When MGM+ launched a year ago (essentially a rebrand of Epix) promising a new premium streaming experience the service boasted most of the James Bond library. What’s more, the 007 titles were offered in 4k Ultra HD resolution (even though Bond films pre-Daniel Craig have never been officially released in 4k).
But only weeks after launching, MGM+ lost a bunch of titles that went over to Max (formerly HBO Max) and eventually most of the Bond library. Now, only No Time To Die streams on MGM+.
To make matters worse, 4k was phased out. No Time To Die (although available everywhere else in 4k) only streams in HD at best. The 3-season series Britannia was once offered in 4k (at least labeled 4k, as we never actually got the time to test the stream). And, Oliver Stone’s Platoon, upon launch noted as streaming in 4k, is now only in HD.
MGM+ certainly has an exciting library of titles such as Interstellar, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Creed III, and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, but none of those titles are offered in 4K.
It’s not surprising that MGM+ has given up on 4K as other streaming providers have essentially taken it away from longtime subscribers. For example, HBO subscribers can no longer get Max in 4K through a TV service provider. It must be purchased separately on Max.
Amazon Prime Video just recently removed Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos from their Ad-Free plan, forcing subscribers to pay an additional three dollars per month just to get the two Dolby specs.
But at this point, MGM+ is not selling any upgrade to their subscription plans to get 4K, they’re simply not offering it. In fact, the descriptions on tiles no longer even indicate video or audio specs.
This is extremely disappointing from a home theater perspective. TVs these days are built to show 4K or even 8K resolution, not 2K HD, which doesn’t contain enough data to have a native 4k presentation on a 4K screen. It’s just upscaling, and you all know how we feel about upscaling.
