For a full review of the film, refer to our 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Well Go USA delivers Ip Man 4: The Finale to Blu-ray in a two-disc Blu-ray + DVD set. Housed in a sturdy standard two-disc case, the disc loads to trailers for other Well Go USA releases before arriving at an animated main menu with traditional navigation options. Cantonese Dolby Atmos is the default audio track but an English dubbed DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is available in the setup submenu.
Ip Man 4: The Finale arrives onto Blu-ray with a solid 1080p transfer that makes the most of its 2K digital intermediate source. Details are robust enough where they count, facial features, clothing texture, and the film's impressive production design are well regarded here. The issue at play for most of this transfer is the intentional color grading - mainly in white cultural areas - that skew towards that pale pastel coloring. The movie thankfully doesn't look like it's been dipped in Easter egg coloring, but it gets darn close in places. A scene at an American school where Master Ip is trying to enroll his son softens the greens, blues, and reds a bit and as a result, finer details can lose their clarity. Skin texture specifically varies during these scenes. These moments are brief thankfully. Black levels are on point for much of the run, but there are a few sequences where the blacks appear a more murky grey tone losing some of that desirable image depth. Again, this is likely due to the image's intentional color scheme - but the skewed black levels weren't something I noticed when watching the 4K UHD Blu-ray.
Both the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and SDR Blu-ray discs enjoy a robust and action-packed while judiciously applied Cantonese Dolby Atmos audio mix. Also included is an often laughably badly English Dubbed DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix. The application of Atmos is smartly applied to give large establishing shots the robust activity and spacing necessary while giving every action sequence plenty of oomph and presence. Key examples being when Master Ip arrives in Chinatown in San Fransisco comes to life with terrific surround presence allowing the verticals to give some pinpoint placement but mostly use to open the scene up and make the area feel vast while claustrophobic because of the city hustle and bustle.
Action sequences get the primary Atmos application allowing those surrounds to become impressively active following legs and fists fly through the screen. Likewise, if there are any aerial stunts the verticals follow the channel movements side to side and overhead. Added to that there is some excellent LFE placement. Every kick and punch lands with a nice rattle in the subwoofers to give the mix some extra presence. Through it all, dialogue is crystal clear without issues.
The English Dubbed DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix is a bit of an odd duck as characters that already spoke English in various parts of the Cantonese track have been re-dubbed. I could understand this for some of the cast but Donnie Yen has a fairly strong handle of English and his voice change is pretty damn bizarre-sounding. The mix overall has a strong presence giving plenty of emphasis on the action, but it's a vastly inferior track than the included Atmos track.
Unfortunately, bonus features aren't really anything to speak of. Simple very short EPK talking head features and that's it. Nothing to blow your hair back. All bonus features are found on the included Blu-ray.
Ip Man 4: The Finale closes out Donnie Yen's run as Bruce Lee's onetime teacher. The franchise has never been known for historical accuracy and you're certainly not going to find anything approaching fact here. But that's okay - it's a wild ride complete with Scott Adkins as an over-the-top hyper-racist villain that chews plenty of scenery. You look forward to Donnie Yen kicking his ass!
Well Go USA delivers a strong Blu-ray presentation with a vivid video transfer and a Cantonese Atmos mix that packs plenty of punch when and where necessary. Bonus features for a franchise's final entry are sadly sparse at best. If you're a fan of the series, you'll get a lot of fun out of Ip Man 4: The Finale. If you're new to the show you'll be coming in during a ridiculous but entertaining finale show. Recommended.
