Maybe I’m just in a bad mood from having dental surgery yesterday, or maybe there’s something odd happening at Disney these days. But what, exactly, is going on with some of their Ultra HD Blu-ray soundtracks.
Some of their recent releases have problems you wouldn’t expect. They’re not fatal, but do suggest inconsistency.
First we have to go back a few years to the release of Frozen. It’s not yet available on Ultra HD Blu-ray (why not ?), but when I reviewed it I was a little disappointed in the sound. I’ve subsequently been able to let it go and enjoy it, but it still appears to lack a bit of the air and dynamic punch I hear from the best Disney titles.
Then, more recently, came Thor: Ragnarok. It was criticized by some for being mastered at a low level (significantly lower than the level used for the menus) and for its limited bass—or at least limited compared to the expectations set by other Disney Marvel movies.
I recently gave a (not yet published) review of Ralph Breaks the Internet and complained about the sound there as well. A re-listen after press deadline, and after re-tweaking my system, left me with a much more positive feeling about it. But it still fell a bit short of what I expected, given the best sounding recent Disney titles such as Avengers: Infinity War. Perhaps I was just being too picky given the different requirements of the two films.
I recently picked up the Ultra Blu-ray release of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and was initially disappointed in its audio track as well...
