You can read our full thoughts on the J.J. Abrams-produced Overlord in our review of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray HERE.
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Paramount Home Entertainment brings Overlord to Blu-ray as a two-disc combo pack with a flyer code for a Digital Copy. The Region Free, BD50 disc sits opposite a DVD-9 copy inside a blue, eco-cutout case with glossy slipcover. After a couple skippable promos, the screen changes to the usual menu with options along the bottom of the screen, full-motion clips and music playing in the background.
The horror combat flick targets Blu-ray with an exceptional 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode that boasts outstanding, pitch-perfect contrast from beginning to end. Visibility into the far distance is often extraordinary, allowing viewers to make out the smallest feature inside the homes or the minor imperfections outside the houses and roads of the village. We can practically count each stone, see the grain in wood and discern each leaf and blade of grass in the surrounding foliage. Crisp, brilliant whites in the many light fixtures and explosions never bloom, revealing lots of minor details in every fiery plume and within the brightest, hottest spots. Even inside the poorly-lit interiors of the creepy, grimy Nazi lab maintains excellent clarity of the slimy, bloodstained covered walls and floors.
Presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the freshly-minted transfer is also bathed in inky-rich, luxurious blacks that add to the amusingly eerie lab. Dark, midnight shadows penetrate deep into the screen without engulfing the finer aspects in the background, providing the image with appreciable dimensionality and a lovely cinematic appeal. Although the cinematography comes with a slightly subdued and restrained palette, keeping to the familiar genre tropes, primaries are nonetheless richly-saturated with blues, in particular, looking electrifying and luminous while reds are of a deeper crimson shade for the bloody gore. The presentation also displays a nice varied, full-bodied array of secondary hues with warm yellows and fiery oranges being of particular note while facial complexions appear healthy with revealing, lifelike textures in the entire cast. (Video Rating: 92/100)
The film debuts on Blu-ray with the same fantastic and wonderfully engrossing reference-quality Dolby Atmos soundtrack as its Ultra HD counterpart. For a more in-depth take on the audio quality, you can read our review of the 4K Ultra HD HERE. (Dolby Atmos Audio Rating: 96/100)
As silly as the premise of the Third Reich creating an army of zombies is, Overlord is a surprisingly fun horror combat flick from J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions. Part of its success is director Julius Avery making the absurdity and explosive action feel much like a first-person shooter video game without actually imitating any known source. Nazi zombies invade the hostile territory of Blu-ray with an exceptional HD video and an awesome, reference-quality Dolby Atmos presentation. Although featuring a puny assortment of bonus features, the overall package is recommended for genre fans everywhere.
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