Bohemian Rhapsody is an enthralling celebration of Queen, their music, and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury (Malek), who defied stereotypes and convention to become one of history’s most beloved entertainers. Following Queen’s meteoric rise, their revolutionary sound and Freddie’s solo career, the film also chronicles the band’s reunion, and one of the greatest performances in rock history.
For the first time, fans can experience a truly one-of-a-kind music movie event with the complete “Live Aid” Movie Performance featuring two never-before-seen songs (“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “We Will Rock You) packed into a 22-minute collective experience recreating the original event. In addition, on Blu-ray, fans will get a look behind the making of the film including interviews with Queen, the cast and creative team.
Plot: The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury’s lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music.
Director: Bryan Singer
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Runtime: 134 min
Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 62% & IMDB 8.2/10
Special Features:
- The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theaters (featured in 4K Ultra HD HDR on the 4K Blu-ray Disc)
- Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie
- The Look and Sound of Queen
- Recreating Live Aid
4K Blu-Ray Technical Specs:
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Review & Conclusion:
Movie was shot with ARRIRAW camera’s in both 6.5K & 3.4K formats and (I believe) ultimately given a 2K Digital Intermediate. As per the norm with UHD release, it was also given a HDR color grade for your viewing pleasure in both HDR 10 and 10+.
Even though this movie was shot digitally, it looked like it was shot on film from time to time because there was a soft vibe to it. Beyond the fact that there is an apparent softness, it’s nothing that took away from overall aspect of the film. Another positive note: this release has little to no grain, so you will get a clean image.
This movie doesn’t have those razor sharp close-ups that 4K usually gives off. It’s definitely sharper and more detailed than the Blu-ray, so you will get detail down to the pores in the skin, makeup, sweat and beard stubble… just not at a crystal clear level. The film was shot consistently with this same tone, so it’s not a negative aspect.
The blacks were pretty solid as well. In the low lit scenes you could distinguish the difference between a shadow and darkness. A specific scene that looked great to me was in Chapter 18 when Mary came to see Freddie late at night — a conversation which carried outside to just him and Paul in the rain. The low lit scenes kept the color apparent, not to mention the sharp detail down to individual rain drops coming off hair or rolling off a leather jacket. Nothing ever stood out in the wrong way, everything always kept a natural look.
Something this movie does really well is the continual use of HDR. There is so much color in this film that gets the use from it; whether it’s the concert sequences or the various types of clothing everyone’s wearing. It all comes off bright, yet it still holds a sepia kind of tone to it (if that makes sense). A time in the film that you can see HDR shine is when they visit the farm to record their album. Sweeping shots of the exterior looks great full of natural light and that continued inside the barn with intimate lighting around an array of deep browns and reds.
Bohemian Rhapsody is an amazing biopic and a fun watch start to finish. Rami Malek literally transforms into Freddie Mercury on screen and I predict that he’ll also win an Oscar for his performance. I highly recommend that you pick up this film today, in the best format possible. It’s a must own, especially if your a fan of Queen! Unless… for some reason… your not.
Also, this movie includes the FULL 20 minute set from the Live-Aid concert, so make sure you watch that too!
Cheers,
Matt.
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