Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a flustered immigrant mother, is contacted from a parallel universe and told that only she can save the world. The unlikely hero must learn to channel her newfound powers and fight through the splintering timelines of the multiverse to save her home, her family, and herself in this big-hearted and irreverent adventure. With Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
For in-depth thoughts on Everything Everywhere All At Once, please see my colleague Payton Coelho’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Everything Everywhere All At Once comes to Blu-Ray in its original variety of aspect ratios with a gorgeous transfer that is no slouch even knowing that there is a 4K version on the market. The resulting image is truly spectacular to behold. While certainly not as flawless as the 4K UHD likely is, there is a great amount of depth and clarity to the picture with subtle details coming through clearly. There is some really cool production design featured in the film with the various stylized locations, which you can really appreciate with this transfer. There are a variety of landscapes presented here with each location providing something exciting to explore.
What is important to note is the different stylistic choices in play within the cinematography. Some shots are intentionally soft and glamorous to evoke old Hollywood, while others are razor sharp with dynamic detail. Every location is handled with the precision you would hope from a modern disc. The film employs a distinct color palette for many of the different universes, often dictating how much detail is available to the audience. The ways in which The Daniels find ways to inject pops of color within the costumes and production design never ceases to amaze. Skin tones all look very natural and provide a good amount of facial detail in close ups. Black levels hold up well with very little in the way of black crush or noise. The few very brief instances of compression artifacts and banding are likely cleaned up on the 4K UHD Blu-Ray, so if you are capable you should likely go with that option.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a jaw-dropping Dolby Atmos audio mix that is completely enveloping and ready to throw you through the multiverse. This is an incredibly active track that provides all manner of epic sound effects and a terrific score from Son Lux to stir up your emotions. There is a ton of activity in the low end that pulses through you in the most impactful of ways. Dialogue is clear and well balanced when compared with the cavalcade of competing sounds. There is nearly always something going on in the surrounds, but there is never that much difficulty hearing what everyone is saying. The height channels are used to interesting effect in some of the more fantastical sequences. All of the sounds emanate from the appropriate directions, and there are absolutely no technical issues with the track. This one is all encompassing in the best ways. There are optional English SDH, Spanish and Chinese (Traditional) subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Writers-Directors Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert provide a really fun commentary track in which they discuss their experiences making the film, how the editing of the film evolves to suit the narrative, the dynamics between the cast members, hidden secrets of the production design, abandoned universes they left out of the film, the unexpected inspiration from Home Alone, and more.
- Almost Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Everything Everywhere All At Once: A terrific 41-minute exploration of the film which throws in some fun flourishes into your typical behind-the-scenes featurette. You get interviews with most of the main cast and creative team as they discuss their relationship to the story, how they went about creating the various worlds, the opportunity this narrative gives to explore various facets of their talent, the costumes and production design, the impressive visual effects, the editing of the film and more.
- Putting Everything On The Bagel – Cooking Up The Multiverse: A ten-minute piece in which many of these same creative figures discuss the origins of this project, the creativity of The Daniels, the stunt work of the performers and more.
- Alpha-Bits: A nearly 12-minute look at the VFX and stunt work in the film which gives you an intriguing peek into how things evolved from the raw footage to what we see on screen.
- Deleted Scenes with Commentary: A 14-minute collection of unused footage is presented here with commentary from The Daniels to give some context as to where things would have taken place in the film and why they were ultimately cut. Some scenes include some unfinished VFX work, but all are worth checking out.
- Outtakes: A nearly nine-minute collection of “behind the scenes goofiness” including flubbed lines, malfunctioning props, green screen fun, animals on set and more.
- Music Visual: A three-minute video for “This Is A Life” by Son Lux, Mitski and David Byrne.
- Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
Everything Everywhere All At Once is the type of movie for which we live to experience. This may seem like an exaggeration, but every year we are treated to a seemingly endless lineup of movies that are just slight variations on things that have come before. That is not to say they cannot be elevated by some element of artistry such as the filmmaking or the performances, but there never ceases to be a desire to simply be amazed. The Daniels have crafted a film that amazes in every respect. The mixture of visual excess with thematic resonance allows this film to feel like an out of body experience we do not want to end. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a very lovely A/V presentation and a spectacular array of special features. In an era where so much is the same, this feature is worth checking out for something a little different. Recommended
Everything Everywhere All At Once is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.