The Invisible Man [2020] – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
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Film Title: The Invisible Man (2020)
Release Date: 2020
Rating: R
Runtime: 124 minutes
Region Coding: Region Free
Studio: Universal
Audio Format: Dolby Atmos
High Dynamic Range: HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Version Reviewed: 4K UHD Blu-ray
Release Date: 5/26/20
Director: Leigh Whannell
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, Storm Reid, Michael Dorman
Jump to Sections:
Movie | Video | Audio | Bonus | Closing | Screenshots
Full 4K Tech Specs found at the bottom
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The Movie
This iteration of “The Invisible Man” is (technically, but very loosely) based on the original novel (of the same title) written by H.G. Wells which was most iconically adapted into a film back in 1933. It, here in the 2020 version, differs from that story of the novel a whole lot though, so I’ll give you that bit upfront. The 2020 film was written and directed by Leigh Whannell. This is only the third film that Whannell has directed, with the two previous films he’s done being “Upgrade” (2018) and “Insidious: Chapter 3” (2015). The writer/director here is best known for writing the screenplays to films like “Saw” (2004), “Saw II” (2005), “Saw III” (2006), Dead Silence (2007), and “Insidious” (2010).
Serving here as the producer is Jason Blum, with his production company Blumhouse, who have previously brought you films (also via Universal) like “Get Out” (2017), “Split” (2017), “Halloween” (2018), “Glass” (2019), “Us” (2019), and “The Hunt” (2020).
The story here involves a female protaganist “Cecilia Kass” (Elisabeth Moss) trying to escape from an controlling abusive relationship with an ex-boyfriend “Adrian Griffin” (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). As we first are introduced to Cecilia, we briefly get to see Adrian, as she sneaks out of bed, through his workshop of high tech optical tactical gear. I’ll honestly say this is by no means a “spoiler” to tell you two very important things: First and foremost, Cecilia escapes Adrian that night. Second, Adrian mysteriously dies two weeks later and there’s a news story offered as proof.
Meanwhile, Cecilia is living with an old friend that just so happens to be a male police officer, “James Lanier” (Aldis Hodge) and his teenage daughter “Sydney” (Storm Reid), to stay away from Adrian finding her. That’s right where Cecilia is, in fact, when she receives the information of Adrian’s death in a visit from her sister “Emily Kass” (Harriet Dyer). She’s just been having lots of paranoia that her ex was coming or could come back for her. That said, she’s somewhat relieved once she is told that she no longer has to fear the abusive, controlling man that was her ex.
After hearing of Adrian’s death Cecilia and her sister go visit with a member of his family, and that is none-other than his brother “Tom Griffin” (Michael Dorman). She’s basically told that she can receive money from his estate if she agrees to not get arrested for a year as by his wishes. She agrees to this, with her sister helping in the negotiations. Somehow though, something, and not just the haunting memories, is still seemingly following Cecilia around she believes — as we, the viewers, likely will as well. She starts to have some strange experiences, where she’s convinced that her ex has faked his own death and is using the type of technology he worked on to basically hunt and stalk her. Perhaps he is after her like she thinks, all as one final form of intimidation? She’s set on the idea of that being the case. Is that the case? Well, let’s just say that the film is called “The Invisible Man” for a reason and something is for sure after her.
Movie Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
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Video Quality
This 4K UHD Blu-ray debut of the film comes in its OAR (original aspect ratio) of 2.39:1 and it features HDR10, Dolby Vision, as well as HDR10+ forms of High Dynamic Range. The movie was shot digitally in 4.5K resolution using the Arri Alexa Lf and Arri Alexa Mini Lf cameras, and then received a 4K DI (digital intermediate) transfer.
Technically, this is using a BD-100 disc and 82.78 gigabytes total, with the film using 67.3 gigabytes. That’s impressive but do remember that this 4K disc also includes all the bonus materials in 4K. So, it’s sharing that space between the extras and the film itself. In terms of the video bitrate, this seems to have no problem hitting as high as 91Mbps like it’s no big thing in the HEVC codec. That, as always, no matter if the film is new or old, is an impressive set of stats to see on the player’s display interface later as you’re watching the film.
Admittedly, this film starts out visually very dark (at night) and it really overall has a somewhat dim visual style to it, honestly, all throughout. Sure, the daytime scenes can show off a lot more detail and color thanks to the brightness but there’s still this slightly subdued feel to the movie. That’s actually fitting and helps set the vibe extremely well here. There is a pretty impressive amount of detail to be found in this 4.5K digital source material, especially in some of the brighter close-ups and such. The black level here with the addition of (many forms of) HDR is solid and flesh tones appear accurate as well.
