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In the Heights
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (11th March 2022). |
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The Film
 This review is dedicated to Shaly, an amazing individual and friend who was proud of her Puerto Rican heritage while also being a truly unique individual, whose life was cut too short at the age of 35. She was an inspiring and amazing person who was loved by all that knew her and we'll miss her very much. "In the Heights" (2021) Usnavi (played by Anthony Ramos) knows everyone on his block in Washington Heights in New York City. Running a bodega originally owned by his late father, he's there to serve coffee, sell lottery tickets, and stock the daily goods for everyone that comes by on a daily basis. There's Claudia (played by (played by Olga Merediz), who everyone in the neighborhood sees as their loving surrograte grandmother, including Usnavi who she helped raise after his parents' deaths. There is also Mr. Rosario (played by Jimmy Smits) who runs a local taxi company and is excited for the return of his daughter Nina (played by Leslie Grace) from Stanford for summer break. Nina is excited to see everyone in the neighborhood again, especially Benny (played by Corey Hawkins), her boyfriend who works for her father's business. For Usnavi, his heart is set towards Vanessa (played by Melissa Barrera), though he is shy towards formally asking her out. During a few days one summer, the neighborhood will experience quite a lot of ups and downs for everyone, from a winning lottery ticket worth $96,000, a city-wide power outage, people falling in love, people coping with loss, as well as dreams coming true for some and being crushed for others. Lin-Manuel Miranda has worked his way as a writer, performer, and director to become one of the most powerful and influential people in showbusiness today. The stage production of "Hamilton" became one of the biggest Broadway hits of the recent era with its hip hop inspired retelling of American history, winning eleven Tony Awards. The filmed adaptation of "Hamilton" became one of the most streamed films ever for Disney+ and was highly praised. His work with the music for Disney's "Encanto" became a cultural phenomenon, with the soundtrack hitting #1 on the Billboard chart as well as the single "We Don't Talk About Bruno". His first film as director was "tick, tick...BOOM!", the critically acclaimed musical film that was a critical hit for Netflix. 2021 was an amazing year for Miranda with the releases of "Encanto" and "tick, tick...BOOM!", but the other major work was a very personal one. The feature film adaptation of Miranda's first Broadway musical, the autobiographical "In the Heights". The story has an incredible amount of characters, each with distinct personalities and backgrounds, yet having the common point of being part of a single neighborhood. Even the most minor of characters have a presence, including the piragua seller, played by Miranda himself in a cameo as a tribute to his grandfather who sold shaved ice on the streets. The character of Usnavi is the centerpiece as stated, since almost every character comes to his bodega at some point for shopping and small talk, and it is with his narration via flashback structure that the story continues forth in a linear form. The neighborhood of Washington Heights in Manhattan is a multicultural area, with people of Latin/South American immigrant roots making up more than half the population. From Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, and others, the blended cultures as well as influence from African-Americans, Caucasians and other cultures has created a uniquely hybrid American neighborhood inspired by the backgrounds of many differing individuals. There are ones who immigrated to the country for a better life. There are second generation people who equally carry the torch that their parents held while also being individuals themselves. "In the Heights" is a tribute to the various souls that occupy the neighborhood, the differences between cultures and generations, as well as the camraderie with everyone there. Although in reality, Washington Heights has gone through some terrible patches of racial incidents, drug problem, high crime, and others in its history, the story here celebrates life and togetherness in an incredibly positive note, while also discussing some of the negative issues as well. Daniela, Carla, and Cuca (played by Daphne Rubin-Vega, Stephanie Beatriz, and Dascha Polanco) run a salon in the neighborhood, but are getting ready to move their shop to The Bronx due to rent issues. Sonny (played by Gregory Diaz IV) is the younger cousin of Usnavi who dreams to have a better life and eventually go to college, but his deadbeat father (played by Marc Anthony) is not at all supportive. Vanessa is looking to move out of the neighborhood and becoming a fashion designer, but without credentials or support, she finds difficulty in trying to get an apartment she desires. Mr. Rosario's taxi business is not thriving as it once was, and Nina's Stanford college tuition is an expensive one which is making him consider selling off the business altogether. As for Nina, she has felt pressure from her father as well as racial pressure at the school, making her want to quit and return home. For Usnavi, he dreams of one day moving to his father's home country of the Dominican Republic, but that would mean leaving behind his home and everything he has ever known. "In the Heights" showcases quite a lot of themes that the characters face in differing situations, from racism to financial issues to generational conflicts. While problems can seem heavy and disparaging, the brightness comes with the graceful and energetic use of the musical genre. The songs written by Miranda are definitely a major highlight of the production, as the they feature a