South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was animated digitally in a process that’s meant to replicate the look of traditional “done by hand” animation with physical pieces of colored construction paper (which is how the original South Park pilot was created). Upon completion, the film was scanned to 35 mm internegative stock framed at the 1.85:1 aspect ratio for its original theatrical release. For this new Ultra HD, it appears that original negative has itself been scanned in 4K to create a new Digital Intermediate, with new grading for high dynamic range in Dolby Vision. Essentially all of the detail—such as there is—that’s in that original negative is represented here on screen, including all of the line work and faux paper texturing. But there’s also a very light wash of photochemical grain that’s natural and organic looking at all times. Colors are well saturated and all of the subtle variations in hues and shading that were present in the original digital animation are visible. Beyond that, there’s not really much else to say. HDR expands the color and contrast space a little, but given the nature of this animation the improvements are very subtle. The film certainly looks great, and arguably better than it ever has before, but no one is going to mistake this for a reference quality 4K image—it’s just not that kind of film.
Likewise, the film’s English audio, which is included here in the same 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix found on the original 2009 Blu-ray release (reviewed here at The Bits) sounds very good indeed. The soundstage is pleasingly wide, but largely front focused, with the surround channels engaged lightly for a bit of atmospherics, some occasional directional cues, and musical ambience. Clarity and fidelity are good as well, and the music sounds great from start to finish. Note that the 4K disc includes English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and French 5.1 Dolby Digital, with optional subtitles in English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and French. The Blu-ray disc in the package also includes the English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix but that’s all, with subs available in English (this is Sing-a-Long text) and English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing only.
Paramount’s new Ultra HD package is a 2-disc set that includes the film in 4K as well as 1080p HD on Blu-ray. (Note that this is a newly-authored disc, with new menus and encoding, not the same BD released in 2009.) There are no extras on the 4K disc itself, but the Blu-ray adds the following special features…
- Audio Commentary with Matt Stone and Trey Parker
- What Would Brian Boitano Do? Music Video (SD – 2:44)
- Teaser Trailer (HD – :55)
- Theatrical Trailer #1 (HD – 1:32)
- Theatrical Trailer #2 (SD – 1:51)
These features are identical to those found on the 2009 Blu-ray, including the full-length audio commentary which was recorded specifically for that disc. It’s a very funny track. Trey and Matt joke, laugh, and tell great stories, then start inviting in other staffers and just about anyone who happened to be in the building at the time... whether they worked on the film or not. (“Wow, I can’t believe it’s been ten years since I didn’t work on this film!”) You get the idea. The commentary is a hoot. Also included are a trio of trailers in HD, and the original 1999 DVD’s music video. You also get a Digital Copy code on a paper insert, though it only redeems at Fandango at Home (ex Vudu).
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To be fair, I’m not sure how much that experience really needed (or benefits from) a 4K Ultra HD upgrade, but what the hell—it’s like $23 on sale. If you really love this film, there are worse ways to spend your cash. And it makes a nice double-feature with Parker and Stone’s Team America: World Police which is also now available in 4K Ultra HD from Paramount (see our review here). Enjoy!
As a young computer nerd, the Bill Gates / Windows 98 bit had me in stitches.