Snake Eyes 4K UHD Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Bringing a rather rotten, acid-like color palette, the Dolby Vision pass can't help alleviate that creative choice. Vivid yellows, oversaturated reds, messy greens - Snake Eyes goes overboard, but to some credit, it's high on vibrancy, if not the usual primaries. There's almost a surreal glow to each frame, which is helped by the deep color.

Also, it's dynamic, heavy on the contrast and pumping up the brightness. That drives energy into the frame consistently, matched by full, dense black levels. Shadows show spectacular consistency. If Dolby Vision makes one significant impact compared to Blu-ray, it's here. That's not abnormal for the format, but rather Snake Eyes is an especially potent case.

Upscaled from a digital 2K finish, that process brings with it a few issues. Ringing becomes visible on high contrast edges, if infrequently. Fidelity overall stays firm, if roughened by the lower resolution source. Textural clarity in close defines facial detail, but flattens when at distance. Establishing shots and exteriors look rudimentary, saved more by contrast than added sharpness.

Audio

At moments, Snake Eyes' Atmos mix accurately follows the hectic action. Swordplay bounces between the available speakers. Vehicles pan, and where possible, overheads follow along to make themselves noticed. For a major studio action movie though, it's rudimentary, almost as if on a budget.

Worse, low-end effects suffer from pinched range, similar to Disney's failures on the format. The visual scale isn't represented in the subwoofer at all, even when at its deepest. Overall volume sits too low as well, also like those Disney discs.