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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Creed II (4K Blu-ray) (2018)

Creed II (4K Blu-ray) (2018)

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Released 6-Mar-2019

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama None
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2018
Running Time 130:00
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Steven Caple Jr.
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Michael B. Jordan
Sylvester Stallone
Tessa Thompson
Phylicia Rashad
Dolph Lundgren
Florian Munteanu
Russell Hornsby
Wood Harris
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI $36.95 Music Ludwig Göransson


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 2160p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.40:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired
French
Spanish
Danish
Finnish
Norwegian
Swedish
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    An ostensibly shaky proposition, 2015's Creed eclipsed expectations to earn significant acclaim and solid box office, propelling director Ryan Coogler into the spotlight. Creed II sees Coogler assuming a diminished executive producer role, with newcomer Steven Caple Jr. (2016’s The Land) stepping in to helm this inevitable follow-up, working from a script by Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor (his first screenplay credit). Essentially functioning as a sequel to 1985's Rocky IV, Creed II's narrative admittedly amounts to a "greatest hits" compilation, but the execution is miraculous - this is an outstanding, highly involving boxing drama peppered with top-notch fight sequences. Moreover, Creed II is all about fathers and sons, with connections to Rocky IV serving a legitimate thematic purpose when the story could have been a surface-level cartoon. Indeed, the film's most significant achievement is accomplishing something wholly compelling despite building upon the unabashed lunacy and cartoonishness of Rocky IV.

    Son of the late Apollo Creed, Adonis/Donnie (Michael B. Jordan) enjoys a string of victories as he rises to the top, ultimately winning a bout against Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward) to earn the title of World Heavyweight Champion. With former champ Rocky Balboa (Stallone) still in his corner as both a coach and a close friend, Donnie marries Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and receives news that a child is on the way. As Donnie adapts to the changes in his life, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) travels to the United States with boxer son Viktor (Florian Munteanu), who was single-mindedly bred to earn glory in the ring and regain respect for the family name. With Viktor challenging Donnie to a boxing match, and sordid promoter Buddy (Russell Hornsby) emphasising the revenge angle due to Apollo's death at the hands of Ivan, Rocky fears history will repeat itself, and questions the champ's motivations for fighting as he becomes determined to face such a powerful opponent.

    Eschewing the ostensible temptation to simply rehash Rocky II, this Creed sequel plots its own path, borrowing from Rocky II (Donnie and Bianca starting a family), Rocky III (learning from an initial defeat), and Rocky IV (returning to training basics before fighting in front of a hostile Russian crowd) while carving out a touching dramatic story carrying weighty themes. Incorporating the Dragos here feeds directly into Donnie's overarching arc, exemplifying the narrative's central fathers and sons theme. Creed II is about Donnie's relationship with the father he never met, as well as his relationship with Rocky, who represents a surrogate father figure. Rocky reminds Donnie to never lose sight of his reasons for stepping into the ring, initially refusing to train the world champion to take on Viktor since he immediately recognises that the fight is more about unfinished business and revenge. Donnie's daddy issues are evident, with the champ moving to an apartment in Los Angeles and marrying Bianca as he tries to become his own man. Meanwhile, Rocky has his own issues, remaining in Philadelphia estranged from his son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia), unable to muster up the courage to even call him, as he wrestles with shame and self-doubt.

    Whereas the first Creed was keenly focused on Donnie, Creed II facilitates narrative asides to explore the personal lives of Rocky as well as the Dragos, though Donnie remains the primary protagonist. It is a tough balance to strike, but Caple manages to pull it off, supported by smart, well-judged editing. Inevitable fan service does sneak in, but Creed II astutely avoids revelling in the ridiculous possibilities of Ivan's return, with Caple striving for legitimacy as opposed to absurdity. Here, Ivan yearns to restore glory and respect to his family name through Viktor after his humiliating loss on his own home turf, which is what also prompted Ivan's wife Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen) to abandon the men. Against all odds, the movie works to transform the Dragos into proper three-dimensional characters instead of cartoonish villains, using them to serve the picture's themes rather than indulging in pure formula. Themes run deep, involving legacy and redemption, making for an incredibly poignant follow-up that perfectly justifies its existence.

