Westworld: Season Four: The Choice - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Westworld: Season Four: The Choice



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
I’ve very rarely seen a rise and fall of a TV show so epic as Westworld. The 2017 released season one was one of THE very best opening seasons of all time. When I say that I think Westworld Season One was one of the best shows on television, I truly mean that. The season was INCREDIBLE, sucking the viewer into a world of synthetic humans, interconnected complex stories and time lines, and some of the best writing to come out of HBO since the first season of Game of Thrones dropped. It was, to put it mildly, a superb start to the show culminating in one of the single best TV show finales of all time. Then came season 2, which was a step down, but ultimately sort of in the right direction. Most of us figured that the writers had some issues with the material, and that being that season 2 wasn’t a bad season, we’d get back on track in season 3.

Oh, how ignorant we were on that front. By season 3 all of the things that made Westworld Westworld were completely gone. At this point the writers were just crafting your average run of the mill futuristic robot movie, and pretty much all of the exciting handoffs from the first (and some of the second season) season were completely ignored. The man in black was being over used, and the whole outside world was just a new playground for the writers to bring their robotic guests into. By season 4 the show was pretty much off the rails. Hyper identity politics reigned supreme, the action was boring, and by this point nobody really cared for Bernard or Thandie Newton’s character either. The man in black had some good bits of fun, but this year was a major let down.

Season 4 is more of a re imagining and re introducing elements of previous seasons in an effort to rebrand the show. Many episodes hearken back to events of years gone by, attempting to reintrodruce new variations on characters, as well as put you “back into the Matrix” so to speak. In fact, I’d almost say that this season really is more Matrix than Westworld by this point. Plugging people back in is pretty much the over arching theme, along with trying so hard to keep the show so convoluted that viewers actually think that the writing is as intelligent and thought provoking as season one.

One of the major confusion points stems from the introduction of Christina (Evan Rachel Wood) who seems to be an updated version of Dolores on the surface, working in a Manhattan video game production firm. The funny thing is, this once again reminds me of The Matrix: Resurrections or Free Guy where she’s creating video game characters of the Westworld characters she once new, which then creates a rather fine line between fiction and reality, culminating in (of course) a massive convergence point where she finally realizes who she really is.

Other major arcs include Maeve (Thankie Newton) and her relationship with Caleb (Aaron Paul), but one of the most disappointing events in the entire show is how the man in black is handled. Ed Harris did a PHENOMENAL job of the mysterious man in the first season, and he’s been rather well fleshed out in the previous two seasons after that, but this time they end his story arc with what is known as one of the worst character endings of all time. Not to mention the fact that now that HBO has canceled the series, the show’s limping into a finale is going to be cut even shorter. Game of Thrones at least had time to wrap up the story lines, even if it did so quite clumsily, but it looks like Westworld is not even going to have that dignity. However, at this point I really don’t think I care that much, as Westworld is a textbook example of how to tank your own TV show in record time.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




4K Video Video:

Much like previous seasons, the 4th and final season of the show retains a 1.78:1 framing with certain scenes (usually with Bernard I noticed) shifts out to a 2.39:1 scope image for effect. It's not some massive issue such as with Nolan films, but it's a strange choice for sure. The "mostly" digital image is crisp and clear, with bright outdoor shots, and sort of teal indoor scenes punctuated with brilliant whites. Blacks are deep and inky, and outside of some very mild mosquito nosie, I can see almost no artifacting. The use of HDR is superb, with blacks that are so deep as to loose yourself in them, and the colors of the outside worl have some incredibel pop. The first episode has some cloudy sequences that blur details a bit, but other than minor things like that this is just an amazing looking image. The only thing that keeps me from giving this season a perfect 5/5 is the occaisional bit of black crush and said mosquito noise. Otherwise digital (and a little bit of film) perfection straight from the tap.





Audio:

Following in the footsteps of the previous 3 years, the 4K UHD gets a Dolby Atmos track, while the Blu-rays included get a 5.1 DTS-HD MA. Westworld has always had a phenomenal sound mixture, so whether you get the 5.1 or the Atmos track you're going to be in for a treat, but rest assured that the Atmos mix is most definitely the superior one. It takes the basics of the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track and makes it just that much better. There's a better sense of immersion as sounds float around the room in a more agile manner, and directionality is definitely more precise and with a larger number of locations to pinpoint. The outdoor material is absolutely overflowing with ambient environmental effects, and the score can be absolutely pulse pounding at times (the first episode alone with the flys and the man in black is just crushing). Bass can be a bit hefty but never obtrusive, and dialog is spot on perfect. Simply put, this is a true demo worthy mix.





Extras:

• Westworld on the Road
• Westworld: An Exploration of Humanity
• Westworld's Temperance: A Set Tour
• Creating Westworld's Reality Episodes 1-8

Final Score: ​

I’ve said over the years with each and every review of the seasons as they release, I think that WestWorld Season One is probably one of the single best TV seasons of all time, but the show runners did everything in their power to squander that amazing good will created 5 years ago. I still watch the first season and view it as an amazing self contained story arc that ends absolutely beautifully, and while I do enjoy bits of the later seasons, feel their best watched on their own merits instead of trying to tie them in to the first year. Ah well. At least the 4K UHD is absolutely stunning in the technical department, so fans will be certain to really enjoy the home theater experience with the show. My recommendation is basically “meh, you can rent it if you want to finish off the series.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Aaron Paul
Created by: Jonathan Nolan, Michael Crichton
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, German DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Danish, Finnish, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Warner Brothers/HBO
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 436 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: Own it on 4K UltraHD and Blu-ray 11/29/22

Recommendation: Meh

 

[mechman]

I thought that this was the second best season of this series. They were kinda lost in season 3 and this one seems to have a bit more direction to it.