Based on the beloved best-selling novel, Wonder follows the inspiring story of the Pullman family, whose youngest child, Auggie, is a boy born with facial differences. When Auggie enters mainstream elementary school for the first time, his extraordinary journey unites his family, his school, and his community, and proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.
For thoughts on Wonder, please see my previous article here.
Video Quality
Lionsgate Home Entertainment brings Wonder to Blu-Ray with a really lovely 1080p video presentation. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots. The production design is bursting at the seams with little details along with the fabrics of clothing which this presentation displays with crystal clear textural detail. The image is clean with the bright color palette popping off the screen. The film employs nice splashes of bold colors within the production design, which makes for a very exciting image. The black levels are appropriately deep and inky with no major instances of compression detected. The flesh tones are natural with a magnificent amount of detail present in close-ups, especially with the heavy makeup applied. This Blu-Ray is an excellent representation of this movie that should please fans.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a stellar Dolby True HD 7.1 Master Audio track that captures this mostly reserved movie beautifully. The track is not very complex outside of a few kinetic moments, but the environmental sounds of the world engage the surround speakers in a really pleasing way. When the characters are walking through crowds, there are some really nice ambient details that flesh out the setting. Dialogue is the key element of the film, and it always comes through crisp and clear without being clipped by any competing sounds. The music in the film fills the speakers in a wonderful, well-balanced way. These songs engage the low end of the track in a way that provides a nice texture to the proceedings. The audio track is an excellent sounding presentation for this feature in all respects.
Special Features
Lionsgate has provided Wonder with an optional sleek new Steelbook available exclusively at Target that is truly lovely in person. The case comes with a removable slipcase with an animated depiction of Auggie in his space helmet against a colorful space background. The artwork underneath is the same animated depiction but with Auggie’s face visible, and the rear features an animated depiction of this mom looking down at him smiling with space-themed textured drawings surrounding her. The interior sports a depiction of Auggie jumping through space with the dog sitting on Earth. Photos of the Steelbook can be found at the end of this review.
- Audio Commentary: Director Stephen Chbosky and Author R.J. Palacia deliver a fairly entertaining and informative commentary track in which they discuss bringing this material to the screen, trying to capture the right scale with the points of view, the performances from the children, the makeup effects and more.
- Summer Of Fun Multi-Part Documentary: A five-part 58-minute documentary which offers an incredible look at the processing of adapting the material, the issue of casting this story, the challenges of the makeup effects, the message of the film and more.
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- A (Com)Passion Project
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- Family Matters
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- A Technical Wonder
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- A Note Of Kindness
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- We All Deserve A Standing Ovation At Least Once In Our Lives
- A Child’s Sense Of Wonder: A 13-minute featurette which looks at the young performers in the film and the energy they bring to a film set that captures the fun of making a movie.
- What A Wonderful Place: A nearly 13-minute piece which takes a look at the location scouting process and what the creative team wanted to accomplish visually with the narrative.
- “Brand New Eyes” Music Video: A three-minute video is provided here with clips from the film.
- Theatrical Trailers: Three minutes worth of trailers are provided here.
- Wonder Soundtrack Behind The Scenes: A four-minute piece which gives the disc a chance to promote the soundtrack.
Final Thoughts
Wonder is an emotionally fulfilling film which really makes you believe in the good of humanity. The movie has a sweet sensibility that should not be mistaken for saccharine. The movie has heart but remains believable throughout thanks to the thoughtful performances from the cast. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a new Blu-Ray featuring the same top-tier A/V presentation and special features it has always had but in a stunning new SteelBook. If you have yet to purchase this film and do not need to own the film in 4K UHD, this is a really nice release. Recommended
Wonder is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray in Limited Edition SteelBook Packaging exclusively from Target.
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.