    The relatively inexperienced Caple exhibits the confidence of a seasoned veteran overseeing his first major motion picture, coaxing outstanding performances out of a talented cast, and staging several thrilling, edge-of-your-seat boxing matches. Caple adeptly recreates the meditative, dramatic tone of the Coogler-directed original, with fighting pushed to the movie's peripheries throughout the second act to concentrate on Donnie's newfound fatherhood as he starts a family with Bianca. Although pacing is occasionally hit-and-miss as the movie loses sight of narrative momentum, things soon pick back up, leading into a magnificent third act. Furthermore, cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau (Fahrenheit 451, Terminator Genisys) imbues the material with honest-to-goodness immediacy and sincerity. The photography is primarily handheld throughout, but Morgenthau never falls victim to gratuitous shaky-cam. Accompanying the visuals is a first-rate score by returning composer Ludwig Göransson (who earned an Oscar for 2018's Black Panther), which underlines the story's drama and accentuates the sheer excitement during the fights. Göransson does sample Bill Conti's iconic Rocky theme at a certain point in the climax, which is sure to elicit goosebumps.

    Stallone and Jordan remain an excellent pairing, with their chemistry and camaraderie shining through in every frame. The bantering between the two is a never-ending source of pure joy and amusement, demonstrating a mutual respect and fondness for one another. Although the script does not permit Stallone anything as heart-wrenching as some of the material in the first Creed, he's still eminently likeable, slipping back into his iconic role with ease. Meanwhile, Thompson - a fiercely talented actress - eschews the "long-suffering love interest" designation, presenting something welcomely original and measured. She has a substantive part to play in Creed II, and her performance is flawless. But the perpetually underappreciated Dolph Lundgren is easily the most interesting thing in the film, purely by virtue of unpredictability. After all, his Ivan Drago was a one-dimensional cartoon villain in Rocky IV, but here he's legitimately compelling, given unexpected additional layers and an honest-to-goodness, effective arc. It's constantly surprising to see where Creed II takes Ivan, and Lundgren assuredly executes the dramatic material. As Ivan's son, Munteanu is a smart pick; he's an intimidating physical presence, and believable as an unbeatable fighting machine. This is Munteanu's first feature film credit, yet he also exudes impressive on-screen confidence. Meanwhile, Phylicia Rashad is one of the movie's secret weapons as Mary Anne Creed. She is utterly believable playing the role of a loving mother, emanating warmth and strength, and her interactions with both Jordan and Thompson are incredibly naturalistic.

    Creed II has clichés to spare, but it all coalesces into a hugely effective and affecting drama that is worthy of both the first Creed, and the Rocky franchise. This sequel works from start to end, delivering boxing spectacle as well as touching human drama, and it's one of the best movies of 2018. According to Stallone, Creed II represents the end of the line for Rocky Balboa after forty-two years, and it's one hell of an ending. Long-time Rocky fans will struggle to hold back tears as the movie reaches its touching dénouement, with the iconic character's story finally concluding on a fitting, optimistic note. With Rocky departing the spotlight, the Creed series is now free to create its own legacy, though the prospect of future sequels is not entirely inviting. Indeed, the formula for these types of movies is not exactly fresh, and a third Creed should only materialise if there is an original, worthwhile story to tell.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Like its predecessor, Creed II is permitted both a standard Blu-ray release, as well as a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray courtesy of Roadshow Entertainment. This sequel was shot digitally using Arri Alexa cameras (both XT and Mini cams, according to IMDb) at 2.8K resolution, and was reportedly completed with a 2K digital intermediate. Therefore, this HEVC/H.265-encoded, 2160p ultra high definition presentation presumably represents an upscale direct from the 2K DI, though it still readily bests the regular 1080p Blu-ray in terms of textures, sharpness, colours, and general image tightness (the 1080p Blu-ray is certainly no slouch, mind you). Despite the hefty 130-minute runtime, Creed II is mastered on a dual-layered BD-66, with the movie getting the entire disc to itself (and not many additional language tracks taking up space). As a result, the movie is permitted an average video bitrate approaching 42 Mbps (including the additional Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range layer), which is not exactly overwhelming but is still better than its 1080p counterpart. As with all of Roadshow's 4K releases, the disc was sourced from overseas - the disc doesn't carry any Roadshow branding, and features U.K. ratings logos. The disc was encoded and authored by Warner Bros. overseas, with Roadshow just serving as the local distributor.

