Pacific Rim Uprising 4K Ultra HD Review

• Actors: John Boyega;Scott Eastwood;Jing Tian;Cailee Spaeny;Rinko Kikuchi;Burn Gorman;Adria Arjona;Jin 'Max' Zhang;Charlie Day
• Director: Steven S. DeKnight
• Disc Format: 4K, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
• Region: Region A/1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG-13
• Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• Release Date: June 19, 2018
• Run Time: 111 minutes

        Some sequels are never asked for, because the original was never so loved that it demanded more screen time. But Pacific Rim Uprising doesn’t feel like a sequel, despite a few minor characters returning. Instead, it feels like a complete reboot of the idea, complete with new protagonists and focus shifted even more towards escapist entertainment. And one would also have to be extremely naïve not to realize the extent that Pacific Rim Uprising is tailor-made to be exported to the Asian film markets. Despite the American cast, the Pacific Rim franchise is built upon the giant monster (Kaiju) sub-genre that was first popularized in Japan.

Unsane 4K Ultra HD Review

• Actors: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins
• Director: Steven Soderbergh
• Writers: Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer
• Producer: Joseph Malloch
• Disc Format: 4K, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
• Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: R
• Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• Release Date: June 19, 2018
• Run Time: 99 minutes

        Steven Soderbergh is a director as comfortable making popcorn entertainment as he is experimenting with the medium, and sometimes he even accomplishes these two things simultaneously. Having already been one of the innovators of digital cinema, Soderbergh’s decision to shoot Unsane entirely on iPhones is not entirely surprising, although it also runs the risk of being more distraction than asset to the narrative. Even though I respect Soderbergh’s creativity, the approach in this film feels more like a gimmick, which is even more disappointing by the fact that he is not even the first to do this (Academy-Award-nominated Tangerine was also shot on an iPhone in 2015).