Saw 2 over the weekend that have been sitting on my shelf for a while. First up was The Great Wall 4K. Seriously good picture and sound quality. HDR on full display for a gorgeous picture. Sound to match. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Story was a little thin in places, but overall kept me interested to the end pretty well. A few interesting extras about the making of the film, typical stuff.
Second up was Hacksaw Ridge 4K. This was a BIG surprise to me. I ended up liking this one much more than I expected. I knew the basic plot coming in, but was not intimately familiar with the details of the true story. Wow!! I know everybody else probably watched it a year ago, but I haven't had the time. I think the picture quality was good, but I was too wrapped up in the film to concentrate on it. The sound was very good too. I didn't think it was overdone, but supported the action very well to make you feel like you were there without blowing your eardrums. The whirlwind love story between Desmond and his wife, Dorothy, from meeting, through dating and when they were finally married was beautifully done. I don't normally go for romances, that's my wife's thing, but this was magic I thought. The interplay between Desmond and the other soldiers and even his superiors was extremely well done throughout, although it felt like the boot camp scenes were a bit mild compared to reality, just guessing. Maybe out of respect for Desmond. But the transition from the way he was treated in boot camp, to his fight to stay in the Army, to battle field and his heroics thereon was just done so well I couldn't get enough of it. Mel Gibson managed to pull this off (in my opinion of course) without being too schmaltzy or not entertaining enough in the transition. The transformation of the opinions about Desmond of all who were with him from Boot Camp to the Battlefield, including his fellow soldiers and his commanders, was universally monumental and extremely satisfying to watch. The hour and 40 minute making of (surprisingly actually contained on the UHD itself) was almost as entertaining as the film. We get to learn a little bit more about the man Desmond Doss, of his opposition to a movie being made about his story, and how Hollywood even sent Audie Murphy to try and talk Desmond into letting them make his story into a movie. We also get to hear his still living son talk about him lovingly with a tear in his eye. He talks about their family and how the casting was so accurate he caught himself thinking he was watching his actual parents on screen. This was a very satisfying watch. Mel Gibson is also quite entertaining at telling how he did this and that to get the look and effects they wanted. Love Eastwood, but Gibson is much more entertaining at this part. So, for that one person left here that maybe hasn't seen this film yet, I highly recommend it!