    Creed II's 4K presentation retains the movie's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1. Whereas the original Creed was coated in a fine layer of source noise, Creed II is a cleaner image, which is sure to please "grain haters". At times, source noise does sneak into the image, such as a medium shot of Lundgren in the opening sequence, but it's always finely resolved, subtly accentuating the texture of the image. Admittedly, the image does look a tad smooth on the whole, sometimes taking on the appearance of a noise reduced transfer, which is more noticeable in some scenes than others. Indeed, it lacks a definitive textural pop to catapult this one into the stratosphere, but it still looks extremely good nevertheless, often great - just not quite on the same level as something like Blade Runner 2049 or Tomb Raider, which probably comes down to the lack of a native 4K finish. Additionally, the transfer is a tad soft-looking on the whole - it's not the sharpest transfer I've ever seen - but that's a very minor shortcoming. Sharpness is nevertheless above-average, with superb object delineation bringing out every hair and wrinkle, and every intricacy of the costumes (see Rocky's sweater during the final fight).

    For a minute, it looked as if Warner Bros. was turning its back on Dolby Vision, as 4K releases of The Nun and Crazy Rich Asians in the United States only offered regular old HDR10. However, the likes of A Star is Born and Creed II show a return to business as usual, with Creed II being enhanced with Dolby Vision HDR that plays as HDR10 on equipment that's not DV compatible. The Dolby Vision layer is quite slight, as there aren't many substantial differences between the two HDR formats, so pick your poison (this review will focus on the DV). The colour palette takes on a slightly richer look, though it isn't significantly changed from the 1080p Blu-ray. The grading is very deliberate, with Ukraine streets looking cold and miserable, emphasising blues, while Donnie's world is more saturated and warm. As ever, the use of HDR permits superior shadow detail in darker scenes, and since Creed II does take place in dimly-lit locations, that's a huge asset. When Donnie and Rocky initially speak about the fight with Viktor on a city street at night, there is a wealth of textures to discern, with highlights remaining exceptional, and with blacks looking nice and inky. Even in well-lit or daytime scenes, you can better discern every bead of sweat and every pore on Donnie's skin. An exterior shot of the arena at 97:40 also benefits from the HDR, as the lights at night look bolder and more pronounced. Highlights are also better retained when harsh light sources are involved; whereas the sky during the training montage looks soft and undefined in 1080p, the HDR brings out more specular highlights, demonstrating yet again what HDR is capable of. There is also more detail in the sky on this 4K Blu-ray at 17:39, when Rocky is at the cemetery.

    As with the standard Blu-ray, there is some slight banding on the walls and elevator behind Rocky in the hospital at the 59-minute mark, though it's fleeting enough to not be distracting. Aside from that, I was unable to detect any other encoding anomalies, such as black crush, aliasing, ringing, macroblocking, or anything else - it's a fine video encode from Warner Bros.. Although Creed II never rises to the level of pure eye candy, and it isn't one of the better transfers I've seen on this format of late, it's nevertheless a top-notch 4K presentation, sufficiently sharp and bursting with textures. Perhaps a bit less compression at times could have elevated it higher, and maybe a 4K finish could have improved the video, but that's just speculation. This is a terrific transfer of an excellent movie, and it's also faithful to how the picture looked in the cinema during its theatrical run.

