The Da Vinci Code:20th Anniversary - 4K UHD SteelBook

So… like my former colleagues Shannon Nutt and Peter Bracke, I wasn’t a huge fan of The Da Vinci Code when it first hit theaters. I was very nearly finished reading the book when the film came out. I figured, “What the hell? I’m close enough to the end anyway, I’ll go see the movie…” Well, I wasn’t impressed. If anything, I was outright frustrated by how poorly and deliberately some of the key plot reveals were telegraphed. There are times when this film adaptation was practically shouting to the audience, “In case you’re stupid, look here!” Granted, the book is a tough one to adapt and keep visually stimulating through an exhausting amount of exposition dialogue reveals. But sitting for the film, I thought it was a slick-looking, well-produced feature with a great cast, but how the story was laid out, I wasn’t impressed. I felt no need to sit back down with it - not even when the Extended Cut came to Blu-ray. 

Time and a format upgrade later, I decided I was ready to give this one a shot and possibly reevaluate what I felt about it. I still think it’s frustratingly on-the-nose with the reveals - people complain about Netflix movies needlessly reiterating the plot and what the characters are doing, but this one takes the cake. But, I will say, I rather enjoyed this round, and I think it’s because this is my first time through the Extended Cut. At almost three hours, we’re getting more nuance in the characters, and the editing is much smoother and less abrupt. Roughly 21 minutes really does make a difference. Even when scenes are there to remind the audience of an object or location, the editing is less clumsy, making this sort of plot-point telegraphing less obnoxiously obvious. I still felt ahead of the film; it’s been 20 long years since I saw it or read the book, so memory isn’t clouding that experience, but I found myself genuinely enjoying it.

I still don’t think it’s an amazing film, but for something entertaining to watch on a night in, it’s not as bad as I remembered. Aside from his hair, I thought Hanks did well with the role. Even though I would still have liked to see what the late great Bill Paxton could have done with the character, I thought Hanks did the best he could to make thinking as hard as possible visually appealing. Audrey Tautou is pleasingly spritely as Sophie. The rest of the cast is solid in their work as well. I thought Magneto had a fun, colorful spot while Dr. Octopus was appropriately menacing. Vision was amazingly creepy as our albino instrument of death, while Leon did well as the determined detective with his own secret or two. Also, the Hans Zimmer score is excellent stuff - that much I have enjoyed regularly listening to for the last 20 years. 

For some different takes on the film, here are our previous reviews:
The Da Vinci Code - 10th Anniversary 4K UHD Review
The Da Vinci Code - Extended Edition Blu-ray Review 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
10 years after the 10th Anniversary 4K UHD, we’re now cracking the cipher of the 20th Anniversary 4K UHD SteelBook of The Da Vinci Code. This edition is a three-disc + digital set, two 4K UHD discs and a bonus Blu-ray disc. Both the Theatrical Version and the Extended Version get their own dedicated BD100 discs. The bonus Blu-ray is a BD50 disc and is Region Free. The discs are housed in a SteelBook that’s interesting and attractive, if possibly a little too busy-looking. The discs load to static-image main menus with standard navigation options, and the bonus features are listed along the right side. The included digital copy code redeems ONLY for the theatrical edition.

As I mentioned in the review, I haven’t seen this film in 20 years, but I guess at some point I did buy that 10th Anniversary 4K disc - been on my shelf this whole time, never even cracked the plastic wrap! Completely forgot it was there. Now that I can say I’ve seen both Theatrical Version discs, I can confirm that the Dolby Vision upgrade is like most of these 4K UHD updates from Sony, and that it offers a modest incremental improvement. Flipping between the discs, the old 2016 disc is not bad at all, especially for an early format entry catalog title. My first plus column note for the Dolby Vision upgrade, the black levels and shadows for the early scenes of the film at night in Paris look a lot better. Inkier truer blacks, plus the added shading gradience in the shadows, definitely help the early moments look more lively. Again, things shift for the better once the action moves to London and daylight. Bitrate is nice and high, and film grain is appropriately cinematic without being too intrusive.

Now take all of that I said about the Theatrical Edition above and say roughly the same for the Extended Cut in 4K. Now, this was my first time watching this version, but it was a bit obvious when the extra footage was inserted back into the feature. It’s subtle, but those trimmed segments have a slightly rougher, less refined grain presence. Not overtly distracting, but I could notice that very slight quality shift. Otherwise, for such a visually moody and atmospheric feature with some heavily stylized sequences and VFX shots, I think it looks pretty damned good, and the Dolby Vision upgrade is a worthwhile update for overall image stability.

