Movie and AV fans have been clamoring for it for years, and Disney has finally answered the call: Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World is being released on 4K Blu-ray disc at last.
Disney has revealed today that Peter Weir’s classic film about a stricken British Royal Navy vessel battling across two oceans with a French warship during the Napoleonic Wars will be coming out on today’s best physical media format on August 5 in the U.S., and September 8 in the U.K., boasting what promises to be state of the art picture and sound.
On the picture quality front, the new 4K master of the film (which has been restored from original film elements) will be available in not just high dynamic range video for the first time, but Dolby Vision HDR, which adds extra scene by scene picture information to the video stream to help compatible TVs and projectors deliver more accurate and, usually, dynamic looking images.
I’m also very happy to report that Disney is going against its usual policy and choosing to place the Master And Commander 4K HDR master on a 100GB 4K Blu-ray disc rather than a 66GB one. This matters because it gives the film’s mastering team much more space to work with when trying to optimize how much – or how little – compression they need to apply to the 138-minute film in order to fit it onto its new shiny disc home.
This probably doesn’t mean that Disney is switching to 100GB discs for all of its 4K Blu-ray releases from now on (though we can always hope). But it’s still good to find that a much-loved two hour 18 minute film now apparently qualifies for the 100GB treatment in Disney’s mind.
Master And Commander’s images aren’t the only thing to get a cutting edge renovation for the film’s 4K Blu-ray release. Disney has confirmed in its announcement today that the film’s original Dolby Digital soundtrack has been given a new Dolby Atmos remaster that will hopefully add a whole new dimension, literally, to the film’s famously intense sea battle scenes.
The U.S. 4K Blu-ray release of Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World is going to follow Disney’s usual recent approach by being exclusively available in a Steelbook edition. The Steelbook design will boast a striking navy-and-gold nautical artwork featuring a detailed compass rose on the rear and an illustration of Captain Aubrey looming sword in hand over his trusty ship on the front, while the inside of the package features a sweeping ocean vista showing the Captain (memorably played by Russell Crowe) standing in front of a raging seascape.
While U.K. fans of Master And Commander have a bit longer to wait for the film to arrive on 4K Blu-ray than their U.S. counterparts do, I can confirm that the film will be available in the U.K. in a more affordable standard 4K Blu-ray package alongside the premium Steelbook edition. Though there’s no doubt about which version this particular Brit is going to be buying!
Disney hasn’t revealed full details about the bonus features fans can expect to find alongside Master And Commander’s new 4K HDR remaster, but I can confirm that while the provided extras will include deleted scenes, a historical and geographical trivia track and a pop-up map, no new features have been found for the 4K release.
If you fancy catching the film again on a really big theatrical screen before its 4K Blu-ray hits stores, 20th Century Studios will be presenting the film in a special one-night-only 4K Theatrical presentation at Hollywood’s iconic Egyptian Theater on Friday August 1.
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