mix of a wide variety of genres, from hip hop and R&B to Latin rhythms. From upbeat tracks like the opening "In the Heights" and "96,000", to the beautiful "Alabanza" and "When the Sun Goes Down", each song is distinct and moves the story forward with depth to the characters and their emotions. In addition to the excellent songs heard throughout, the dance choreography is absolutely incredible. Fusing a wide variety of styles from salsa to breakdancing, the sequences are enhanced with cinematic effects with controlled camera moves, moving sets, and special effects, though of course the dancing is done by real performers without the aid of effects work. There are great Busby Berkeley inspired sequences such as the overhead shots of the pool in "96,000" to Bollywood inspired scenes with a huge amount of dancers in an extravagant outdoor setting filled with bright colors and dancing agility. "Carnaval del Barrio" is filled with Latin pride in its lyrical and visual themes is yet another of many highlights the film has with the musical sequences. Director Jon M. Chu does an excellent job balancing the visual splendor of the musical sequences alongside the dramatic ones, while still able to capture a fine balance with the various storylines of characters filled with heart and humor. But this is not a straight and direct adaptation of the original musical written by Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes, but an updated one for the times and for the screen. The plight of Dreamers and the DACA immigration policy being threatened in recent years gave a character changes with Sonny. Instead of having Nina dropping out of school for low grades, the element of her feeling racial pressure was incorporated, as well as a character arc when she sees Sonny's future under threat. The love story between Usnavi and Vanessa is also expanded in the film version, by giving her more character and scenes of her artistic skills and imagination, while also removing her mother from the film version. With that said, some characters are removed entirely and some characters are completely new, such as Usnavi's lawyer (played by Mateo Gómez) and Cuca (played by Dascha Polanco), the third haridresser. Some of the events are also rearranged such as the reveal of the lottery ticket coming much later in the film, and some songs and sequences for certain characters being rewritten for others. Lyrics have sometimes also been updated to reflect the modern era as well as with the cinematic changes. Although somewhat of a spoiler, but Claudia's death also comes at a different timing, with the film version having her pass away in bed when the blackout occurs, while in the original version it occurs a few days after the event. In addition, the casting is also different, with some actors reprising their roles from the stage version while others are complete recasting. The changes may irk some purists, but the changes are smooth and well done, giving a distinctly new yet familar version of the story that works. The film was shot on location in Washington Heights in the summer of 2019 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic pushing many productions back with delays in release, "In the Heights" was finally released theatrically on June 9th, 2021 in the United States and a day later for streaming on HBO Max, more than a year after its original intended release date. With the pandemic keeping theatrical screenings limited and having a streaming option available, the film struggled at the box office both in America and abroad. Even with high acclaim from critics and audiences, the world's situation as well as the difficulty of marketing a live action musical to audiences were issues. "West Side Story" and "Dear Evan Hansen" also suffered the same fates, with underwhelming box office performances. "In the Heights" grossed $43,975,167 worldwide against a budget of $55 million, making it an unfortunate box office failure. The film received quite a lot of attention from various film awards with nominations and some wins, the film was a disappointment with the bigger awards ceremonies, with only one Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor and completely shut out from the Academy Awards. The attention went more towards the other New York set Latino musical (which "West Side Story" was actually filmed only a few blocks away at the same time, causing many of the actors from "In the Heights" sneaking over to peek at the Steven Spielberg set). "In the Heights" is easily one of the best and in some ways most underrated films of the year, being visually and aurally sensational, with incredible musical sequences, great characters, with the ability to captivate audiences from all walks of life. A celebration of music, culture, with a positive light to make sueñitos come true, it's a musical that shouldn't be missed. An absolute masterpiece. Note this is a region ALL 4K UltraHD + Blu-ray set
Video
Warner Home Video presents the film in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio in 2160p HEVC with HDR10+ / Dolby Vision on the 4K disc and in 1080p AVC MPEG-4 on the standard Blu-ray. The film was shot digitally on REDCODE RAW at 7K resolution edited and mastered at 4K resolution. The film's color palate is bright and bold throughout, showcasing the detail of the neighborhood of Washington Heights as well as the patrons with their colorful wardrobe and fashion. Sharpness and clarity are top notch, minute details are crisp, as the transfer is basically flawless. A rare case, the disc supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for added depth and detail to the colors for the 4K UHD disc. The standard Blu-ray is also incredibly strong with its HD transfer, though audiences with 4K capability will surely want to experience the film in its native 4K form. Absolutely reference quality discs for image. The film's runtime on both discs is 142:59.