The special effects look great here and do not show off any flaws in the true 4K resolution — as seen in a few screenshots way below in this review. The Invisible Man [2020] has a rather impressive 4K presentation here on 4K UHD Blu-ray, plus it comes with all the varieties of HDR forms for the true home theater enthusiasts. That said, this earns itself a very nice 4.5 rating for overall video quality.
Video Quality Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
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Audio Quality
As soon as the opening title sequence of the film begins you’ll have already started to hear a loud ominous roar, mostly from the subwoofer and with a nice amount of rear and height channel usage. Eventually, you’ll hear and see waves crashing up against the land. The sound of those waves crashing makes for some excellent use of the height speakers and seems to fill the room, very early into just a short sequence. In fact, that sequence features a really cool pan from the rear channels to the front channels to simulate the waves themselves moving back and forward toward the land, in said scene. It also makes use of the front height channel speakers to end the wave crashing along with the front left and right channels. The very nice little effect that pays off and starts the credits out in a cool way.
So, it’s safe to say, things start out pretty impressive in just the first opening two minutes of the film. And that, is just a sign of the intensity of things to come later on in the film. It’ll get over-the-top at times in a really suspenseful and intense manner. In fact, the intensity here of the bass doesn’t stop for at least 9 or 10 minutes into the film and you’ll really hear how complex this Atmos mix can get, where it’ll be making great use of the height channels as well as using the subwoofer to leave the room almost rattling. This mix does get over the top, in a good way, but only around that point and it continues to all throughout the film. The dialogue is delivered spot-on distinctly via the center channel almost always, if not entirely.
There’s one scene later on in the film that involves rain and I just have to say that is another example of how this Atmos mix can use water (falling on you) in this case from a storm and totally in an immersive manner fill the room with sound, now beaming from the height speakers. It gets used very well all throughout this film and it’s one definite piece of pure “demo material” in terms of sound, especially for the Dolby Atmos format of lossless surround.
This whole film is just one giant psychological thriller played out in the beauty of a 5.1.2 or 7.12 or vice versa Dolby Atmos sound configuration and its use of the whole height speakers makes for some very trippy effects, as mentioned. However, things get a whole lot more intimidating than before later on in the film and the sound effects really start to scare you much like things are the protaganist (“Cecilia”). It’s enough to really grab your attention and possibly even make the male audience jump out of their seats, perhaps literally on at least maybe one occasion. If for any reason, out of being absolutely shocked by the intensity of this sound mix and its effectiveness.
“The Invisible Man” [2020] on 4K UHD Blu-ray earns itself one absolutely perfect 5 rating for overall audio quality with its Dolby Atmos mix.
Audio Quality Rating: 5 (out of 5)
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Bonus Materials
Bonus materials physically and digitally on this release include:
- A Digital Copy of the film via Movies Anywhere is included, which is compatible with services like Apple’s iTunes and VUDU. Here you get a paper insert inside the packaging that contains a code you put in at the URL listed. This will redeem as a 4K version of the film on services like iTunes, VUDU, and FandangoNOW.
- A Blu-ray Disc of the film is included. It features the very same Dolby Atmos sound mix and all of the bonus materials – on the physical release – listed below.
The 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc includes the following bonus materials, all presented in 4K video quality with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Leigh Whannell
- Deleted Scenes (13:24 – 4K) features a “play all” function and offers up a total of nine deleted scenes. These scenes included are titled “Annie”, “Changing Room Montage”, “Blow it Up. Make it Rain. Out to Sea.”, “Daisies”, “Where’s My Phone?”, “Butt Chug”, “There’s Someone Sitting in That Chair”, “I Can Do This”, and “Insanity Defense”.
- “Moss Manifested” (3:54 – 4K) focuses on the lead actress Elisabeth Moss and her performance here in the film. This consists of interviews with Elisabeth Moss (“Cecilia Kass”), Jason Blum, p.g.a. (producer), and Michael Dorman (“Tom Griffin”). This includes on-set footage of scenes being filmed as well as some goofing around on set at the very end.
- “Director’s Journey with Leigh Whannell” (10:51 – 4K) is hosted by the film’s writer and director, Leigh Whannell. This features some behind-the-scenes footage in Gerringong, NSW, Australia, as well as on-set footage, and interviews with Elisabeth Moss (“Cecilia Kass”) and Aldis Hodge (“James Lanier”). This featurette shortly chronicles the whole 40 days it took to shoot the film and offers you a glimpse at how it looked on the set as seen (somewhat) from the director’s perspective.