    The 4K disc contains a selection of subtitles. I had no issues with the English track. There are also burned-in subtitles for the Russian dialogue as well as the location titles, which are true to its theatrical exhibition.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Creed II punches its way onto home video with a thunderous, rip-roaring Dolby Atmos track (with a 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core) that's sure to give your surround sound system a real workout. The original Creed only came to Blu-ray and 4K with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track, which renders this Atmos upgrade a bit exciting for audiophiles. As with all Blu-rays from Roadshow/Warner Bros., the disc defaults to the included DTS-HD MA 5.1 track (which is actually 24-bit as opposed to 16-bit), which performs fine in terms of the broad strokes but lacks the nuance and precision of the Atmos mix. As ever, you'll need to select the Atmos track from the main menu prior to viewing if you wish to hear the superior audio, but at least the Atmos is actually included, and at least it isn't neutered like all of Disney's recent discs. In addition to the English mixes, the disc also contains French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks for those interested (as well as English Descriptive Audio), but the Atmos track is the focus of this review.

    From the opening sequence in Russia, to both Viktor and Donnie's respective initial boxing matches, the track packs incredible impact, with some astounding low-frequency effects beautifully accentuating the action, making you feel as if you're there alongside the characters. Every punch during every boxing match, or even when Donnie is hitting a bag at the 25-minute mark, has serious impact, with outstanding, deep subwoofer activity (though the punching sounds are more deep as opposed to Rocky IV-esque cartoonish). Indeed, none of the punches sound hollow or lacking in impact. Ludwig Göransson's score, too, gives the track ample LFE, particularly during the more sinister music that plays when the Dragos are on-screen during the picture's first half-hour or so. Surround activity and LFE remain sensational during the fights, exhibiting terrific dynamic range and subwoofer use. For instance, when Donnie makes his entrance to the arena at the 48-minute mark, both the crowd cheers as well as the introductory music fill all the surround channels, while the LFE is thunderous. There's real separation to boot - individual, separated crowd claps and cheers are evident throughout the matches, creating a pleasingly immersive soundscape. Even in smaller scenes, environmental ambience is evident, such as the commotion of the hospital, or the drone of a city street. At no point does the mix sound limp or underwhelming; it's lively, nuanced and authoritative.

    The lossless Atmos mix is pristine and crisp to boot; it never sounds compressed, tinny or held back in any way. Additionally, I was unable to detect any encoding errors like hissing, drop-outs, clicks, pops, or sync issues. And amid the loud background ambience and music, smart prioritisation throughout the movie ensures dialogue is perfectly comprehensible and audible. I do not have an Atmos set-up and therefore cannot comment on the overhead activity or fully assess the track, but it performed excellently on my regular old 7.1 set-up. In short, I could find no problems with this professionally-mixed and impeccably-authored audio track, which will delight both fans and audiophiles.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    Like all 4K discs to date from Roadshow/Warner Bros., no extras are included on this 4K disc. Instead, they're all on the accompanying 1080p Blu-ray.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This appears to be the same disc released in the United States, with identical language options. No other special features are currently available on any other editions worldwide. Buy local.

Summary

    For my money, Creed II is the film of the year. It's a competent, exciting and emotionally rich story, confidently exceeding my most reasonable of expectations. It also provides a satisfying ending for the character of Rocky Balboa, over 40 years after his first screen appearance. I don't even think that a third Creed instalment is necessary, though I would watch one if released.

    Roadshow's 4K release eclipses its 1080p counterpart, offering an improved video presentation as well as a flawless Dolby Atmos mix. This is without doubt the best way to experience this outstanding boxing drama at home. Throw in the accompanying regular Blu-ray with its selection of special features, and this set comes highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Callum Knox (I studied biology)
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Review Equipment
DVDSony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output
DisplayLG OLED65E6T. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 2160p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationSamsung Series 7 HT-J7750W
SpeakersSamsung Tall Boy speakers, 7.1 set-up

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