Description

Kraven the Hunter (Blu-ray)

Sony Pictures | 2024 | 127 min | Rated R | Released March 4, 2025
Part of the 2-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital SteelBook Edition

Genres: Superhero | Action | ️ Comic Book | ‍♂️ Fantasy-Adventure

Disc Specs

• Blu-ray Disc (BD-50)
• Video: MPEG-4 AVC | 1080p
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Audio:
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
  • French (Canada) DTS-HD MA 5.1
  • Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Descriptive Audio track available
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
• Region Code: A (B, C untested)

The Movie

Rating: ★½ (1.5/5)

This film desperately wants to be both Shakespearean tragedy and gritty comic book origin, but the result is a disjointed jungle of conflicting tones, laughable dialogue, and character motivations that are barely sketched. Despite Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s total commitment and impressive physicality, he’s trapped in a mess of a script and surrounded by performances that range from baffled to campy (Russell Crowe, we’re looking at you).

The tone veers from mystical animal spirit guide to edgy vengeance thriller to family drama — and never settles. Add in uneven pacing and a painfully undercooked villain in Rhino, and you’ve got a superhero film more notable for what it could have been than what it actually is.

Video Quality (1080p Blu-ray)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.0/5)

While not quite as vivid or dimensional as its 4K counterpart, this Blu-ray offers a solid, polished presentation of Kraven the Hunter:

• Detail & Texture: Facial stubble, sweat, fur, and jungle foliage all render cleanly
• Color Palette: Still rich, but less nuanced than the Dolby Vision 4K version. The film’s heavily stylized grading (deep teals, golden interiors, misty blues) holds up well
• Black Levels: Deep and mostly stable, with only occasional softness in shadow detail
• Compression: No banding, macroblocking, or artifacting — Sony delivers a clean encode again ✅

➤ A strong 1080p effort, but bested by the 4K disc in brightness, HDR contrast, and color accuracy.

Audio Quality (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Rating: ★★★★★ (5.0/5)

This Blu-ray comes armed with a thunderous, well-balanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix:

• LFE: Deep bass hits during fights, stampedes, and explosions give great weight
• Directionality: Clear front-to-back motion in action scenes — especially the chaotic finale
• Ambient Design: Jungle and urban settings come alive with layered environmental effects ️
• Dialogue: Clear, even during action chaos or whispered scenes
• Score & FX Balance: The score blends nicely with dialogue and effects without overwhelming

The Atmos mix on the 4K disc is more immersive with overhead elements, but the 5.1 track here still delivers blockbuster-level dynamics.

Overall Blu-ray Score

4.0 out of 5 – Solid A/V Presentation, Weak Film

✅ Excellent DTS-HD audio
✅ Clean, detailed HD video
❌ No bonus features on this disc
❌ Still saddled with a messy, misguided movie

Recap: If you don’t have a 4K setup, this Blu-ray holds up respectably, with crisp video and booming audio — but if you’re watching for more than technical performance, be warned: Kraven bites off more than it can chew.