The Score - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

If you were to see a guy like Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) on the street, you’d likely only see a successful businessman and jazz club owner living well in Montreal. But Nick isn’t what he seems. A master thief, he can get into any location, crack any safe, take what he wants, and be gone before anyone knows he was there. But he wants out. When his handler Max (Marlon Brando) comes calling with a job too good to refuse, he’ll have to team up with the upstart and erratic inside guy Jack (Edward Norton) to steal an ornate scepter worth millions of dollars to secure his retirement from crime. Only this score isn’t like any other Nick has ever taken on, and his allies may be his worst enemies.

I love a good heist movie. Hell, I love David Mammet’s 2001 thriller Heist and that one really isn't that amazing. When done well a great heist movie will keep you on the edge of your seat that first viewing and keep you guessing. The best heist movies will keep you coming back for repeat viewings and still keep you excited and entertained as you look for clues or hints that may betray the plot turns. But even a mediocre solid heist flick can be a good bit of fun, and that’s where we find Frank Oz’s thriller The Score. 

Starring Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Edward Norton, and Angela Bassett, The Score rides on great performances from a first-rate A-list cast, steady direction from Oz, and gorgeous cinematography from Rob Hahn. The script sadly is content with being a no-frills strict-to-formula outing. This is the heist movie you’ve seen done a dozen times before with just a few different ingredients to class it up and look new. There are few if any surprises along the way and if you’re paying attention you can call any plot twist about twenty minutes out. 

While this film may not be very original and dines out on the weight (ahem) of certain stars, the show is ultimately pretty damned entertaining. It doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny and it can be a bit long in the tooth, but it gets the job done. On the tier of mediocre heist flicks, this is one of the better efforts. De Niro and Norton really are the ones working overtime to make this film click. Their interplay is dynamite; the kind of material you love to see as one generation’s master thespian works with the next generation’s rising star. 

But the most important element of any heist movie – good, bad, middling, or otherwise – is how the theft is carried out. It doesn’t matter if our “heroes” get away with the crime. It’s how they pull off the big event that calls whether or not the film is even worth giving a second glance. Thankfully The Score has one hell of a slick heist scene. At just over two hours, a lot of the film can feel a little slow and rolly-polly as it deviates between any number of inconsequential side quests, but that final act is pitch-perfect edge-of-your-seat thievery in action. Just too bad the sequences around the film weren’t a little tighter for this otherwise formulaic but still fun heist flick. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
The Score absconds with a new two-disc 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and Paramount. Pressed on a BD-100 disc with a BD-50 reserved for the Blu-ray, the discs are housed in a standard two-disc black case with an identical slipcover. The disc loads to a static image main menu with traditional navigation options along the bottom of the screen.

Just this year Kino Lorber Studio Classics partnered with Paramount Home Video to bring even more fan favorites and classics to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. The Score is one of their first outings of this partnership and the results are fantastic. This 2.35:1 2160p Dolby Vision (with HDR10) transfer is a wonderful upgrade for this stylish, slick-looking feature. Rob Hahn approved the new transfer supplied by Paramount and I’m pleased to report that it doesn’t have any of the silly grain management issues that have plagued some other Paramount favorites on 4K in recent months. Details are impeccable from the start. With Nick hiding in the shadows and limited light as he cracks the safe, little details aren’t lost in those deep inky shadows. Throughout the rest of the show, facial features, costumes, production design, and the Montreal locations come through beautifully. Film grain is steady throughout without issues for a natural cinematic feel.

Hahn loves his shadows in this film giving it almost a Noir-ish appearance. The Dolby Vision grade works beautifully with these scenes allowing the lighting to do its work without crushing, losing details, or flattening the image. Blacks are beautifully inky and true while whites are brilliantly crisp without blooming. Spectral highlights are equally fantastic for several key sequences towards the end of the film. Colors are on point with nice vivid primaries - blues and reds have a lot of playtime here. All around this is a terrific and notable upgrade for this film that previously had a pretty decent but unremarkable Blu-ray outing.

Taking a break from the previous Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, KLSC opts for a more robust and lively DTS-HD MA 5.1 track as well as a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. With that, the 5.1 is absolutely the best way to go. The 2.0 works if you have to use it but even if you’re rolling a solid sound bar the 5.1 should yield more impressive results. Dialog is clean and clear without issues. The 5.1 mix is active and engaging offering an impressive range to the soundscape. A smart heist flick knows when and how to use silence and this film pulls that off beautifully with a mix that’s always active in the front, sides, and rears but never overplays itself. Then you have the cool jazzy score from Howard Shore to sweeten the punch but sting the tension when necessary. All around a clean effective track that picks up a lot of welcome oomph if you throw on your receiver's DTS Neural:X function. 

Bonus features are what we had on the previous Blu-rays and DVDs. Sadly nothing new was added to the soup and all of the old featurettes and deleted scenes are still in SD. The Frank Oz and Rob Hahn commentary is still worth digging into if you’ve never listened to it, but everything else is just filler. 

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Frank Oz and Rob Hahn

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Frank Oz and Rob Hahn
• The Making of The Score (SD 12:26)
• Additional Footage (SD 8:00)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:30)
• KLSC Trailer Gallery 

The Score is a classic to-the-letter heist thriller, for better or worse. With a great cast and solid direction, this would-be forgettable formulaic thriller stays afloat. De Niro is in terrific form with Edward Norton delivering the cagey erratic inside guy that can’t be trusted. Brando is well, Brando. The iconic actor was well into the phase of doing the barest minimum but it’s amazing to see him finally in a scene with De Niro as the two Vito Corleones share some excellent moments of true Hollywood star power. 

Kino Lorber Studio Classics teamed up with Paramount to give The Score a new crack on home video with an excellent 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release. The A/V presentation is damn near flawless offering a vastly improved visual experience and a new excellent audio mix to match. The only bummer of this release is the lack of any new bonus features, but the Frank Oz and Rob Hahn commentary is well worth the listen. If you want a simple uncomplicated no surprises heist flick that’s still pretty damn entertaining, The Score is a fine way to spend a couple of hours. Recommended