Paramount Presents brings Elvis Presley’s beloved 1961 classic, restored for this eye-popping Technicolor musical, on 4K Ultra-HD with HDR-10 and Dolby Vision. Chadwick “Chad” Gates ex-G.I. is coming home to Hawaii. Though his mother (Angela Lansbury) expects him to take over the family business, Chad would rather wear an aloha shirt than a white collar. When he goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend’s agency, it isn’t long before a group of amorous gals are fighting for his attention. The first of three movies starring Elvis shot in Hawaii, the film’s Grammy nominated album totaled 20 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.

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Video Quality

Paramount Home Entertainment presents Blue Hawaii with a sumptuous 2160p Dolby Vision transfer sourced from a 16-bit 4K digital restoration of the Original 35mm Camera Negative. The team at Paramount has opted to rebuild the opening title sequence from the original elements to enhance it past the previous duped film elements. This is one of those rare times when a studio has completely skipped past an earlier Blu-Ray release and made the call to go straight to a 4K UHD Blu-Ray release. This is how fans of the format always dream of being treated.

With this latest release, Paramount has really delivered on the promise of this release with a transfer that is truly stunning. The film features some vibrant tropical colors within the costumes and settings that yield an even greater degree of complexity and vibrancy. Just take a look at the red sports car to see how deep and radiant certain hues can be. The Dolby Vision brings a depth and stability of color that will knock your socks off. The black levels are close to perfect with nothing in the way of crush present, and white levels are solid with no trace of blooming.

The degree of detail and clarity is also a marvel while retaining the appropriate amount of natural film grain. There are very small signs of some digital clean-up, but it is not as prevalent as certain titles from the studio. Grain resolves favorably without ever being clumpy or unsightly. The texture on display in the costumes and within the production design are a revelation. Even facial details present with striking clarity. The film appears to be entirely free of dirt and damage, which gives it a bit of a timeless feel. There does not appear to be any jarring digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding or any other such nuisances. This is a top-tier effort from Paramount.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray provides a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 restored track which serves the movie decently, but we would just as soon have a restored version of the original mono track in lossless audio. For those who crave full immersion, the 5.1 track rarely does anything substantial with the extra channels even when it comes to fleshing out the environment. Purists who want the film as it was originally intended may be slightly disappointed that the mono track could not be included as an additional option. The track is pretty restrained when it comes to really digging deep. The track delivers crisp, clear dialogue that is never overwhelmed by any music or sound effects. The all-important songs rarely falter when it comes to fidelity. There are no noticeable age-related issues with this track. While not optimal, this track mostly does what it needs to do to provide a pleasant experience. Optional English, English SDH and French subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Historian James L. Neibaur provides a very informative commentary track of carefully crafted factoids about the film and Elvis at large with his expertise on the musical icon. You get a great sense of how this film fits into the Elvis narrative, the background of the songs in the film, the careers of the ensemble cast members, the direction of Norman Taurog and much more that fans will appreciate.
Blue Hawaii Photo Scrapbook: A nearly six-minute featurette is provided here which shows background photos from the production of the film.

Trailer: The three-minute trailer is presented here in standard definition.

Final Thoughts

Blue Hawaii is not the most substantial movie ever made, but it makes for an entertaining island romp. The star attraction of this tale is Elvis himself and the hit songs that he shoehorns into the narrative. The plot is honestly inconsequential, as the tertiary characters provide the bare minimum distinct characterization with no aim at real depth. The best you can say is that the film is not overly problematic as it brings its lighthearted island vibes. Paramount Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a decent commentary track. Fans of Elvis will find themselves blown away by this presentation. Recommended

Paramount Presents Blue Hawaii is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD + Blu-Ray Combo Pack and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD or Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Paramount 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.