Inside Out 2 4K Ultra HD SteelBook

Do you ever look at someone and wonder what’s going on inside their head? "Inside Out 2" returns to the mind of newly minted 13-year-old teenager Riley (Kensington Tallman) just as headquarters, the control center of her mind, is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira), who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety (Maya Hawke) shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone. This is a brilliant story of the mapping of the mind. (Gary Reber)

Special features includes the featurettes "New Emotions" (HD 11:44) and "Unlocking The Vault" (HD 08"59), five deleted scenes (HD 23:53) and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 2.39:1 1080p AVC picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was animated digitally and sourced from a 4K Digital Intermediate. The original "Inside Out" was released on 3D Blu-ray and while "Inside Out 2" also was produced in 3D, no 3D Blu-ray was provided for review. This 4K Ultra HD edition exhibits a wonderfully vividly hued color palette throughout with strong primaries that pop. Color fidelity is superb, with a brilliant rainbow of hues within Riley’s mind and depicted in the emotions’ characters, as well as in Riley’s actual world. Color highlights are vivid. The characters are set within the frame such that the imagery exhibits an impressive expansive feel that at times seems to appear endless. The back-and-forth cuts between Riley’s real world and her “mind” is most effective, displaying distinctive animation techniques for each environment and the characters within. The emotional characters, as well as the human characters, exhibit excellent scale and volume. From the memory balls to the numerous little knobs and buttons on the “mind’s” control panel, everything is effectively dimensional. Each character in Riley's mind is characterized by an emotion color such as turquoise as positive Joy, blue as sad, red as angry, orange as change, green as cool, blueish gray as sadness, orange as anxiety, embarrassment as pink, disgust as green, etc. The Belief System is stunning. HDR contrast is excellent, with darker scenes revealing shadow detail and depth. Blacks are solid and white levels are brilliant. The sense of depth and perspective is superb throughout. Resolution is exceptionally rendered as well, with fine detail evident throughout in textures and character composition. This is a well-crafted animated feature that impresses and delights. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7/1-channel soundtrack is dynamic sounding with an emphasis on dialogue. Sound effects are extremely active and support the animated action with punctuation and bass support for action events. Deep bass can extend to sub-25 Hz such as during a wrecking ball sequence through the mind's headquarters and during hockey play. Dynamically, the number and variety of sounds are perfectly balanced, The orchestral score is a major element and sounds fluid and energized throughout. The music occupies a wide and deep presence across the soundstage and the added two surrounds enhance the feel of an all-enveloping soundfield. ADR dialogue is intelligible with a good connection between the animation and the spoken word, with an uncanny sense of spatial integration for a perfectly balanced and presented natural whole..

The Immersive Sound element is generally subtle with extension of the music and sound effects, which at times is noticeably engaging during sequences of negative emotions arising in the back of Riley's mind.

This is a well-crafted holosonic® spherical soundtrack that dynamically engages with excellent fidelity and dimensionality depth and bass extension. (Gary Reber)