Little Women (2019) - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Columbia Classics Vol. 5)

I reviewed this film five years ago on Blu-ray and my feelings about it haven’t really shifted much. I think it’s a fine attempt at delivering a new adaptation of an old story, but I still don’t understand the need for the updated sequence of events. Especially in the case of a late second-act dramatic turn for a particular character. If you’ve read the book, seen the earlier films, or watched that one episode of Friends you know who I mean so I won’t be spoiling it here. While I don’t love this version, I can’t deny that Greta Gerwig brought something impressive to the screen for the latest version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel. Here's what I said back in 2019:

Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) has dreams and visions of being a strong woman in a man's world as a respected writer. Living in New York City, she sells tall tales of adventure uncredited so as to not offend the family her stories help support. Jo was always a standout from her sisters - Meg (Emma Watson) longed for societal advancement and marriage. Beth (Eliza Scanlen) loves her music but her quiet demeanor holds her back. The youngest Amy (Florence Pugh) longs to be an artist and live abroad - no matter how she gets there. All the while their mother Marmee (Laura Dern) tries to keep the family together through joy and hardship. Apart they merely survive but together they thrive as a family. 

If you look up "Little Women" on IMDB you get the variable phonebook of adaptations. Louisa May Alcott's classic story is a timeless one. Every new adaptation brings something to the mix for a new generation willing to watch - if they haven't read the story already. Growing up my mother loved the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn as Jo. The 1949 version with June Allyson is alright saved mostly by a young Elizabeth Taylor as Amy. By the time I was 12 in 1994, another film version headlined by Winona Ryder was making the rounds garnering Oscar nominations and solid box office success. 

Little Women for the 2019 crowd is a solid effort from screenwriter/director Greta Gerwig and a suitable follow-up to her fantastic Lady Bird. With so many film and television series adaptations, you have to wonder what more could be brought to this story. To that point, Gerwig brings a youthful vigor to the screen allowing this story of sisters and their tumultuous relationships to come to life. As a smorgasbord of today's finest actresses and actors delighting the screen, they give it their all and come away winning the day as a cast. Saoirse Ronan as Jo is an impressive standout and holds her own against all others that came before. 

Where I pull back in my praise for this new Little Women is with the fractured editing structure. It's just all over the place with the narrative. I understand the intention but I don't really gel with the result. It opens towards the middle/end of the story with Jo frantically writing and trying to sell a story and segues back in time "Seven Years Earlier" to an early time in her life with her sisters living a semi-impoverished life. That setup was fine - but then the jumping around the story continues as later events are intended to draw significant meaning from earlier events. I get why this was done, but it's unnecessary and for me it made the movie feel like a CliffsNotes adaptation. Every major significant event from the burning of Jo's manuscript to the death of an important character is foreshadowed to the point that these events lack the emotional impact if you'd watched any of the other previous adaptations or, you know, actually read the book.

This isn't to say that Little Women isn't completely without merit. As I said Gerwig brings a youthful energy to the film allowing these sisters to feel like true young women unhindered. While I gripe about the scattershot structure, each moment recreated from the novel is done incredibly well. Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper all get these small moments to shine alongside the main cast in these scenes. It's just how these specific parts of the book are paired together with another part of the story that throws off the emotional rhythm of what could easily be considered one of the best pieces of 19th-century American literature. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
As many folks have looked forward to seeing this in 2160p, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women arrives on 4K UHD in a two-disc set part of Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol. 5. The 4K is pressed on a Region Free BD100 with a Region Free BD50 serving the 1080p and bonus features. The discs are housed in a standard two-disc case with a collection-exclusive slipcover. The discs load to a static image main menu with standard navigation options.

Back in 2019 I lamented that this film wasn’t given an initial 4K disc considering how visually striking it was. Five years later, Sony’s oversight has finally been corrected for another splendid and beautiful 2160p Dolby Vision transfer. As the film was shot on 35mm and finished on a 4K digital intermediate, this is about as close to perfect for this release as we’re likely going to see. The image positively sparkles with clean fine details, sharp lines, textures, and facial features. Every piece of clothing, the binding on books, and the intricate set design is all on display with a thin veneer of finely resolved film grain. A truly lovely cinematic appearance. With Dolby Vision, black levels, whites, and colors all enjoy impressive upgrades over the previous 1080p disc. Black levels are deep and inky, they may get precariously close to crush for a couple of notably dark scenes, but hardly anything to be distracted about. Given the locations and work done to recreate the time period of the novel, colors are gorgeously rendered with striking primaries and healthy skin tones. Whites are brilliantly crisp without blooming issues or any distractions along those lines.

And like the video, I previously pondered why this film didn’t get an Atmos track on disc when it was shown theatrically that way. Now to join the 4K Dolby Vision presentation, we have that Atmos mix and it’s lovely. The 5.1 track returns but who gives a damn about that? If you’re so equipped, this Atmos option is the best way to go. The film’s sound design from various locations is impressively staged allowing for a fully immersive experience. From the creaks and groans of wood flooring and ceilings of the family cabin to the busy bustling streets of the city, it’s a dynamic and active mix that never falters or slows down. Even when the film is at its quietest, there’s something in the soundscape like a gust of wind to keep those side and rear channels working. Heights are also well utilized beyond just making the film sound “spacious.” The distinct sound effects are rather innocuous, this isn’t an action-packed epic, but then those little effects creep in they are lovely accents to an already impressive sound design. 

In a nice touch on Sony’s part, they weren’t content to simply let the previous extras stand pat for the whole set, but we’re now also getting some new material to dive into. The best and most exciting is a terrific audio commentary exclusive to the 4K disc with Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan discussing making the film together. It’s a breezy piece, not overly complicated or too technical, but it’s very informative as they chat about how they approached the material. After that, the next new bit is a retrospective piece with Gerwig and Ronan discussing the film but in a way that isn’t repetitive or redundant to the commentary. After that, we’ve got all previously available extras returning on the Blu-ray.

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan
• Revisiting Little Women
• Theatrical Trailer

Blu-ray Disc

• A New Generation of Little Women
• Making A Modern Classic
• Greta Gerwig: Women Making Art
• Hair & Make-up Test Sequence
• Little Women Behind the Scenes
• Orchard House, Home of Louisa May Alcott

2019's Little Women is a fine film, but I don’t love it. It’s an interesting new version of the classic story, but over the last several decades, there have been other better editions that would love to see the light of day on 4K UHD. While this isn’t a favorite version, I have to give credit to Gerwig for mounting a beautiful production. The film is visually fabulous and this Dolby Vision transfer lets that imagery fully live while an excellent Atmos track with a brand new audio commentary in the extras suite gives fans a reason to hunt for an upgrade. Not one I’m likely to revisit often but all the same I have to at least call it Recommended