Inspired by Steven Spielberg’s own childhood, rediscover the magic of movies in THE FABELMANS, a coming-of-age story about a young man uncovering a shattering family secret and the power of film and imagination to help us see the truth about ourselves and each other. With a star-studded cast featuring Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn), Paul Dano (The Batman, There Will Be Blood), Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs, An American Pickle), Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator, “American Gigolo”) and Academy Award® nominee Judd Hirsch (Uncut Gems, Ordinary People), THE FABELMANS tells a timeless tale of heartbreak, healing, and hope for the dreamer inside all of us.

For in-depth thoughts on The Fabelmans, please see my colleague Larry Fried’s review from its TIFF debut here.

Video Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of The Fabelmans offers a notable uptick in quality over the already fetching accompanying Blu-Ray. Film grain is deftly managed which allows even more detail to come out of the rich production design. With film being such an important part of the narrative, it is a treat to see different film stocks such as 16mm and 8mm show up alongside the 35mm with each process being rendered to visual perfection. The deficiencies are not overlooked, but rather embraced while still looking cohesive with the remainder of the film. The film grain resolves well so nothing appears to swarm or feel static, and the encode remains solid so there are no compression artifacts or anything of the sort. Skin tones appear more natural with healthy doses of crisp detail apparent on faces such as pores and perspiration.

The increased range of the color spectrum is stunning to behold. The HDR/Dolby Vision enriches the colors from already bold to out of this world when it comes to accuracy. The sun-drenched Arizona landscape keeps mostly to earth tones and pops of green vegetation, but there are nuances throughout each location. There are some brilliant bursts of color in some of the clothing on display throughout. The highlights in the film are more defined with whites pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. The black levels are especially strong in this presentation, staying deep and inky with great detail even in the darkest spaces. This 4K UHD presentation really delivers on all fronts including strong gains in clarity and color. The Blu-Ray is great, but Universal has delivered another memorable transfer on this latest 4K release.

Audio Quality

This disc comes equipped with an effective Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless presentation that translates this world perfectly. Dialogue is the star of the show and it is presented clearly without ever being overwhelmed by any of the competing sonic elements. There are moments in this track that are truly enveloping, such as the sounds of the model train crash or the approaching tornado, but these are more so anomalies in an otherwise sonically subdued film. That does not mean there are not inventive displays of sound mixing, but this is not attempting to deliver a blockbuster sound experience.

Sounds are appropriately rendered with precise directionality from the more active scenes to the quieter dialogue-driven scenes filled with subtle whispers. The score from John Williams brings a decent warmth to the film. The low end is engaged well as an extension of certain exciting elements, but it is not a standout in this regard. The implementation of environmental sounds are executed very effectively. The mix here is very well done with nice engagement of all the channels, which makes this track more than satisfactory for fans of the film. There are optional English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles provided.

Special Features

The Fabelmans – A Personal Journey: An 11-minute featurette which takes a look at the very emotional journey of Steven Spielberg revisiting the memories of his childhood, telling a story that reflects a general human experience, blending fiction with reality, Spielberg’s work with Tony Kushner, the place of Jewish culture in this story, the character dynamics and more.

Family Dynamics: A pretty engaging nearly 16 minute piece which takes a look at the casting of Spielberg’s family, the characteristics the actors tried to capture on film, the qualities that the performers brought to the roles, and much more that is enlightening.

Crafting The World Of The Fabelmans: A really rewarding 22-minute exploration of the various craft categories that brought this world of Spielberg’s past to life through production design, costumes, the props, the score and more. There are some very lovely insights into how a few sequences were brought to the screen.

Final Thoughts

The Fabelmans finds director Steven Spielberg working through his family trauma in his most straightforward manner to date. The film is a really solid adult drama the likes of which we rarely get in the modern studio era, but it is not one that stands anywhere near the top for the director. The pacing is a bit inconsistent and the emotional core of the film often feels a bit hollow. The film is very watchable with impressive attention paid to crafting an environment that transports you to this time and place. The performers do their jobs just fine even if they are not all on equal footing. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a few decent supplemental features. While not the absolute best from the filmmaker, we are happy Spielberg has been able to fully confront his young adult trauma. Recommended

The Fabelmans will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray and DVD on February 14, 2023. The film is currently available to own on Digital.

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

Disclaimer: Universal Pictures 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.