Waterworld 4K UHD Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

There's not a grandiose improvement over the Blu-ray in terms of raw fidelity/detail. Waterworld appears somewhat fuzzy much of the time, but it's not a master lacking in definition when at its best. Facial definition shows off in places, with wide shots generally dull. Arrow's encode handles the grain structure decently with a handful of gaffes, mostly within smoke and haze. Side-by-side though, it's a minor jump, and likely a 2K scan.

Moderately warm color benefits on UHD. Bronzed flesh tones make sense in context. Flames erupt in a brilliant orange, and water's blue-ish tinge becomes quite noticeable with the extra oomph.

The major gain for Waterworld comes via Dolby Vision. Sunlight reflects from water brilliantly. When Costner shines a rearview mirror at kids early on, the effect is legitimately blinding. This helps the disc maintain a consistent sense of improvement given the gains in dimensionality.

Note only the theatrical cut is offered in 4K.

Audio

A rare occurrence, Arrow double dips Waterworld, and includes a fresh Atmos mix, and it's infinitely better than the flat DTS-HD track of before, if a bit too much. Bass was non-existent on the Blu-ray, and now it's a brutal, room-shaking powerhouse. Arguably, this is an over correction, lacking balance and nuance, but at least it's showing range. The rest of the mix is a proper success.

Water is an appropriate constant, splashing in the surrounds and stereos around dialog. It’s specific too. Watch for waves. When seen, they pop in the needed channel. Accuracy is a marvel. Atmos effects in the ship's underbelly captures grinding gears overhead. Sails creak above the characters as appropriate, and this is all in addition to the great directionality of before.

Major action scenes pepper the stage with bullets and shredded metal. In crowds, screams jump channel to channel. Vehicles pass through speakers flawlessly, especially a bi-plane that begins a full circle pattern. Each speaker catches on something during that attack. Superb stuff.