I was also very impressed with the Dolby Atmos track. This disc does come with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track for both the Theatrical and Extended editions, and after sampling, I can appreciate the argument that 5.1 was enough; however, I really liked the Atmos. When that security gate comes crashing down in the mearly moments, that was a terrific effect with the sound smashing from overhead down into the center channels - so fast and dramatic, but so smooth and impactful in the LFE. While the film isn't always wall-to-wall action, the extra channel spacing in this Atmos mix is handled nicely. A crowded lecture hall filled with voices, stately residences, and tightly confined rooms all have an auditory impact that’s well exploited in Atmos. Throughout the extensive amount of dialogue is clean and clear, which is pretty damned important considering the plot. The soundscape is certainly immersive; again, it's not always wall-to-wall, but it's fully engaging. Like I said at the outset, no qualms with the 5.1 track, but if you’re so equipped, the Atmos is the winning number. 

Again, I hadn’t seen the film in 20 years, so I haven’t seen any of the abundant extras spread between these three discs. Now, to my understanding, all of these extras appear to be archival. I’m not seeing anything here that wasn’t on the list for past editions, and nothing looks recently produced. Overall, I have to say this is an extensive and interesting selection of extras. The Audio Commentary/Select Scenes Commentary is decent enough, but I would have enjoyed a full feature track instead of these random moments without any kind of introduction. The Bonus Disc looks to be a repress/repackage; the trailers still feature the 30th Anniversary of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Damages Season One, and Seven Pounds…so not exactly recent titles. Considering this film hit when studios were still putting a lot of effort into the extra features, it shouldn’t be that surprising at the depth of material, but there’s quite a lot to work through once the main feature is over. My lone gripe with these featurettes and mini-docs is just how repetitive some of them get because so many are so short. You hear a lot of the same window-dressing about how big the production is and yada-yada-yada. But through all of the yada-yada-yada, there are nice meaty bits to enjoy, even though the necessity of two different sections focused on the score is a weird mystery to me. 

Theatrical 4K UHD

• Audio Commentary featuring Ron Howard (it’s the select scene commentary with a lot of gaps)
• Launching a Legacy (HD 4:27)
• Teaser Trailer (HD 2:05)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:14)

Extended 4K UHD

• Select Scenes Commentary featuring Ron Howard - with direct scene access (UHD 40:12)
• Paul Bettany
• The Louvre
• Filmign int he Louvre
• Ean Reno
• Audrey Tautou
• The Louvre at Night
• Stunts
• Silas
• Flashbacks
• A Lesson in History
• Exploring the Theories
• Double Decker Bus
• Remy’s Demise
• Shooting on Location
• Lincoln Cathedral
• Dramatic Moments
• Langdon’s Mind
• Teabing’s Fall
• Emotional Fallout
• Filming in Britain
• Filming in Scotland
• Rosslyn Chapel Mystery
• Sophie’s History
• Happy Accidents
• Follow That Bloodline
• Tom Hanks
• Dan Brown

Bonus Blu-ray

• First Day on the Set with Ron Howard (HD 2:13)
• A Discussion with Dan Brown (HD 4:52)
• A Portrait of Langdon (HD 7:18)
• Who is Sophie Neveu (HD 6:58)
• Unusual Suspects (HD 17:58)
• Magical Places (HD 15:58)
• Close-Up on Mona Lisa (HD 6:37)
• The Filmmaker’s Journey Part One (HD 24:40)
• The Filmmaker’s Journey Part Two (HD 12:20)
• The Codes of The Da Vinci Code (HD 5:33)
• The Music of The Da Vinci Code (HD 2:54)
• Book to Screen (HD 11:06)
• The Da Vinci Props (HD 9:43)
• The Da Vinci Sets (HD 9:10)
• Re-Creating Works of Art (HD 6:03)
• The Visual Effects World of The Da Vinci Code (HD 15:03)
• Scoring the Da Vinci Code (HD 9:44)
• Trailers

It’s weird being at that age where you can say, “I haven’t seen this film in 20 years…” I feel pretty damn old now! But I was all of 23 when The Da Vinci Code became a literary and cinematic phenomenon. I wasn’t enthralled by the novel; I enjoyed it, but I didn’t quite get what all the fuss was about. When it came to the movie, I was more annoyed that it was treating the audience like idiots who needed everything spelled out or unnecessarily pointed at to understand what was happening. But it turns out that might have had more to do with the pace of that truncated edit. I was genuinely surprised to feel like I was watching a much better movie with the Extended Cut. The pacing of the edit was much smoother, letting the extensive exchanges of exposition flow more convincingly than feeling like a plot-point dinner bell was constantly being rung. To that point, maybe I should give the sequels a shot one of these days - I truly have not seen either of the follow-up films. 

But to dutifully celebrate the 20th Anniversary of The Da Vinci Code, you thankfully don’t have to hunt for the Holy Grail - you just have to hope your Amazon order ships in a box and not a bubble bag! Having both cuts in 4K, Dolby Vision, and Atmos on their own 100 GB discs is a nice upgrade. The A/V is generally excellent for both versions of the film, but going forward, I’ll be paying more attention to the Extended Version. The bonus features are all recycled from past releases, but they were new to me, so that was a fun time picking through that material. If you’re a fan of the film and want the best edition, or if you haven’t added this film to your collection yet, this three-disc SteelBook is the way to go. Recommended