Audio
4K: English/Spanish Dolby Atmos English/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish (Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1 English (US) Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 English (UK) Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 Blu-ray: English/Spanish Dolby Atmos English/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 German Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese (Brazilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish (Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1 English (US) Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 English (UK) Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 German Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 surround The original bilingual English/Spanish audio track is offered in lossless Dolby Atmos as well as lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on both discs. Being a full blown musical, the Atmos track is certainly one that gives speakers a workout with an incredible amount of directional audio throughout the full runtime. Each beat, each thump, and each instrument are precisely clear with a lot of oomph to the songs. For dialogue, it is almost always centered and sounds well balanced against the always active music and effects. There is basically nothing to fault with this audio mix and is absolutely a reference track with lots of excellent songs. The lossy Dolby Digital track is fair but it does seem like a waste of disc space to be honest. In an interesting note, when viewing the film with the Latin Spanish audio track, the dialogue as well as all songs are fully dubbed in Spanish. For any other foreign language, only the dialogue is dubbed while the songs remain in the original English language, which are subtitled in the appropriate language. 4K: English (burned-in for some Spanish portions), Cantonese, Danish, English HoH, Finnish, French, Italian HoH, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), Swedish (optional) Blu-ray: English (burned-in for some Spanish portions), Danish, Dutch, English HoH, Finnish, French, German HoH, Italian HoH, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), Swedish (optional) There are a multitude of subtitle options for the film, all in an easy to read white font. They are well timed, easy to read and without errors.
Extras
DISC ONE (Blu-ray 4K) Musical Numbers (with Play All) (69:30) - "In the Heights" (7:59) - "Benny's Dispatch" (2:14) - "Breathe" (4:01) - "No Me Diga" (2:42) - "It Won't Be Long Now" (2:09) - "96,000" (5:56) - "Piragua" (1:49) - "When You're Home" (5:27) - "The Club" (4:53) - "Blackout" (5:24) - "Paciencia y Fe" (4:37) - "Alabanza" (2:33) - "Carnaval de Barrio" (7:04) - "When the Sun Goes Down" (2:50) - "Champagne" (3:09) - "Finale, Part 1" (2:38) - "Finale, Part 2" (3:58) The lone supplement on the 4K disc are the musical scenes available to watch separately or in succession. in 2160p HEVC HDR10+ / Dolby Vision, in 2.39:1, with the same audio and subtitle options as the main feature DISC TWO (Blu-ray) "Paciencia y Fe: Making In the Heights" documentary (with Play All) (43:59) - "Paciencia y Fe: When You're Home" (5:32) - "Paciencia y Fe: Hundreds of Stories" (8:22) - "Paciencia y Fe: Alza la Bandera/Raise the Flag" (6:45) - "Paciencia y Fe: Wepa!" (7:30) - "Paciencia y Fe: That Music in the Air" (10:00) - "Paciencia y Fe: Who Keeps Our Legacies?" (6:15) This lengthy documentary is a great look at the production of the film featuring interviews with the cast and crew, rehearsal footage, and behind the scenes footage of the shoot. Discussed are the journey of the lengthy writing process to the adaptation from stage to screen, incorporating different styles of dance such as salsa, rumba, breakdancing and more, combining musical genres, the casting of the versatile performers, the visual look and the director's vision, the tribute the film was to the many people the film was influenced by, and much more. Two portions of the documentary have also been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1/2.40:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional Dutch, English HoH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin) subtitles "Alza la Bandera/Raise the Flag" "That Music in the Air" "In the Heights" sing-along version (7:44) A sing-along version of the first song, with karaoke-style subtitles in English on screen. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English/Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround with with optional Dutch, English HoH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin) subtitles "96,000" sing-along version (6:06) A sing-along version of the the memorable hip hop inspired song, with karaoke-style subtitles in English on screen. The clip has also been embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, in English/Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround with with optional Dutch, English HoH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin) subtitles Musical Numbers (with Play All) (69:30) - "In the Heights" (7:59) - "Benny's Dispatch" (2:14) - "Breathe" (4:01) - "No Me Diga" (2:42) - "It Won't Be Long Now" (2:09) - "96,000" (5:56) - "Piragua" (1:49) - "When You're Home" (5:27) - "The Club" (4:53) - "Blackout" (5:24) - "Paciencia y Fe" (4:37) - "Alabanza" (2:33) - "Carnaval de Barrio" (7:04) - "When the Sun Goes Down" (2:50) - "Champagne" (3:09) - "Finale, Part 1" (2:38) - "Finale, Part 2" (3:58) Repeated from the 4K disc are the musical scenes available to watch separately or in succession. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.39:1, with the same audio and subtitle options as the main feature While the documentary is great and it's convenient to have a music selection function, it's not a particuarly packed release in terms of extras. No commentary, no trailers, no comparisons of differences between the stage and screen version, etc. Other notable clips: Official theatrical trailer The opening ten minutes including the first music number, released as an online preview by Warner Brothers Behind the scenes, from Hollywood Insider 104 minutes of interview footage and behind the scenes (some repeated from the documentary), from Hollywood Insider
Overall
"In the Heights" is an excellent adaptation of the award winning musical that does everything right. Great music, great performances, and a good number of surprises to be had, it's an absolute delight with every step and turn, being one of 2021's best movies. The Warner Home Video 4K UHD and Blu-ray set is reference quality in video and audio with a good documentary included. Absolutely recommended.
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