The Ring Collection - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

It all started in 1998 with Ringu from Japanese director Hideo Nakata. An urban legend of a mysterious videotape that once you watch it you have seven days to live before you die screaming in terror. An international hit, U.S. studios didn’t take long to notice and decide the material was worth adapting for local audiences. Enter director Gore Verbinsky and screenwriter Ehren Kruger to tackle the usually impossible task of successfully and meaningfully adapting a foreign film for domestic audiences with The Ring. By staying true to the essential premise, the duo updated some key pieces to match American audiences’ horror sensibilities and let the material stand apart from its Japanese original. Who says a horror film has to be R-rated to be a success? It was a huge hit and along with the original, it remains one of my favorite horror films decades later. 5/5 - The sequels? Not so much. 

As with any hit film, a largely uninspired sequel is usually not too far behind. In the case of 2005’s The Ring Two, original Ringu filmmaker Hideo Nakata was hired to direct the American sequel. The stories of studio interference making numerous changes and edits and forcing reshoots are well-known and affect both cuts of this amazing bland sequel. Nakata tried to leave the production multiple times and has essentially disowned the film now. Behind-the-scenes troubles aside, the film actually starts promisingly enough, but very quickly falls apart. By the time a herd of Digital Deer crashes into the show, the film had slipped into tedium going nowhere and only successfully muddying the lore of the original while collapshing with critics and fans. The unrated edition adds almost twenty minutes of extra or alternate material and it works a little better but it still ends up falling into a well of possession movie cliches. 2.5/5

After the box office drubbing of the sequel, another sequel attempt wouldn’t happen for almost twelve years. Ultimately, 2017’s Rings probably shouldn’t have happened at all. Not a terrible film, but it is profoundly mediocre as none of the original cast, writers, or directors would be involved. The film tried to break new franchise ground for the digital internet-driven generation but missed the mark. By this point, the lore had become so pretzeled it could be packaged in a bag of Rold Gold Twists as a semi-deranged college professor played by Johnny Galecki experiments with the original video subjecting his students to viewings and catalog their experiences. A tantalizing idea, but the film spirals out of control further confusing the already muddy waters of the franchise. That said, we do get to enjoy a blind Vincent D’Onofrio, so that's worth at least half a star alone.  2.5/5

While I regularly watch The Ring I virtually never watch The Ring Two and I only made it through one theatrical viewing of Rings. Until now, I had never watched all three in quick succession before and it was an interesting experience seeing each film try to take things in new directions beyond the simple constraint of the original Japanese film. At the end of the day, you simply can’t expand on perfection. 2002's The Ring worked because it stayed true to the original story and only made necessary changes for local audiences. Some films just don’t need to be franchised. One-and-done ensures the first always remains a true classic. But it's not like this is a uniquely Hollywood issue. The original Japanese film saw its share of pretty bad sequels and prequels and in both cases, stick with the first and best. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Scream Factory terrorizes horror fans with The Ring Collection on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Collecting 2002’s The Ring, 2005’s The Ring Two, and 2017’s Rings, we have a three-film six-disc set offering 4K and 1080p discs for all three films. The arrival of The Ring Two is something of an auspicious occasion as Paramount has yet to release it on 1080p let alone 4K in the United States. The Ring - BD-100 for 4K, BD-50 for 1080p and bonus features. The Ring Two - BD-100 for 4K Theatrical Cut, BD-50 for 1080p of both cuts and bonus features. Rings - BD-100 for 4K, BD-50 for 1080p and bonus features. Each film’s discs are housed in individual two-disc standard cases and are collected in a strong sturdy hardstock slipcase. Each disc loads to an animated main menu with standard navigation options.

NOTE: as of publishing time, we haven't been able to source pics or demo video from the 4K discs, all images are pulled from the included 1080p discs. 

According to the artwork for the set, each film comes home with transfers sourced from new 4K masters. I don’t see any specific dates when these took place, but I’d have to say given the impressive performance from each film they’d have to be fairly recent. Since these are Paramount films, I thankfully didn't see any signs of bitrate or grain management in what Scream Factory unleashed on disc.

The Ring

The first and best of the trilogy is also the best of the collection. The film has always had a dreary green-toned, almost moldy appearance - which is fitting with the Seattle setting. Since the film hasn’t seen much of an upgrade in solo releases over the years, I was often stunned by the clarity. Fine details are impeccable letting you fully enjoy facial features, costume textures, and the film’s excellent production design. Film grain might be a tad thick for some out there, but I thought it looked great and added to the creepy vibe of the visuals. Even the cursed video looks terrific. Some CGI bits look a little off; a shot of the Seattle skyline with fake rain is even more apparent, but thankfully not distracting. Dolby Vision grading stays true to the drab gray/green overtones of the film. With that, don’t expect a ton of color pop. Where the grading does excel is with black levels and contrast offering brilliant crisp whites without blooming and some nice deep inky blacks. Shadows are particularly effective now giving real depth to the image and easily outpacing the old Blu-ray. Colorful? No. Beautifully creepy? You betcha. 5/5

The Ring Two (Theatrical Version only in 4K)

This brighter more colorful sequel deviates from the original’s dreary color scheme, almost to the detriment of the film. Brighter lighting and visuals mean you can’t hide the visual tricks. And because there’s so much more cheap CGI, it stands out even more. Again those laughably cartoonish deer are a real pip now in 4K. While the visual effects may not hold up, overall this is a very pleasing transfer - even if I doubt Nakata had anything to do with it. Facial features, fine lines, and textures all look pretty impressive but there’s a little bit of a crunchy edge-enhanced quality to them. It’s much more apparent on the 1080p Blu-ray than the 4K. Compared to the other two, details don’t quite look as razor-sharp, and film grain is a bit more notable, but overall it’s a very good image. The Dolby Vision grading is lively giving those brighter colors a lot of attention while staying true to the darkness and shadows that populate the show. Whites are nice and crisp and black levels are appropriately deep and inky. 4/5

