Post, The 4K Ultra HD

Based on a true story, "The Post" tells the story of a cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents and pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher, Katharine Graham (Streep) of The Washington Post, and the paper's hard-nose editor, Ben Bradlee (Hanks), to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government to expose an unprecedented cover-up. The two must risk their careers––and their freedom––to bring truth to light. (Gary Reber)

Special features include five featurettes: "LAYOUT: Katharine Graham, Ben Bradlee & The Washington Post" (HD 21:51), "EDITORIAL: The Cast And Characters Of The Post" (HD 15:56), "THE STYLE SECTION: Re-creating An Era" (HD 17:02), "STOP THE PRESSES: Filming The Post" (HD 25:34), and "ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: Music For The Post (HD 06:45); and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 1.85:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a Sony Bravia Z9D 4K Ultra HD HDR display, was photographed on 35 mm Kodak Vision3 film stock using the Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 camera and sourced from a 4K master Digital Intermediate format. Film grain is resolved naturally and is never objectionable. This is a gorgeous picture with absolutely natural imagery throughout. The picture is stunning, even though the color palette is stylistically muted to characterize the Nixon era. There are no hues that pop, and while black levels are deep, bright highlights are restricted, thus HDR contrast is intentionally subdued. Resolution is terrific with fine detail exhibited throughout, especially in facial features, hair, clothing, and object texture, such as the upholstery fabrics in the Graham home or the print shown in some of the newspaper pages or other "Papers." The Vietnam footage is rougher and edgy in contrast, but realistic. Colors, as noted, are desaturated with an emphasis on browns and grays. This is a wonderful viewing experience that allows the fine acting to supersede the production design and costuming elements, which results in a tremendously engaging experience. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack is effectively enveloping, even with the dialogue-heavy emphasis of the film. John Williams' beautifully pulsing orchestral score fills the surrounds quite effectively throughout, extending to all four surround channels. Sound effects include things like printing presses running that regularly extend to the surround channels. Several outdoor scenes also effectively place ambient environmental effects beyond the frontal soundstage. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and with good spatial integration. When DTS Neural:X is engaged, the soundfield really becomes immersive, with effective height sonics, particularly during the Vietnam sequences and the running printing presses, and should be the preferred listening format, This is a well-crafted soundtrack that nicely supports and provides realism to the dramatic elements of the story. (Gary Reber)