Oscar winner “CODA” finally arrives on 4K Ultra HD

4K ULTRA HD REVIEW /HDR SCREENSHOTS

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English actress Emilia Jones plays teenager Ruby Rossi, and she and her family log in to the Berklee College of Music website to see if she’s been accepted to the preeminent college for music. Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family, and tells her family in the American Sign Language (ASL) symbol, “I love you.”

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4K screenshots courtesy of Apple Films via the Filmmakers Mode - Click the jacket for an Amazon purchase

“CODA”

4K Ultra HD, 2021, PG-13 for strong sexual content and language, and drug use; Streaming only Apple+

Best extra: None available  

IN THE DEAD of winter, months before most Americans and the rest of the world could get their first COVID vaccine, Apple TV+ made the first major deal at the virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival. They landed the worldwide rights to writer/director Sian Heder’s coming-of-age drama “CODA,” for just over $25 million, which at the time set a new Sundance record.

The heart of the story is high school senior Ruby Rossi, played by English actress Emilia Jones, the outsider, the only hearing person in her deaf family, which gives us the acronym (CODA) Child of Deaf Adults.

Her father, Frank, played by deaf actor Tony Salgado, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the third-generation Gloucester, Massachusetts fisherman. Older brother Leo (Daniel Durant) and mother Jackie, played by Oscar-winner (“Children of a Lesser God”) Marlee Matlin, all work for the family fishing business. Ruby gets up at 3:00 a.m. to put in a shift on the open waters with her father and brother for their daily catch. Then, she’s off to school on her bicycle, where she struggles to stay awake in class.

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Rudy loves music and joins the high school choir, where she’s challenged by teacher Bernardo Villalobos (Mexican actor/director Eugenio Derbez). She agonizes over responsibilities as the family interpreter, while Villalobos urges her to consider going to Berklee College of Music in Boston.

A year later, the indie feel-good melodrama, which found a comfortable home on Apple+ streaming, became the darling of the awards season winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay – based on the 2014 French blockbuster “La Famille Bélier,” which never had a U.S. public showing – and the Oscar for Salgado. These three golden statues became Apple’s first Academy Award wins.

Eagle Pictures 4K release of CODA in 2022.

Everyone assumed that since Apple+ controlled the worldwide rights, a physical media disc (4K or Blu-ray) was out of the question. But, a month later, in April 2022, Eagle Pictures, based in Rome, somehow found a loophole or signed an exclusive release of “CODA” on a 4K/Blu-ray combo-set. I quickly ordered a copy via Amazon Italy, and it arrived two weeks later.

The same thing happened with Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed “Killers of the Flower Moon” that had an exclusive Paramount Pictures theatrical release and Apple+ for digital streaming. No physical media release was planned, but in January 2024, Eagle Pictures forged ahead and released a 4K/Blu-ray combo of the 206-minute-long marathon film, nominated for 10 Oscars. We selected the 4K Ultra HD in our annual High-Def Watch Top 10 Best 4K mastered discs of the year.

Rumors have swirled for some time that The Criterion Collection would release a 4K/Blu-ray combo of Scorsese’s “Reign of Terror,” which highlights the series of real murders in the 1920s, where at least 60 Osage men and women were murdered in Oklahoma. The 4K in the U.S. is still MIA!

FINALLY, three and a half years later, Apple+ has released “CODA” on 4K Ultra HD in the U.S. Sadly, no extras are included, even though there’s a 16-minute “Making of” featurette on YouTube.

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VIDEO

The footage was captured by cinematographer Paula Huidobro on 6K Sony CineAlta Venice digital cameras and mastered in 4K. No post-production film grain was applied, as the visuals are striking with first-rate clarity from the waters to land, as the story follows the Rossi family.

Both the Italian and U.S. releases are sourced from the same 4K master, but the HDR nit brightness levels are different. The 2022 Italian disc has a Maximum Light Level of 813 nits, and the Max Frame Average light level is 321 nits. At the same time, the new Apple+ disc has the numbers 1032 nits and 134 nits. To the naked eye, I couldn’t see any difference. A good surprise, the Italian disc was encoded onto a 100 GB disc, while the U.S. disc is on a 66 GB disc. On average, the Italian disc runs 30 Megabits per second more than the U.S. disc.

Color is neutral and saturated throughout, while highlights are controlled, providing detailed clouds on the open waters, and the shadows are deep and black with plenty of depth.

AUDIO

The new Apple+ disc features the all-encompassing Dolby Atmos soundtrack, with a more aggressive bass response and wider soundstage. The Italian disc included the six-channel DTS-HD soundtrack. Both 4K discs provide subtitles for all of the American Sign Language (ASL) dialogue.

The music scenes are powerful from start to finish as actress Emilia Jones sings Joni Mitchell’s classic “Both Sides Now,” and the new tune “Beyond the Shore,” plus she has a duet with Irish heartthrob co-star Ferdia Walsh-Peelo (“Sing Street”) with the Motown favorite “You’re All I Need to Get By,” original song by Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell. The most striking moment is when Frank asks Ruby to sing, and he places his fingers on her throat to feel the vibrations from her vocal cords.

The director and Jones spent months learning ASL, and the film triumphs with its trio of deaf actors. It’s an emotional inspiration that will bring you to tears.

— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer

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SPECS:

• 66 GB disc

• TRUE 4K mastering

• Captured on 6K Sony CineAlta Venice digital cameras, 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

• Video bitrate: Varies from 40 Megabits-per-second to 70 Mbps. A running time of 111 minutes.

• HDR10 maximum light level: 1032 nit

• Max frame average light level: 134 nit

• Box office: None in North America, but $2 million worldwide, released during COVID-19 in Italy, Mexico, and South Korea. A production budget of $10 million. Apple+ paid $25 million for its worldwide streaming rights.

• Academy Awards: Nominated for three Oscars, and won three golden statues for Best Picture, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

• Rotten Tomatoes: Top critics’ 92 percent, Moviegoers 91 percent

• Metacritic: Critics 72 percent, User score 7.7