[Excerpt from our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review]
"There’s something wrong with the moon, it’s going to crash into the earth… DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! If it weren’t for the brilliant fast food astrophysicist KC Houseman (John Bradley), the world would never know of their certain doom. Now it’s up to KC, NASA commander Jocinda Fowler (Halle Berry), and her former disgraced partner Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) to launch a last-ditch effort mission to the moon to stop it from crashing into our planet as it's being propelled by a diabolical intergalactic force!
Take all of the worldly destruction you’ve already seen from Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day Regurgitation, roll them into a ball, and throw a model of the moon at it - and you have Moonfall. Take all of the character cliches, the estranged father/son relationship, images of famous landmarks being obliterated either by falling debris or a giant tidal wave, the nerdy wannabe fringe scientist no one believes but is right the entire time and you’ve seen Moonfall even without buying a ticket and sitting your buns down in the theater with a massive bucket of popcorn."
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Lionsgate throws a two-disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital release of Moonfall at disaster/sci-fi movie junkies. Housed in an eco-friendly case, the film is pressed on a BD-50 disc. The disc loads to an animated main menu with traditional navigation options. The included digital copy is not Movies Anywhere compatible.
Moonfall takes aim at Blu-ray with an overall pleasing 1080p transfer. The image boasts some very impressive details throughout - even against all of the CGI trickery that makes up the bulk of the film’s visuals. Facial features, costuming, and set design are all well detailed and appreciable. Some of the reaction shots of the cast looking at the Moon Doom coming their way are a bit dodgy. It’s pretty clear they’re propped up in front of a green screen. But that’s the only real complaint I have with this presentation. Black levels are strong with nice crisp whites. Colors are a bit muted as a whole with only sporadic flourishes of natural lighting and primaries. The real strength of this transfer is showcasing the bright white objects of spaceships against the black void of space with the brilliant blues of the oceans below. It’s a pretty lovely image. If you’re not rocking out to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray yet, this 1080p Blu-ray image packs a good punch.
Both the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and 1080p Blu-rays of Moonfall score with an intense demo-worthy Atmos audio experience. And from a director like Roland Emmerich. Right from the jump, there’s near-constant surround activity. Quiet scenes aren’t long for this world so there are very few moments where it doesn’t feel like all channels are firing. Throughout, cast dialog and Klosar’s thunderous score are clear without issue against the overwhelming barrage of destruction and doom in the soundscape.
With the malevolent techno-swarm of doom, there is some damned beautiful imaging through the channels. You have this amazing swirling activity moving through the rears to the sides into the front/center and up into the height channels and it’s glorious! Tightly confined spaces like the various spacecraft and underground bunkers bring a welcomely tight claustrophobic atmosphere to the imaging. There’s a lovely action-packed finale that really packs a wallop - it may be amazingly silly but it sounds incredible! Between the malevolent techno-swarm of doom and all of the explosions and tidal waves crashing all around, there’s some great LFE rumbling the subs throughout as well. Much like the image quality, it might not be the greatest movie ever but you have some delicious A/V demo material to showcase here.
We may have seen everything Moonfall has to offer in other Roland Emmerich movies, but this is the first time we see everyone all at once! A willing and game cast carries a lot of load for this CGI spectacle of planetary destruction and doom. This is pure popcorn cheeseball fun. Turn off the brain and have a good time. Lionsgate rolls out an impressive 1080p Blu-ray release with an excellent video transfer and a fantastically aggressive Atmos track. Tack on some worthwhile and interesting bonus features and you have a pretty good disc on your hands. Recommended.
