Disclosure Day - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Disclosure Day



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:




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Movie
I know this may sound weird, but I had effectively ignored every major spoiler about Disclosure Day up until this viewing. For some reason the only real spoiler I ever heard about the film was the negative reception to it over the last month or two. I mean, I somehow managed to only watch the trailer, and then miss every youtube video, forum discussion, or friends spoiling the movie for me for some reason. I don’t know how that miracle happened with my line of work and social media, but it was just a perfect storm of happenstance that led me to this viewing. Going in I knew that the public reception was pretty weak, and I genuinely expected nothing out of this movie. And throughout the first hour and 15 minutes I really didn’t know WHY either. The puzzle box mystery was fun, Emily Blunt is wonderful in everything she does, and the story was exciting and engaging. Then came the final hour, and suddenly everything made sense. What started out as a great sci-fi puzzle box mystery, started to devolve quickly, and by the time the credits started to roll I completely understand the mediocre theatrical reception I was seeing online.

Penned by Spielberg and David Koepp, and directed by Spielberg, Disclosure Day is basically what happens when Spielberg decides to retell Close Encounters of the Third King as told through the lens of J.J. Abrams puzzle box methodology. The film starts out with Daniel Kelner (Josh O’Connor) escaping from a government like agency with data discs and what seems like a powerful artifact. Heading up the hunt for the young thief is Special Agent Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), desperate to make sure the public doesn’t find out about the information that Daniel has stolen. Simultaneously we have TV weather girl Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), who suddenly starts having the ability to know what people around her are thinking, feeling, and experiencing. Desperate to make sense of it all, Margaret somehow latches on to Daniel’s thoughts and soon the two are in a race against time to tell the world what so many hidden elites wish to keep secret.

I don’t even have to really keep the twist of what this secret is a….well…...secret, but I will for those who want to go in truly blind. But needless to say, it fuels the narrative of the story going forward, with the two lead characters acting as conduits for that to happen. I really enjoyed the first act of the movie, and even most of the second as well. The first hour and 15 minutes of the 2.5 hour film is thrilling and exciting, wrapped in a J.J. Abrams like puzzle box story that bit by bit unfolds in front of our eyes. I was genuinely wondering where al the hate was coming from. Especially with some high octane chases and the promise of a huge reveal in the 3rd act. And then around the hour and 15 minute mark things start to fall apart. And fall apart in a big way. Once the massive reveal is let loose, things start to make less and less sense. And by the time everything wraps up on air it has gone so far off the rails that I genuinely wonder what Spielberg was thinking with this one.

On one hand I genuinely love Spielberg’s sense of wonder in his films. You can tell the man has respect and awe for the unkown, and it comes out in spades here. There’s this child like sesne of glee when the final act unfolds, but the rest of the film is set so seriously that it feels out of place here. And the main premise is almost aking to Predators, except in the case of Autism being humanities evolution leap forward (as told by the final Predator boss), it’s empathy. And the reveal for that little tidbit comes across in a very simpering and cringey manner. Not to mention that there are more questions at the end of the film than there are answers, leaving me to wonder if Spielberg didn’t just take puzzle box mystery clues from J.J. Abrams, but Abrams amazing lack of ability to actually close the loop on his puzzle boxes.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images and strong language.




Video:

Using a mixture of film and digital sources, then transferred to a native 4K Digital Intermediate, the resulting image is quite spectacular. This is very much a Spielberg film to the core, with vivid renderings, heavy use of sepia and Autumn tingings give this a warm and homey feeling. There are bits of blue throughout as well, especially the box car chase, the opening scene, and the final night time confrontation at the news station. Fine details are generally really good, with nuanced facial details, clothing and intimate background details. That being said, this is a Spielberg film, and that means we get some of those heaven like glowing shots that sometimes bloom and cause lens flair, resulting in a softer looking image during those bits. Shadow detail and black levels are unreal though, and even with the heavy color grading, never compromise details.







Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track found on both the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD disc is very much in the same vein as the video score. Amazing score, just not perfection. The film is very much dialog driven, with huge swathes of the film being largely spoken word and John William’s score filling out the back and low end of the room. But there are several standout action scenes through, such as the before mentioned train chase, that really liven things up and add some massive weight to the low end. Overheads get used with various discrete and score based sounds, and the LFE punches well above its weight class, but is so impeccably balanced that it never really stands out and outshines any one aspect of the mix.










Extras:

• ENCOUNTERING THE UNKNOWN: INSIDE DISCLOSURE DAY
• SPIELBERG & WILLIAMS: A LEGENDARY COLLABORATION
• Trailers

Final Score: ​

So yeah, I found the movie a bit ad odds with itself. Almost like there are two movies in one being show here. The first takes place in the first hour and 15 minutes, while the second starts right after that. I liked a goodly portion of the first half of the movie, but once the big reveal happens the film’s moment slows down and keeps slowing down till it’s nearly at a crawl by the time end credits scrawl starts. That being said, it is a highly visual treat that has Spielberg’s fingers all over it, and is at least worth checking out. That being said, I found this to be one of the weakest Spielberg entries in his entire filmography. And by a decent amount too. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, with some moderate extras on board for fans. My final recommendation is that it’s worth checking out, but with expectations diminished.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: David Koepp, Steven Spielberg
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Spanish, French DD+ 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: NR
Runtime: 145 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 25th, 2026

Recommendation: Middling Watch