Dumbo (UHD Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Disney
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Rating: G
Film: 3.5/5
 
Plot
Struggling circus owner Max Medici enlists former star Holt Farrier and his children to care for a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughingstock. But when they discover that Dumbo can fly, the circus makes an incredible comeback, attracting persuasive but sinister entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere, who recruits the peculiar pachyderm for his newest, spectacular, larger-than-life entertainment venture, Dreamland.
 
My Thoughts
Disney has been in a rut lately with its live action movies and has gone back to its classics and have revisioned them for today’s audiences. As a whole, I’ve generally enjoyed them over the last few years with Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, but they aren’t without their minor flaws.
 
Of the bunch, this version of Dumbo is likely the weakest. While not a bad film, it tends to drag in segments and a fair bit of editing would have gone a long way to increasing the entertainment value. I went in with very low expectations since my daughter saw it already and didn’t like it one bit. She found it boring and tedious.
 
I found the story to be heartfelt and Burton does a good job of creating a believable—albeit overly CGI’d—environment for the characters to take life. The imaging for Dumbo is excellent though and you can’t help but fall in love with the little guy. The child actors are likable and cute, but the villain never felt that evil or scary—even for younger audiences.
 
Here’s another film that was shot on 3.4K cameras and then finished in 2K for its theatrical run, so the 4K release is an upconverted affair. It’s a tad sharper than the Blu-ray which isn’t necessarily a good thing because some of the CGI backgrounds look fake and stick out like a sore thumb. The HDR color enhancements do show off the benefits of the 4K encode with richer primaries and more depth in the overall image.
 
Like too many Disney releases on 4K (and Blu-ray), the volume is much too low on the disc and requires a bump of nearly 10 dB over a usual listening level to make the dialog intelligible and to give the soundtrack some life. Even with this bump, the LFE is nearly non-existent in many of the action scenes such as elephants stomping or the big top crashing down after an accident. On the plus side, the overheads are put to good use when Dumbo goes on his flying expeditions.
 
Video 8.5/10 
 
Audio 6/10 (Dolby Atmos)
 
Special Features:
 

• Circus Spectaculars
• The Elephant in the Room
• Built to Amaze
• Deleted Scenes
• Easter Eggs on Parade
• Clowning Around
• Music Video
• Blu-ray+ Digital Copy

 

 
Conclusion

While not nearly as bad I expected, it’s still a flawed film. The screenplay is a bit overstuffed and the editing could have been a little tighter. That being said, I enjoyed the experience other than the tepid Dolby Atmos track—Disney, please look into this issue since you’re the only studio consistently delivering these sub-par audio tracks. If you have younger kids (or grand-kids), it’s worth a rental. 

[bmoney]

I think I got a bad pressing. I was experiencing very loud thumps out of my subs. 

I immediately turned it off after a few tries of restarting the disc and avr. No luck. So I will exchnge tomorrow

[David Vaughn]

I think I got a bad pressing. I was experiencing very loud thumps out of my subs.

I immediately turned it off after a few tries of restarting the disc and avr. No luck. So I will exchnge tomorrow

Really? That's very strange. Was it on the BD or the UHD copy?

[bmoney]

Really? That's very strange. Was it on the BD or the UHD copy?

Uhd. Never had this issue with any other disc. 

[David Vaughn]

Uhd. Never had this issue with any other disc.

That's bizarre.