https://whysoblu.com/rocky-the-knockout ... 4k-review/Video
Rocky IV (4)
Okay so there’s one mess-up here to report on. One shot in the theatrical cut of Rocky IV opens up to 1.78:1 instead of 1.85:1 (the shot appears at about 10:17 into the film). Basically the 1.85:1 matting briefly disappears for roughly 7 seconds before reverting back to normal (one shot of Rocky washing his car while talking to his son). This scene doesn’t appear during the Director’s Cut.
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
HDR: Yes
Dolby Vision: Yes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Clarity/Detail: There is a level of satisfaction here with crisp and clear visuals throughout. It’s no modern day transfer, but things look nicely in tune here. It’s a step above the transfers of Rocky II and III. You get to see Rocky’s stubble on his face sharply transform as he goes all grizzly in preparation for his fight with Drago. I also feel comfortable in my masculinity commenting on the beads of sweat that glisten on both boxer’s bodies in the final fight scene.
Depth: When things are good this one pops! However, there are some signs of blurriness at play occasionally too.
Black Levels: The black levels throughout are nicely deep and inky. There are no problems here to report on.
Color Reproduction: Things are quite vivid, colorful, bold and deeper here and why shouldn’t they be? It’s the mid 80’s after all! Contrast is consistent throughout.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones look better than they did in the previous two installments.
Noise/Artifacts: There are a few one-offs and anomalies in this presentation within a few scenes such as the mountain climbing scenes. The white specks as opposed to the others above are very much minimized. There are also varying levels of grain too. So in contrast to the other two above, things look much better here at least.
*
Rocky vs. Drago: The Ultimate Director’s Cut (4)
As you can see down below this Director’s Cut deploys a different aspect ratio than the Theatrical version.
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
HDR: Yes
Dolby Vision: Yes
Aspect Ratio: 2:35:1
Clarity/Detail: There is a level of satisfaction here with crisp and clear visuals throughout. It’s no modern day film, but things look nicely in tune here. It’s a step above the transfers of Rocky II and III. You get to see Rocky’s stubble on his face sharply transform as he goes all grizzly in preparation for his fight with Drago. I also feel comfortable in my masculinity commenting on the beads of sweat that glisten on both boxer’s bodies in the final fight scene. There’s a lot of details in the print brought out here in 4K.
Depth: When things are good this one pops! However, there are some signs of blurriness at play occasionally too.
Black Levels: The black levels throughout are nicely deep and inky. There are no problems here to report on.
Color Reproduction: Things are bit cooler here in appearance in contrast to the Theatrical version. You can tell some of the differences in a minor fashion when the new footage is worked in.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones look better than they did in the previous two installments.
Noise/Artifacts: There are a few one-offs and anomalies in this presentation within a few scenes such as the mountain climbing scenes. The white specks as opposed to the others above are very much minimized. There are also varying levels of grain too. So in contrast to the other two above, things look much better here at least.
Audio
Rocky IV (4)
Thankfully there are no errors here to report.
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0, English Dolby Digital Descriptive Audio, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH/Spanish/French
Dynamics: This is a slight improvement over the past two films in our discussion here with much better sound effects and oomph. This one just sounds like it has more depth for some reason. I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the sheer size of Drago? What do you think? LOL. The flick’s pop anthem songs pump you up through their reproduction here.
Low Frequency Extension: The bass or low end is utilized much more here than in the previous installments, hence the extra oomph mentioned above.
Surround Sound Presentation: Ambient noise, especially crown participation in the fight scenes is most prevalent here.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is clear and intelligible.
*
Rocky vs. Drago: The Ultimate Director’s Cut (4)
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH/Spanish/French
Dynamics: This is a slight improvement over the past two films in our discussion here with much better sound effects and oomph. This one just sounds like it has more depth for some reason. I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the sheer size of Drago? What do you think? LOL. The flick’s pop anthem songs pump you up through their reproduction here.
Low Frequency Extension: The bass or low end is utilized much more here than in the previous installments, hence the extra oomph mentioned above. Also, compared to the theatrical version the LFE is more impactful in this Director’s Cut. The punches land even harder!
Surround Sound Presentation: Ambient noise, especially crown participation in the fight scenes is most prevalent here. Like the theatrical cut this one is still very front heavy.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is clear and intelligible.
