A24’s Civil War was released in theaters in the US and UK on April 12, 2024 and arrived approximately three months later in physical media formats on July 9, 2024. The film is available on 4k Blu-ray, HD Blu-ray, and an Amazon Exclusive 3-disc 4k Blu-ray edition from Lionsgate.
The Movie
Civil War was written and directed by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Annihilation, Ex Machina). The movie stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as a team of journalists who make their way across a divided United States to interview the President before the captial is taken over by secessionist groups.
The movie is controversial in several respects. Even before the movie was widely released, A24 used AI-generated images of demolished popular cities to market the movie on Instagram. Not everyone was happy about that. In addition, the story itself has themes of polarization, racism, and xenophobia in a dystopian environment in which much of the killing just seems gratuitous. As The Washington Post critic Amy Nicholson put it, the film is “coldly, deliberately incurious about the combatants and the victims.”
But the battle between blurred sides (if there are even two sides) is really just a setting for a story about a seasoned (and somewhat damaged) journalist named Lee (Kirsten Dunst) who has seen more than her share of conflict and who is going through her own internal war. Although, Lee’s supporting characters (Joel, Jessie, and Sammy) all have their own unique stories and transformations that help carry the film.
Image Quality
Excellent video quality is seen throughout Civil War on 4k Blu-ray. The 16×9 (1.85:1) aspect ratio fills the frame on common 4K and HD TVs. HDR is delivered via Dolby Vision and HDR10 with up to 10-bit depth. Bitrates averged around 70Mbps with a noticed peak around 92Mbps. The disc is a BD-100 format, so there was plenty of space to restrict higher compression rates that might have been necessary on a BD-66. Details holdup remarkably well on larger screens over 100 inches.
Audio Quality
There is definitely something to offer in terms of surround sound with the English Dolby Atmos track. All the battle scenes have a lot of great spatial audio happening, and this is where the dynamic range of the high to low frequencies is most evident. The climactic battle scene heading towards the Capitol is an immersive experience that makes the scene even more intense. Bullets fly around the 3-dimensional space, helicopters activate subwoofers to powerful, yet not overbearing, deep frequency levels. The high-pitched sound of lead hitting the sides metal tanks sound extremely realistic. Explosions are riveting in all discreet channels. Voices and ambient sound can be heard in the more quiet moments when the fighting stops (or the editors give the viewers a break from the action).
Bonus Material
There is a lot of bonus content available with this disc release, and even more so with the Amazon exclusive.
“Torn Asunder” is a 6-part documentary about the making of this $50M film. The extra offers a look at the making of this $50M film, with insights on characters, development, production, design, costumes, and camera rigs, to name a few. The bonus features are offered in HD (1080p) without HDR or Atmos.
Anyone who purchases the Amazon exclusive will also get a second Blu-ray disc with a 20 minute bonus feature titled “Director and Cast Q&A.” feauturing Garland, Dunst, Moura, and Cailee Spaeny answering questions after a screening of the film. The Amazon exclusive also features a lenticular stick-on over the slipcover.
Summary
In terms of content, Civil War is a hard film to watch and may not be for everyone. But from a home theater perspective, the movie offers a truly immersive visual and audio experience. We’re not super crazy about the color grading for all of this film, because much of it is shot at night where the footage can get noisy (when the camera’s sensor might stuggle with light levels and compensate with digital noise). On the flipside though, the daylight shots reveal excellent sharpness and color depth. As far as sound, the Dolby Atmos mix brings a wide dynamic range of brights and lows tweeters and subwoofers. This is a great soundtrack for a multichannel Dolby Atmos or even 5.1 surround sound system.
Scores
Movie
3.5/5
Video
4/5
Audio
5/5
Bonus Features
5/5
Movie Stills
