Director: Neill Blomkamp
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Duration: 109 minutes
Elysium (2013) (4K UHD) – Movie Review
We’re only a month and a half into 2021 and it seems Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is already trying to get us in the mood for a dystopian or apocalyptic new year. The company has recently rereleased Elysium and 2012 on a 4K UHD format. While 2012 has also been delivered to our office, we’ll first revisit Matt Damon in a dystopian future in 2154. For those who haven’t seen this interesting take on the future of our planet, there is quite a bit of gore to explore in Elysium. Did we mind? Not at all.
As always, with the 4K releases we won’t dive into reviewing the movie itself, as it has already received loads of reviews when it was initially released in 2013, and later when it hit the normal physical DVD and Blu-ray formats. Nonetheless, in Elysium, we travel to the future of 2154, where the Earth has become a barren and dying place to live, only suitable for those of a ‘lower’ descent. Those with influence and money live on Elysium, a utopian space station, where even death can be postponed because of the medical advancements that have been made over the years. We get to see what happens to Max (Matt Damon) however, as he struggles back on Earth, trying to buy his way into Elysium. Sadly, being treated as expendable, he gets into an accident, where he will only have a few days left to live. To save his life with a medbay on Elysium, he accepts to undertake a mission to kidnap a high-ranked Elysian for a ticket to the space station. While Max is inherently a good guy, he does want to take revenge on the Elysian that was co-responsible for the accident, as well as had the power to actually save Max’s life.
For a 2013 release, by the same director as District 9, the movie looks as if it could have been released very recently. The special effects, and the many practical effects, were handled with extreme care. There is a huge amount of gore and violence in this movie, but in a way, it suits the gritty and dirty setting of the film. The 4K version of course enhances this, and as just said, this could very well be a recent release, especially thanks to the enhancements.
The 4K UHD edition of Elysium comes with a decent number of extras, often of the ‘making of’ kind. You’ll get about an hour of extra content, as to how the movie was made. Even by today’s standards, some of the effects in the movie are still outstanding in terms of combining practical effects with CGI. The special features add a lot of bang for your buck if you wish to have this edition in your collection.
Conclusion
With the earlier release of District 9 on 4K UHD, adding Elysium to your collection as well makes it into a nice set. While Elysium is not quite obsolete and antique just yet, seeing many of the well-done practical effects in high resolution adds another layer to an already impressive experience. This is one of the better 4K releases we have seen from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment during the last few months.
Elysium (2013) (4K UHD) – Movie Review,
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