An epic fantasy adventure, The Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom.
For in-depth thoughts on The Green Knight, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
The Green Knight makes the most of its 4K 2160p presentation in 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc. The cinematography featured in this film is among the most stunning to grace screens this year, and this disc replicates it beautifully. This presentation especially shows its worth with black levels that are incredibly deep and detailed with digital noise absent from the screen. The 4K presentation provides a depth of field that just cannot be replicated as well with the accompanying Blu-Ray. Brighter scenes wow with an intense clarity and a strong handle of white levels that show no evidence of blooming. Skin tones look very realistic throughout and show a great amount of facial detail. Color highlights are another area of substantial improvement in comparison to the Blu-Ray. Colors look more natural in this presentation with multiple instances of vibrant hues featuring golds, greens, reds, purples and more that really dazzle. Overall, this is an excellent 4K UHD presentation that offers a noticeable uptick in clarity and depth.
Audio Quality
This disc comes equipped with an incredibly effective Dolby Atmos presentation that fully immerses you in this world. There are elements in this track that are truly unnerving, such as the sounds of The Green Knight thunderously stomping. Sounds are appropriately rendered with precise directionality from the more kinetic scenes to the quieter dialogue-driven scenes filled with subtle whispers. The score from Daniel Hart brings to life a truly thrilling soundscape. Dialogue is presented perfectly clear without ever being overwhelmed by any of the competing sonic elements. The low end is engaged well when the scene call for it and there are a lot of sonic elements at play. The sound design of this film is quite specific, and 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.
Special Features
- Boldest Of Blood & Wildest Of Heart – Making The Green Knight: A 35-minute featurette in which the cast and crew discuss the origins of the story, the themes of the film, the casting and characters, the dank filming locations, the production design, the costume design and more. Lowery is such a thoughtful director and his comments really help guide you through the production process along with the copious amounts of behind-the-scenes footage.
- Practitioners Of Magic – Visual Effects: A 15-minute piece which dives into how they pulled off the visual effects in the film including some before and after shots, location scouting, model work and much more. Side note: Practitioners is misspelled on the menu screen.
- Illuminating Technique – Title Design: An eight-minute featurette with Title Designer Teddy Blanks in which he talks about the use of titles in the feature, working with Lowery, getting inspiration for the film and more.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
The Green Knight is not a film for all audiences, but those who fall under its spell with positively love it. The visual wonder that David Lowery has captured on screen is something to be appreciated as the grand work of art that it is. Dev Patel is transfixing in the lead role, and he proves once again that he is one of our most exciting performers currently working. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with an A/V presentation that will knock your socks off and a decent assortment of special features. This is one of the best films of the year. Highly Recommended
The Green Knight will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital on October 12, 2021.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD 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.
