You can read our full thoughts on Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep in our review of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray HERE.
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Warner Home Video brings Doctor Sleep on Blu-ray with a Digital Copy code. The Region Free, BD50 disc, which contains the 180-minute Director's Cut, sits comfortably inside a blue, eco-vortex case with a slipcover. The 28-minute difference between the two versions is relatively small, mostly scenes of dialogue and more of characters displaying their psychic abilities. However, the additional footage surprisingly adds a bit more depth and improves the overall story, making it arguably the better of the two. At startup, viewers are taken to a generic static screen with the usual options along the bottom and music.
The doctor visits Blu-ray with a stunningly beautiful, reference-quality 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode, showing razor-sharp definition and clarity in every scene. We can plainly make out the smallest object decorating the interior of Rose's RV, every thread in her chic outfits are highly-detailed, and the fine lines in the furniture are distinct. Every leaf, blade of grass and pebble is unmistakable and clear-cut, and healthy facial complexions reveal the tiniest negligible blemish with lifelike textures. There are a couple, very minor instances of banding in a few scenes with smoke and a teensy-weensy bit of aliasing in the sharpest edges, keeping the picture just short of perfection.
Traveling directly from a high-quality digital source, the freshly-minted transfer also arrives into town with superb contrast balance, supplying the creepy drama with brilliantly crisp whites and sparkling clean highlights in the clouds, lights and in some of the brightest spots. Meanwhile, black levels are impressively true and inky though some of the blackest areas, such as the hair at night and some of the clothes, suffer mildly from a tad of crush. Still, shadow details are exceptional with terrific visibility within the darkest corners, providing the 1.85:1 image with a lovely cinematic appeal and three-dimensional quality. Michael Fimognari's orange-teal cinematography displays sumptuously rich primaries, especially the eye-catching ranges of blues and the splendidly animated reds. Secondary hues are likewise spirited and vivid, particularly the pinks, purples and the deep ocean teals throughout. (Video Rating: 96/100)
Doctor Sleep debuts on Blu-ray with the same awesomely fun 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: 98/100)
As both an adaptation to Stephen King's novel and a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece, Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep reawakens old horror wounds and past traumas. Set forty years after the terrifying events at the Overlook Hotel, Ewan McGregor's Danny beats his personal demons only to do battle against Rebecca Ferguson's Rose the Hat and her caravan cult of psychic vampires. The fight to preserve a child's innocence haunts Blu-ray with a 180-min Director's Cut and a terrifyingly gorgeous, spookily awesome audio and video presentation. With a small collection of bonuses, the HD edition is highly recommended.
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