TOM CRUISE’S 60th BIRTHDAY / 4K/HDR FRAME SHOTS
Henry Cavill as August Walker/John Lark, a CIA assassin and double agent tries to keep Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) from defusing the nuclear detonator for two five-megaton bombs.
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“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT”
4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Digital copy; 2018; PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action and brief strong profanity; streaming via Amazon Video (4K), Apple TV (4K), Vudu (4K) YouTube (4K)
Best extra: “Behind the Fallout”
DIRECTOR Christopher McQuarrie and British cinematographer Rob Hardy (“Annihilation,” “Ex Machina”) decided to use the lightweight 8K Panavision DXL cameras for two breathtaking IMAX format sequences. Each camera can record up to 40 minutes of footage, while the 200-pound IMAX 70mm film camera captures at 18K quality, but only holds three minutes of film. The first sequence is the HALO jump from 25,000 feet as the 8K cameras (large-screen aspect ratio of 1.90:1) follow Ethan Hunt from the clouds to the rooftops of Paris. (Tom Cruise made over 90 jumps.)
The helicopter action sequence was filmed for eight weeks using the 8K cameras in New Zealand with Cruise at the controls, soaring through deep valleys, snow peaks, and hanging off the helicopter. The clifftop battle between Walker and Hunt was filmed in Norway three months after Cruise broke his ankle jumping from one building to another near St. Paul’s Cathedral. The accident footage is in the film, and you can see him pull himself up and ran out of the shot.
The clarity is so lifelike with the super high-resolution 8K footage it makes the remaining 35mm film stock look slightly soft in comparison, with a washing of natural film grain. The color accuracy is also neutral and balanced without any excess color tint.
The 4K presentation for “M:I – Fallout” is one of the best for 2018.
― Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1) New Zealand doubles for Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border for eight weeks of filming. (2) Tom Cruise does the majority of his own stunts. (3-5) He spent two years training for helicopter pilot stunt work. (6) August Walker returns fire. (7) The climactic clifftop battle between Walker and Hunt was also filmed in 8K on Norway’s Pulpit Rock.