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Ultra HD : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: May 23rd, 2023 Movie Release Year: 2001

Brotherhood Of The Wolf - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Overview -

After a genuinely rough-to-bad Blu-ray release, Scream Factory does right by fans and collectors with a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Collector’s Edition of Christophe Gans’ stylish period martial arts horror epic Brotherhood of the Wolf. Featuring an often stunning Dolby Vision transfer, Atmos audio in French, corrected subtitles, and a nice assortment of vintage extras, it’s the release we always deserved. Highly Recommended for those who don't want to import the UK edition.

When a mysterious beast ravages the countryside, two unlikely heroes are called in to fight the evil in BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF.

 

--- DISC ONE (4K UHD, FEATURE FILM) ---

NEW 2022 4K Scan Of The Original Negative By StudioCanal – Approved By Director Christophe Gans

--- DISC TWO (BLU-RAY, FEATURE FILM) ---

NEW 2022 4K Scan Of The Original Negative By StudioCanal – Approved By Director Christophe Gans

--- DISC THREE (BLU-RAY, SPECIAL FEATURES) ---

Deleted Scenes With Introduction By Director Christophe Gans

"The Guts Of The Beast" – A Look At The Creation Of The Film From The Fight Scenes To The Digital Effects

"The Making Of Brotherhood Of The Wolf" – A Look Behind The Scenes

"Legend" – A Look At The Historical Facts Behind The Legend Of The Gévaudan Beast

Theatrical Trailers

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray
Video Resolution/Codec:
Dolby Vision HDR / HDR10
Length:
151
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.35:1
Audio Formats:
English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
English SDH
Release Date:
May 23rd, 2023

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

To read my thoughts on Christophe Gans’ bonkers period martial arts horror film, check out my review of Scream Factory’s 2021 Collector’s Edition Blu-ray

For another look at Brotherhood of the Wolf, check out Sam Cohen’s review of the Studiocanal UK Import 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Scream Factory takes another bite out of Brotherhood of the Wolf now with a new three-disc 4k UHD + Blu-ray release. In an odd turn but one that’s becoming frustratingly more frequent, the 4K version is pressed on a Region A Locked BD-100 disc. Flipping the region on my Oppo, the disc in fact did not load giving an “invalid region” notice - so if you’re importing this set make sure you have a Region Free setup. The remastered 1080p appears on a BD-50 disc with an additional BD-25 disc for extra bonus features. The discs are housed in a sturdy three-disc case with an identical artwork slipcover. The discs load to animated main menus with traditional navigation features. 

Video Review

Ranking:

Compared to Scream Factor’s previous Blu-ray and the other discs that navigated the globe over the years, Studiocanal’s new 4K restoration didn’t have much to compete against. Anything would be better than what we had, and what we get with this 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR10 transfer is pretty damn glorious. Fine lines are clean, and facial features, costumes, textures, and scenery all render beautifully with an appreciable amount of fine cinematic film grain. Gone is the frustrating over-use of edge enhancement and I didn’t spot any irritating smoothing or aggressive grain reduction.

The Dolby Vision grading is stellar work - especially for the last half of the film. Initially the film starts bright and cheery with bold sunlight and rich primaries - and it looks incredible now, by the way. But then the plot really digs in and the shadows are deeper and darker with more night photography and the enhanced black levels are striking. Deep inky blacks with perfect shadow gradience with all of the fire and candle-lit interiors; it’s really quite something. Some of the CGI effects of the full beast can look a little dated now, but they’ve always been a little off from the start. Still though, some of the CGI beast shots look striking and blend well with the practical prop effects nicely. It really can’t be stressed how much better this new restoration and transfer is.

Audio Review

Ranking:

The audio also takes a significant leap for a genuinely magnificent French Atmos track. From the opening beast attack to that thrilling first fight to the film’s final moments, this is a rich and active soundscape. The rain pouring down during that first fight fully utilizes the height channels with rumbling thunder rolling overhead and the drips, drops, punches, smacks, and groans working the front/center, sides, and rear channels. And that’s just the first few minutes! The effort is maintained throughout the show. Dialog is clean and clear without issue and the Joseph LoDuca score is magnificent. There are French DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 tracks available, I only tested them a little and they’re alright but the Atmos is where it’s at for maximum impact. There’s also English-dubbed DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 but dear god, don’t do that. The dubbing for this film has always been rough so stick with the French.

Subtitles are a vast improvement over Scream’s controversial first Blu-ray without the gaps or outright stupid titles like “speaking foreign,” - none of that is there. Now there is a little bit of a difference between the English SDH and the English for French audio subtitle tracks. The English for French is a little more accurate (judging from my limited handle on the language), but the English SDH, because it does include audio descriptors, is a little tighter but the words used read a little more elegant. Can’t go wrong with either subtitle track, really.

Special Features

Ranking:

On the bonus features front, nothing has been added to the 4K disc or the 1080p Blu-ray. The bonus features disc is the exact same BD-25 disc from 2021, just with a different piece of disc artwork. 

  • Deleted Scenes w/ Introduction by Christophe Gans (SD 40:08)
  • The Guts of The Beast (SD 1:18:11)
  • The Making of Brotherhood of the Wolf (1:17:54) 
  • Legend (SD 17:23)
  • Theatrical Trailers

At long last, the day is here when we have a release of Brotherhood of the Wolf worth celebrating. Actually, if you hunt the import markets - we have two! 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray has done wonders for this film offering an incredible 2160p Dolby Vision transfer from Studiocanal. On top of that, the new French Atmos track is a beast of its own fully utilizing what the format has to offer for home theater fans. Even better, after the 2021 debacle the subtitle tracks have been appropriately fixed! Bonus features may be the same assortment of archival extras, but if you’ve never seen them then they’re new to you and well worth checking out - especially the feature-length The Making of Brotherhood of the Wolf. Now my only caveats for this set is the fact that inexplicably Scream has region locked this 4K disc and the set is light on new extras. But thankfully for you European folk, you have Studiocanal’s own release available to snatch up with an even better assortment of bonus features. If you’re US local, this is still great set on its own if you're not eager to import. Highly Recommended