Among the new Home Video releases on the market in the last period, Warner Bros has announced the physical editions in 4K dedicated to the Fantastic Beasts franchise. So, for the occasion, let’s find out together all the details of the box set in 4K UHD from Fantastic Beastsin its special Travel Art Edition.
Fantastic Beasts Travel Art Edition in 4K UHD
Fantastic Beasts Travel Art Edition contains all the films dedicated to the franchise released so far. Thanks to this new proposal it will therefore be possible to retrace the incredible adventures that see Newt Scamander and the rest of the group as protagonist. From a technical point of view, this edition promises to return the viewer to the highest quality thanks to the presence of both Blu-ray discs and 4K Ultra HD discs.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
Before moving on to the analysis of the video, audio and the one dedicated to additional content, let’s dwell for a moment on what was the stylistic choice of the packaging.
From the images we can in fact see a completely different package from what we are used to. In fact, the design chosen for this particular edition boasts a new graphic layout that features a series of iconic tables designed that refer to the cult places of the franchise.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
The box set in question contains, as anticipated, all three films of the franchise and each of it is placed individually inside a dedicated slip case. Unfortunately, there are no physical extras. A few postcards or gadgets would have been the icing on the cake.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
The franchise
Before moving on to our analysis of the box set, let’s first take a small step together to introduce everyone to what the Fantastic Beasts franchise is.
Written by JK Rowling and produced by Warner Bros, Fantastic Beasts is a fantasy film series directed by David Yates. It kicked off in recent 2016 with the development of the first chapter: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The story then continued in 2018 with Fantastic Beasts – The Crimes of Grindelwald up to 2022, the year of the release of Fantastic Beasts – Dumbledore’s Secrets.
The series, a spin-off of Harry Potter, is set over a period of time ranging from 1926 to 1932. The plot tells the story of the magizoologist Newt Scamander, engaged in his adventures around the world in search of magical creatures. To this is added Albus Dumbledore, an ally in the fight against the power of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
Video quality in 4K UHD
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
So let’s start our analysis under the profile of the video sector. The first thing that immediately catches the eye is the excellent rendering of the images given by the high resolution of the format. Even in the most agitated scenes, or scenes rich in elements, we never found a smudge. The whole picture that appears before our eyes is therefore easily readable.
However, even though they are clear, the images bring with them a general softness also given by the specific photograph chosen by the production. In fact, it is well established that the films in the franchise are inherently poor in colorful and gaudy images. However, during the comparative phase, they found that the versions in 4K Ultra HD some films suffer less from this when it is present HDR. The latter in fact has the ability to bring more light to those that are for example special effects, returning a higher dynamic range than the counterparts in 1080p. The difference is also visible to the naked eye, without the use of specific instruments.
Always remaining in a gamma perspective, it should also be considered that these productions are full of dark scenes, generally more complex to manage than the brighter ones, and it is precisely in these phases that the work done by HDR can be appreciated more.
In fact, the dark scenes are the ones that surprised us most thanks to their contrast, with deep blacks that extend casually towards the bright points of the scenes without any uncertainty.
Generally speaking, we can conclude by telling you that all three films in the box set are in line with our expectations. Obviously, if you have a system that can handle the format, the 4K UHD editions have an edge in all respects.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
The audio sector
Unfortunately, too often, the Home Video editions on our market have inside them the tracks in the Italian language in the Dolby Digital 5.1. This audio encoding, although it is generally able to give excellent sensations, is not comparable in terms of streams to higher quality encodings. These are usually only present in English.
Instead, to the delight of lovers of what we could define the high fidelity of Home Video, in this box we have found more than a very pleasant surprise!
Let’s start with the first chapter of the saga, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This film boasts an excellent track in Italian in the format DTS-HD Master Audio, both for the 1080p disc and for the 2160p disc. Unfortunately, in case you are looking for something better, the track Dolby Atmons it is not present in Italian but you can find it in English, French and German for the 4K disc and only in English for the Blu-ray disc.
A completely different music regarding the remaining two chapters of the saga. These utilities in fact boast the presence of the audio track Dolby Atmos in Italian.
The result, regardless of the film played, is a powerful, explosive track and at the same time extremely balanced between what is the relationship between special effects and voices. The bass turned out to be powerful, but never too intrusive. We are sure that with an adequate system they will give you excellent satisfaction. The scenes where the audio sector gives its best are those where the presence of background noises are placed side by side with the main sounds. Here we can in fact appreciate the great general cleanliness, with a stage that is always clear and legible. Last but not least, the spatiality given by the many independent channels is at very high levels. So get ready and hear sounds coming from everywhere!
The extra content
After analyzing the audio and video sector of this new Warner Bros proposal, let’s go together to analyze what are the extra contents present. We believe this sector is fundamental for what concerns the Home Video sector! How many of you love to spend hours discovering all the secrets of shift production?
In summary, we can confirm that this box set of Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD is a real joy for all fans of the franchise!
Starting from the first film, the additional contents present are really many. Thanks to these it is in fact possible to make a real full immersion in the company of JKRowlingof the producers David Heyman And Lionel Wigramand the director David Yates. In fact, thanks to all the interventions of those directly involved, for example, it is possible to fully understand many of the creative and production processes that then led to the final result.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
The additional contents present in the box set are able to highlight how behind the franchise there is a work of immense size. In fact, everything is studied in detail and every action is carefully considered. To testify it we find the statements from the staff but also those of the actors.
And then again
And then again, thanks to the additional contents it is also possible to know in depth the different characterizations of the individual characters, as well as the many creatures that populate this fantastic world. The latter had to have a series of essential characteristics, such as having elements that were recognizable and that in fact made them credible in the eyes of the public. Particular attention was also given to the relationship between actors and fictional animalsacting using the imagination is by no means a trivial thing!
One of the sections that struck us most, however, is that relating to location of the first film. The production literally recreated an entire neighborhood in full 1920s style. The team that worked on this important project has given life to an incredible result and being able to experience it thanks to the additional contents is a great added value of this Home Video edition. The wise use of special effectswhich in fact visually made the entire location where the shooting took place even bigger.
Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD
In the end
Finally, among the additional contents, we can in fact deepen the character of Albus Dumbledore and the annexed family. Finally, among other things, there is also a selection of deleted scenes as well as sections dedicated to special effects. In short, this Home Video edition dedicated to Fantastic Beasts has all the additional content we hoped there would be!
Conclusions
In conclusion, if you are looking for a Home Video proposal dedicated to the Fantastic Beasts franchise, here is the right choice for you. The box of Fantastic Beasts 4K UHD boasts an excellent video quality and also the audio sector amazed us thanks to the presence of the tracks in Italian Dolby Atmos. Finally, the additional contents are very many and are able to dissect numerous background of the productions thanks to a series of exclusive high-quality videos.
