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Boy Kills World (Blu-ray 4K)
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Signature Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (23rd July 2024). |
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The Film
 Boy (Bill Skarsgard) is left orphaned, deaf, and voiceless when his family is brutally murdered in front of him. Driven by his inner voice, taken from his favourite childhood video game (the legendary H. Jon Benjamin), Boy escapes to the jungle where he encounters a mysterious shaman (The Raid’s Yayan Ruhian) who trains him to become an instrument of death. Seeking revenge Boy embarks on a mission against the corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty headed by the deranged matriarch Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen), unleashing carnage, delirious violence and martial arts mayhem on his road to retribution.
Video
In a dystopian future the Van Der Koy family rule a city and cull the population every so often. In the past a young lad witnessed the culling of his mum and sister, he survived, is trained by The Shaman and comes back to exact revenge. We hear his thoughts via narration by H. Jon Benjamin (Bob Melcher in Bob's Burgers). Ultra violent, sweary action piece with Hong Kong style leaping about super-heroics. The working definition of style over substance and far too long at 110 minutes for such slight material. The main problem is that the lead (called Boy) isn't very interesting and everyone else isn't sympathetic. After you've admired the action (about five minutes) the witticism in the narration, or use of score ... the charm is over. By the end there's no humour left anyway. A nasty, hard, charmless cold modern film that will appeal to adolescents and those with short attention spans. Sure, it's beautifully crafted but the camera never sits still for long and I just found myself looking at the clock. If I was 18-20 I'd have loved it but at 57 I was increasingly bored. For those interested, there is a post credits scene. My comments largely apply to both the 4K UHD BD and the standard BD. IMDB says this was shot digitally with Vantage One4 Large Format Lenses, consequently it certainly doesn't really look like film. The image is largely pretty clean with no grain. The colour grade is pretty standard for modern digitally lensed films although thankfully it doesn't go for the desaturated look, but orange and teal do feature heavily. It's got a moody noirish feel for the darker scenes (most of the film) that reminded me a little of '80s, neon drench neo-noirs. . There's a softness to the flashback scenes (to the hero's past) which would indicate filters and those bits suffer some loss of detail although not a huge amount. Contrast and black levels re as good as can be; no blown out highlights, no crush. The 4K UHD BD comes out as slightly sharper and punchier but only marginally. Bizarrely, there is only an SDR grade (mirroring the US Lionsgate 4K disc) so as a result, when compared to the greater body of 4K discs this must be considered a mild disappointment. A strange choice for a modern, very recent production. The increased resolution only added a little extra tightness to detail over the BD (on my 58" display; bigger you go, the better it'll appear) so ultimately the BD scores slightly higher overall because it doesn't have the potential for HDR. OVERALL RATING: 4K UHD BD = 'A-' BD = 'A+' 2160p24 / HEVC / U10 / 2.39:1 / 110:27 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 2.39:1 / 110:26
Audio
English Dolby Atmos (48kHz) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (48kHz) English Audio LPCM 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English HoH I don't have an Atmos system so had make do with the 5.1 which is reference demo quality, but being an action flick from 2023 that's not surprising. There is an incredible range and depth to the sound field. Dialogue and narration mostly remains at the front but there's near constant use of the entire sound field for wallah (general background ambiance). The '80s style score (with a nod to Morricone) is also active in the surrounds. LFE is near constant with the subwoofer also being engaged with sounds on the track to emphasise editing points. Hard of hearing subtitles translate - in the sections I tested - 98%-100% of the spoken onscreen dialogue, so overall this gets 'A+'.
Extras
4K Ultra High Definition Release "Total Bedlam: The Making Boy Kills World" 2023 featurette (17:16) Pretty standard modern EPK puff piece, this is the most substantial extra on the disc; everyone os happy to be working with everyone and it's all wonderful. Presented in 2160p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitles. "Winter Wonderland" 2023 featurette (0:34)* "Fucked Up Fairytale" 2023 featurette (0:34) "Martial Arts" 2023 featurette (0:36)* "Bill Skarsgard Training" 2023 featurette (1:17) "Bill and Yayan" 2023 featurette (0:59)* More on message puff pieces in which the titles are the content - totalling 4:00 all together so nowt of real worth. Presented in 2160p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitles. * Full UK Trailer (2:25) * Redband Trailer (2:04) Two musing trailers Presented in 2160p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitles. The Redband one is more gory and sweary. Startup Trailers: - Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance (1:47) - You Can Call Me Bill (1:35) Promos for other Signature Entertainment BD releases. Standard BE Release * Missing these. But they're not missed.
Packaging
4K UHD BD = Not sent for review. Based on pictures, a standard black 4K uhd bd Keepcase. Standard BD = Blue BD Keepcase.
Overall
I was sent the complete package for the standard BD and only a checkdisc for the 4K UHD BD. These are separate releases but because the 4K only has the same SDR grade as the BD I've decided to present the same review for both. Image and sound on both discs are excellent although the standard BD fares better in that it doesn't have the potential for HDR. Extras are on-message EPK. The BD is reference quality image and sound, the 4K only has reference quality sound. 4K UHD BD = 'B+' BD = 'A-'
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