Review: Patriot Games (4K)

Patriot Games 4K ReviewAuthor Tom Clancy’s renowned CIA analyst returns this month when the new series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” debuts on Amazon. In anticipation, fans can catch up on all of the celebrated character’s cinematic exploits when a new new 4K UHD/Blu-Ray Combo Collection which arrives today via Paramount.

With four times the resolution and more than double the number of colors available with full HD, the 4K UHD disc offers the highest quality picture for your home entertainment system. The 10-disc Jack Ryan Collection is available now at Amazon and Best Buy. Furthermore, the films are also available on 4K UHD Digital through select retailers.

Next up you get Patriot Games, which finds CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) thwarting an IRA assassination only to make himself and his family targets of a renegade faction. The Blu-Ray includes a 25-minutes exploration of the film.

Plot: When former CIA agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) hampers an IRA terrorist attack in London, he kills one of the terrorists. The dead man’s brother, another member of the group named Sean Miller (Sean Bean), is arrested but quickly escapes. Vowing revenge against Ryan, Miller travels to the United States, where he forces Ryan’s wife (Anne Archer) and daughter (Thora Birch) into a car accident that badly injures them. This convinces Ryan to rejoin the CIA in order to track down Miller.

Director: Phillip Noyce

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Runtime: 117 min

Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 72% & IMDB 6.9/10

Unboxing (see below)

Review:

Like the first film, this was shot on 35mm film and for this Ultra HD release, it was scanned in full native 4K and given a HDR color grade in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Moving along, there is a fine to heavy layer of grain that can be seen throughout the film, depending on the shot.

When it comes to the tone of the film and the way it was presented — it doesn’t do an injustice. It’s not perfect, there are some soft shots, but nothing that takes away from the film. On this disc, the HDR is subtle, but it’s done in the right way. All the tones are enhanced and the added detail and texture makes it look the way it was intended to. (At least I believe it to be.)

You can see this in multiple shots shown around Jack Ryan’s house. The HDR gets some good use with a lot of earth tones brought forward from the scenery. The green in the grass, the browns in the dirt and rubble, along with the hues of blue coming from the ocean.

You can further see this type of touch in the colors shown in furniture throughout the home and office down to the fabric shown clothes; like the suits, jackets, and various other fabrics.

In the first last act of the movie (the showdown in Jack Ryan’s home) you get solid black levels crushing in certain moments. This was the part of the film I was curious to see in UHD because it’s very dark with lighting only coming from the scattered lightning on the house. (It was very well done.)

Overall, what this transfer puts forth is a nice boost to the clarity with good-subtle use of HDR. Once again, it’s not meant to be an eye-popping disc, but it does the original film justice. In comparison, it gave me a little bit of my Jack Reacher 4K review-vibe with notes on detail, depth and color being enhanced in a specific way.

Conclusion:

It’s a clear cut jump over the original Blu-Ray, so if you’re fan of Jack Ryan — it’s worth adding to your collection.

Cheers,

Matt.

While your here, check out more of my 4K & Blu-ray reviews. Even more, see the newest trailers, press releases, music and more on the rest of the site. Follow me for faster updates on Twitter and Instagram.