What’s going on guys! Welcome back to Spare Change. Today in for review we’ve got one of my top favorite movies of all time “Heat” on iTunes 4k. I think this was supposed to be released on 4k Blu-ray at some point in time but it hasn’t happened yet. So, the next best thing is 4k streaming. I want to discuss plot details because I’m sure you’ve already seen it and if you haven’t go and pick it up now. It’s a classic.
Now for some quick tech specs. The film was shot in 35 millimeters. It’s got a 4k DI. Runtime is 170 minutes. It’s rated R. Aspect ratio it’s 2:35.1. So, if you’re watching this on a TV, you’ll get those black bars on the top and bottom of your screen.
Now for video quality, it is sharper and tighter than the regular Blu-ray. Like in chapter 32, during the bank shootout, the building’s walls and roads displayed a noticeable increase in texture and sharpness. Close-up shots were rendered much cleaner with facial hair and clothing appearing more discernible over this thinner Blu-ray. This film was shot on 35 millimeters So, you won’t be getting a razor sharp 4k image. And there obviously is gonna be a fair amount of film grain throughout.
So, grain haters look out. Though the image does get a boost in clarity. There’s also a softness to it from being shot on film. HDR usage improves the color palette some by bringing a little extra detail in the darker areas. But I found black levels to be both deeper and contrasty. And other times there’d be some black crush happening. There was some polarization and macro blocking during some scenes but that could just be the stream. Most of this film does have a dark look with a lot of dark shades of blues So, you won’t find any standout HDR pops of color. But some of the nighttime shots did look great with the city lights shining brightly. And sunset shots had richer shades of color.
Audio for the iTunes stream was either in Dolby Digital 5.1. Or you could select multi-channel PCM5.1. I listen to the PCM mix and found it sounded the same as the Blu-rays DTS-HD version. If you’ve heard this before, you’ll know it has a nice wide soundstage with always present ambient effects from outdoor sounds, all the way to busy office sounds coming through all the speakers with very good clarity. The Bank shootout in chapter 32 has always been and still is a reference demo scene. I use the show of my system, there’s no background music just straight gunshots and reverb and some silence. It’s loud it’s hard-hitting and accurate sounding.
The musical score is also a highlight of this film. It sounded excellent from very soft passages to very high crescendos. It’s a great soundtrack and really elevates the film.
Bass response is felt when needed with very good mid bass and being a dialogue heavy film. Vocals were always clear. So, no issues there. So, for being a 5.1 audio mix, I’d have to give it an 8.5, could a new immersive mix help out the experience maybe but for being only 5.1, it still sounds great after all these years.
For video quality I’d have to go with a 7.5. This would seem to be the best it’s going to look for now, as it isn’t super sharp and super crisp but it’s a definite boost over the regular Blu-ray.
Now if you’re a fan on the film and have an Apple TV 4k, it’s a must on. If you’ve never seen it I’d say give it a watch. Now if you’ve enjoyed this video, give us a thumb up. Check out our social media links down below .and if you’re new here hit that subscribe button. And we’ll see you guys again in the next video.