The Color Purple 4K Ultra HD

"The Color Purple" received eleven Academy Award® nominations and countless "Best Picture of the Year" awards. Based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this is a powerful, richly textured, decades spanning story of the indomitable Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a young woman forced to marry a brutal man she calls "Mister" (Danny Glover) in the deep American south. Goldberg won the Best Actress Golden Globe Award and an Oscar® nomination—and the acclaim for her impressive portrayal as her best work ever. (Gary Reber)

Special features include two documentaries: "Conversations With Ancestors: The Color Purple From Book To Screen" with memoirs from author Alice Walker (SD 26:39) and "A Collaboration Of Spirits: Casting And Acting The Color Purple" with cast and filmmakers' interviews embracing their roles in the production (SD 28:40), the featurette "The Color Purple: The Musical" (SD 07:34), two teaser trailers and the theatrical trailer, and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

The 1.85:1:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 4K Ultra HD HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on Eastman film stock using the Arriflex 35-III | Panavision Panaflex Gold camera systems and sourced from a 4K Digital Intermediate. Film grain is virtually non-existent yet subtly contributes to the wonderful filmic appearance. The picture is filmed with a pleasant warmth. Color fidelity is superb with nicely saturated hues and fine hue nuances. Flesh tones are acturally rendered. HDR contrast is excellent. Black levels are perfectly natural, shadow delineation is revealing, Object texture enhances the realism of the settings and sets. Resolution is excellent, especially during closeups of facial features such as skin pores, lines, and hair. Credit for Allen Daviau is due for delivering superb cinematography, which resulted in a wonderfully beautiful cinematic picture that is well crafted. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1-channel soundtrack sounds virtually the same as the previous Blu-ray's sonics. Midrange clarity is refined and, at times, the sound is nicely holosonic® and enveloping, with judicious and effective use of the surrounds in rendering atmosphere from the orchestral music and effects. The surrounds are actively energized during most scenes. The dialogue sounds adequately natural in tonality and spatial integration, and the narration segments are perfectly balanced against the other elements. At times though intelligibility is a challenge and ADR is quite forward. The fidelity is noticeably dated to a certain extent but generally excellent. Deep bass is usually reserved, and there is sparse activity in the .1 LFE channel. The orchestral score is wonderful and perfectly supports the emotional spirt of the storytelling. The music aggressively extends to the surrounds for a wonderful enveloping experience. Overall, the soundtrack is a pleasing experience that doesn't disappoint. (Gary Reber)