Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 4K Ultra HD Bluray

Video Quality

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings arrives on the UHD format with a 2160p/HDR presentation. This image offers a fairly standard suite of upgrades compared to the Blu-ray, itself a very capable picture but not quite as tight and colorfully vivid as this. The UHD resolution allows for a sharper, crisper, cleaner looking image overall. Audiences may not notice extreme improvements to sharpness, but moderate improvements are in evidence throughout. Essentials like faces and clothes enjoy a clear step forward for clarity and intimacy while environments are rendered sharper and more precise, even at distance. The 2160p resolution certainly seems to bring out the best the image has to offer, and the gains, while not monumental, certainly push this one to the head of the class for Shang-Chi home consumption. Likewise the HDR color grading improves upon a very good SDR Blu-ray. Subtitles and other whites leap off the screen with more luminous and bright intensity while blacks are deeper and more pure without swallowing surrounding detail. The palette is, overall, more vivid and bright, with deeper colors that pop particularly in brightly lit daytime scenes (the gang's arrival at Ta Lo); darker shots mostly just look darker (a fight on scaffolding midway through the movie). But the extreme vibrance and intense brightness breathe extra life into the image, seeing it excel beyond the Blu-ray. As with the Blu-ray, noise is minimal to nonexistent here and there are no encode issues to report. This may not be a UHD to remember, but it's a well worthwhile upgrade and clearly the definitive home video presentation of the film.

Credit: blu-ray.com

Audio Quality

Disney brings Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to the UHD format with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack (the Blu-ray includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless track as its main presentation). This one is a modest improvement over the flat and hushed Blu-ray track. It's not quite so reserved and tame for volume or bass but both are still lacking, just not quite so seriously as the Blu-ray. While the low end fails to move the needle, the track is very expressive in terms of its surround usage and, with the Atmos speakers in play, spatial engagement. This is clearly a fuller track, more immersive and finessed. Never will listeners wish for more more swirling action or precisely localized sound elements during combat or aggressively positioned music as Joel P. West's score soars through the listening area. As surround and stage engagement go, this is an exceptionally large and successfully engaging presentation. Lighter ambient effects are well positioned, too, and dialogue is consistently clear, center focused, and well prioritized for the duration. If this one had the bass to back it up, it would be a great track. As it is, it's mostly more of the same from Disney.

4K Bluray details