Rings

As I only saw this in theaters ages back, my memory was the film just looked terribly dark. It also didn’t help the theater I went to was notorious for not changing their bulbs so that was likely a factor. Things certainly look impressive at home but this is still a very dark movie and I suspect some fans with sets or projectors stuck with a low nit count may have a tough time of it. Visually, I liked that this film returned to that green-overcast look of 2002’s The Ring. Even in lowlight sequences (of which there are many), clean details are still perceptible. Shot digitally at 3.5K and originally finished with a 2K DI, this new 4K master is nicely done without looking too “video” crisp. Again, like the first film, the Dolby Vision grade is used to highlight and accent the best aspects of the image giving those creepy shadows extra care and attention allowing the image to have a nice three-dimensional vibe. Clicking over to the included Blu-ray, that presentation is certainly brighter, but I also thought it looked flatter with quite a bit more noticeable video noise, so the 4K HDR is certainly an improvement.  4.5/5

Each of these films has its own set of two audio tracks to choose from, a DTS-HD MA 5.1 (or 7.1 in the case of Rings) and a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. I don’t know the reasons why Atmos wasn’t given a run for any of these, regardless, the audio for each film is terrific. 

The Ring has always had a terrifically ominous sound mix. If it’s not the constant rain rushing down and pitter-pattering over every surface, there are tons of creepy ambient effects, and Hans Zimmer’s score is wonderfully ominous. Kicking in my receiver’s DTS Neural:X function really added to the heft and impact of the mix. Dialog is clean and clear and never an issue. This is the perfect sound mix when you need a creepy scary movie for a dark and stormy night. 5/5

The Ring Two also maintains a nice creepy vibe, but it’s just not as ominous or impactful as the first film. Partly the location shift to more sunny settings pulls back the sound design a bit and Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman add their own flavor to Hans Zimmer’s work. When and where it counts this 5.1 track does offer up a lively and immersive soundscape. The Digital Deer may have looked silly, but the sound of them chasing and crashing into the car is some pretty slick stuff. Again dialog is clean and clear without tissue. Where I slightly scale this one back against the other two films I felt like it was really pushing noise and volume to compensate for actual on-screen scares. It's still an effective mix overall but not very nuanced. 4/5

Rings returns with what seems to be the same 7.1 mix that came to Blu-ray before. Again, haven’t seen this film since theaters and didn’t buy the Blu-ray, but on the whole, this is a pretty striking track. That ridiculous airplane opener is quite the bombastically immersive experience! Dialog is never an issue and the film’s score by Matthew Margeson handles composing duties with Zimmer producing to keep the tone of the film cohesive with the franchise. Dialog is again clean and clear without issue for a pretty fantastic auditory experience. 4.5/5

I didn’t playtest the 2.0 for any of these much other than to see how they handle some big action-focused scenes and they held nicely. But if you have a modern surround setup, I don’t think there’s much call for that 2.0 mix. 

Bonus features for the set are pretty damn robust. While several archival extras are carried over, there are a couple of big new goodies to sink your teeth into. The first is the excellent Ghost Girl Gone Global documentary. Running at over an hour and a half, the documentary takes a long wide view of the franchise covering the Japanese origins as well as the Americanized versions collecting a slew of interviews with key cast and crew as well as responses from various critics and historians. Next for The Ring Two is a lively and interesting audio commentary featuring critics Emily Higgins and Billy Dunham - definitely check that one out too. After that is a collection of previously available archival extras from each film. 

The Ring Blu-ray Disc:

• NEW Ghost Girl Gone Global (HD 1:32:29)
• Don’t Watch This (SD 15:26)
• Rings - Short Film (HD 16:42)
• The Origin of Terror (SD 3:58)
• Cast and Filmmaker Interviews (SD 7:58)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:10)

The Ring Two 4K UHD Disc:

• NEW Audio Commentary featuring critics Emily Higgins and Billy Dunham

The Ring Two Blu-ray Disc:

• NEW Audio Commentary (Theatrical Version Only) featuring critics Emily Higgins and Billy Dunham
• Rings Short Film (HD 16:42)
• Deleted Scenes (SD 18:37)
• Fear on Film: Special Effects (SD 5:45)
• Faces of Fear: The Phenomenon (SD 6:12)
• Samara: From Eye to Icon (SD 5:48)
• The Power of Symbols (SD 5:20)
• The Making of The Ring Two (SD 13:02)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD 1:30)

Rings Blu-ray Disc:

• Deleted/Extended Scenes (HD 18:35)
• Terror Comes Full Circle (HD 12:37)
• Resurrecting the Dead: Bringing Samara Back (HD 9:19)
• Scary Scenes (HD 6:35)

So it’s come to this, the thing that it has come to… (if you’re an MST3k fan you might get that). Is The Ring Collection worth it on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray? Short answer - yes. If you’re a fan of the whole series and enjoy the sequels, this is a terrific set giving you terrific 4K and 1080p Blu-ray transfers for each film. You get The Ring Two on both formats for the first time stateside. Audio is across the board great and you have a fine selection of new and archival bonus features to pick through. However… If you’re like me and just never connected with the sequels in a way where I’d watch them over and over again, this set may be a tall order just to get the best of the three films in 4K. That said, The Ring looks and sounds fabulous and the Ghost Girl Gone Global documentary and new commentary for The Ring Two sweeten the archival bonus features pot. To that end, if you’re a huge fan of all three, grab it, this box set is for your shelf. If you’re a fan of only the first film, grab it at a sale price you like, or hold tight for an eventual solo release. Recommended