a worthy upgrade. Sappy ending with his annoying son aside, it's a really well made film...
 
It is “unmissable”. What a release. 🤩
 
thanks - I really like this film and bought it with the other TC 4K releases - not watched it yet and will be interested to hear if I think the bass has been "butchered" as some people have indicated on my setup
 
Simon..thanks for the review. it would be nice to have your feedback on a bass comparison that everyone has been talking about between the original bluray and the 4k track?
 
LFE is clearly a bit of an issue on this release compared to my older Blu-ray, which is audibly better.
 
LFE is clearly a bit of an issue on this release compared to my older Blu-ray, which is audibly better.

its annoying because it you choose to watch the bluray for the audio, you lose the uptick on picture quality ... and the irony of dialling it down on the 4k bluray..its still available on the bluray...doh!!!!

just use the original track and add the atmos layers was that too much too ask
 
LFE is clearly a bit of an issue on this release compared to my older Blu-ray, which is audibly better.
its annoying because it you choose to watch the bluray for the audio, you lose the uptick on picture quality ... and the irony of dialling it down on the 4k bluray..its still available on the bluray...doh!!!!

just use the original track and add the atmos layers was that too much too ask
Can't agree with the 10 sound rating after the bass has been butchered compared to the bluray release.

Nice review otherwise.

The bass issue, is an issue for people will subsonic subs, for 99% it’s not and they will hear no difference.

I only watched 5 minutes last night just to test it, the Atmos really does add masses of space for the soundstage, there is still also clearly loads of bass available, but maybe not that subterranean stuff (although I didn’t get to the lighting strikes part).

I know one thing, even dropping the trailers from the crane on the opening scene pressurised my chest area.
 
its annoying because it you choose to watch the bluray for the audio, you lose the uptick on picture quality ... and the irony of dialling it down on the 4k bluray..its still available on the bluray...doh!!!!

just use the original track and add the atmos layers was that too much too ask

Agree.

As someone very familiar with how this soundtrack gets the best out of my fairly modest dual subwoofer set-up I was stunned as soon as I noticed LFE wasn't as profound on the UHD. Instinctually I thought something was wrong with my system yet couldn't find anything, and then I read large amounts of feedback on the issue. It's very unfortunate what they've done to a reference audio mix on an otherwise stellar release. After all, half of the experience of this movie is through the audio, IMO, and LFE does play a large part here.
 
The bass issue, is an issue for people will subsonic subs, for 99% it’s not and they will hear no difference.

Interesting.

I'll be switching to a dual set of SVS SB-16 Ultra soon. I wonder if I'll notice any improvements. Although, one of my friends have that set-up and he too says he was let down by the LFE on this release compared to the original Blu-ray, so I donno what to think.
 
Interesting.

I'll be switching to a dual set of SVS SB-16 Ultra soon. I wonder if I'll notice any improvements. Although, one of my friends have that set-up and he too says he was let down by the LFE on this release compared to the original Blu-ray, so I donno what to think.

Yeah you'll notice it, the svs go really low.

If you get yourself a minidsp and upload a BassEQ file you can get all this filtered bass back.

Unfortunately, most tracks are now designed for people with soundbars rather than crazy systems like some of us on here have got.
 
Yeah you'll notice it, the svs go really low.

If you get yourself a minidsp and upload a BassEQ file you can get all this filtered bass back.

Thanks for the tip, I have considered it. I do have Dirac Live in my NAD processor but have yet to get a satisfying result so I just leave it off. Sounds better to my ears without any EQ trickery. Off topic though. I'll be looking forward to (hopefully) hearing LFE as strong and potent as I know it can be in this movie with another set of subs. Although granted the SB-2000 are amazing at their size and push out wonderfully deep and controlled LFE with this movie on the original Blu-ray.

Unfortunately, most tracks are now designed for people with soundbars rather than crazy systems like some of us on here have got.

UGH! I know... Not a fan of this trend. It's a bad development for us with "crazy" systems. But we are a minority. Let's face it.
 
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We are a minority, but i love it. I mean who actaully wants a spare bedroom as exactly that? Not me, it a) means nobody can sleep over and, b) i can watch War of The Worlds 4k on a 5.1.4 Atmos/DTS-X setup with a projector. Sleeps overrated anyway :D
 
We are a minority, but i love it. I mean who actaully wants a spare bedroom as exactly that? Not me, it a) means nobody can sleep over and, b) i can watch War of The Worlds 4k on a 5.1.4 Atmos/DTS-X setup with a projector. Sleeps overrated anyway :D

:clap:
Couldn't have said it better myself! And this is why we don't want subpar soundtracks that are designed for replay on soundbars. I don't know if Disney's disc releases last few years cater to this category but I for one loathe what they've done to their soundtracks (can of worms, sorry...).
 
Thanks for the tip, I have considered it. I do have Dirac Live in my NAD processor but have yet to get a satisfying result so I just leave it off. Sounds better to my years without any EQ trickery. Off topic though. I'll be looking forward to (hopefully) hearing LFE as strong and potent as I know it can be in this movie with another set of subs. Although granted the SB-2000 are amazing at their size and push out wonderfully deep and controlled LFE with this movie on the original Blu-ray.



UGH! I know... Not a fan of this trend. It's a bad development for us with "crazy" systems. But we are a minority. Let's face it.

That’s Dirac for you mate, the most overrated EQ system of there 🤪
 
That’s Dirac for you mate, the most overrated EQ system of there 🤪

I should be careful of what I say here so I better say nothing specific :D lol

What I can say though is that meticulous speaker positioning, furniture arrangement etc have done more for my overall experience than any EQ system I've ever tried thus far. I respect those who have good results with whatever system they use, but I've tried many and they never convince my ears. That said, the recent talk of RoomPerfect is making me wanna try it out... must mean I easily fall for good marketing? lol
 
Here is a good video comparing the UHD v Bluray bass differences if anyone is interested.



That’s a brilliant demonstration, I will definitely be using the minidsp filter on this one!!
 

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