- “The Players” (5:24 – 4K) focuses on the cast here and includes interviews with the following: Harriet Dyer (“Emily Kass”), Michael Dorman (“Tom Griffin”), Elisabeth Moss (“Cecilia Kass”), Aldis Hodge (“James Lanier”), Jason Blum, p.g.a. (producer), Leigh Whannell (writer/director), Storm Reid (“Sydney Lanier”), and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (“Adrian Griffin”).
- “Timeless Terror” (3:04 – 4K) discusses how the film is a retelling of sorts of the original H.G. Wells novel of the same title, as well as the most memorable film adaptation being from 1933. This includes interviews with Leigh Whannell (writer/director) and Jason Blum, p.g.a. (producer). It’s very interesting that the first time the film’s writer/director Leigh Whannell says he was introduced to the character (of “The Invisible Man”) was via the 1933 Universal horror film. It’s also exciting to see footage from that original 1933 film presented in 4K here, making me want to see those Universal horror classics get some 4K treatment. Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a decent amount of on-set footage here of scenes being filmed and such.
The Blu-ray Disc includes all of the same bonus materials which are all presented in HD video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. These include the following:
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Leigh Whannell
- Deleted Scenes — as listed and described above.
- “Moss Manifested” — as listed and described above.
- “Director’s Journey with Leigh Whannell” — as listed and described above.
- “The Players” — as listed and described above.
- “Timeless Terror” — as listed and described above.
Overall, the bonus materials here aren’t the most lengthy (at around 37 minutes total in their runtime) but they do manage to entertain and inform us after we’ve watched the film — which is after all their job. The audio commentary from the film’s writer/director is fun and I have to say I enjoyed giving it a listen after the second time watching this film. Lastly, you get the digital copy of the film and it on Blu-ray, so I’m counting those digital and physical items as bonus (extras) here for my overall rating.
Bonus Materials Rating: 3.25 (out of 5)
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Closing Thoughts
“The Invisible Man” [2020] at times is pretty riveting in terms of its suspense as a film. Plus, it’s already worth saying that in terms of presentation that it comes across excellent with a [Dolby Atmos] sound mix that’s just pure “demo material” from start to finish. This film comes accomplished obviously via great direction by Leigh Whannell and very convincing acting from lead Elizabeth Moss.
Add this one up as another successful and memorable film from the folks at Jason Blum‘s Blumhouse production company. The suspense here is very intense and the special effects are very fitting and the effort pays off visually. It’s a great film, in all due respects, however I don’t totally agree perhaps with a certain outcome at the end of the film. I’ll leave it at that to avoid ruining things. Still, it’s a great movie, as I said. The movie itself, after its theatrical release, received some pretty impressive reviews from the critics and at the time of writing this carries a 92% rating over at Rotten Tomatoes — where it’s been deemed “Certified Fresh” by their standards.
In terms of visually, as mentioned slightly above (regarding special effects), this comes across rather impressive coming from a 4.5K digital source and 4K master. It’s got a great amount of detail, a good black level, and brightness when it needs to have it — being a tad bit of a visually subdued style. The cinematography work here done by the film’s DP (director of photography) Stefan Duscio is done justice visually here in the 4K format.
The audio presentation here via the Dolby Atmos mix is utterly amazing from start to finish and makes absolute use of all of your speakers and will leave you pretty blown away so-to-speak by it’s level of intensity. The height speakers, rear channels, and the subwoofer will be working overtime with this experience. It’s absolute perfection. The thing that really tops off all of the great action, perfect direction of the sound mixing, and such, is the film’s original music (composed by Benjamin Wallfisch) which comes with this deep low-end bass in its almost re-occuring musical theme.
Finally, in terms of extras you get a good 37 minutes of extras and audio commentary from the writer/director on both the 4K UHD Blu-ray itself and the Blu-ray Disc which is included – of the film in HD (1080p). It’s a pretty decent set of extras, in my opinion, and the release itself comes as what I’d say is a Great Movie / Excellent Presentation.
In terms of 4K UHD Blu-ray release, this gets:
4.5 (out of 5) for video quality
5 (out of 5) for audio quality
3.25 (out of 5) for bonus materials
Overall Verdict:
Great Movie / Excellent Presentation
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