The Meg 4K/Blu Ray Review (Warner Bros)

The Meg is a 2018 horror film directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure 1/2, 3 Ninjas, Cool Runnings, & Phenomenon). It’s based off the 1997 book “Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror” from author Steve Alten. Walt Disney Studios originally purchased the film rights in 1990s but nothing was ever developed for the project so Warner Bros picked up the rights years later. Jan de Bont & Eli Roth were both attached to direct this at some point but left due to creative differences. The budget was around $150 million & it grossed $527.8 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel is rumored to be in development after the success of the original feature.

A rescue team led by Jonas Taylor (played by: Jason Statham from The Expendables franchise, Transporter franchise, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Crank 1/2, & Snatch) is saving a group of sailors trapped inside a sunk nuclear submarine when Jonas sees the hull of the submarine being damaged by an unknown creature. The mission ends up a disaster, Taylor’s claim that a giant sea creature caused the disaster was dismissed by his teammate Dr. Heller (played by: Robert Taylor from Longmire, The Matrix, Storm Warning, & Rogue). He believes that Taylor was affected with pressure induced psychosis & blames Jonas for the loss of their friends. Five years later, billionaire Jack Morris (played by: Rainn Wilson from The Office, Cooties, Super, & House of 1000 Corpses) meets Dr. Minway Zhang (Winston Chao from Thunder Cop, 1911, Road to Dawn, & Daughter Back) at the underwater research facility. He is introduced to the team which includes Zhang;s daughter Suyin (played by: Bingbing Li from Transformers: Age of Extinction, Resident Evil: Retribution, Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame, & Guardians of the Tomb) with his granddaughter Meiying (played by: Shuya Sophia Cai from Somewhere Only We Know), James “Mac” Mackreides (played by: Cliff Curtis from Training Day, Sunshine, Blow, Live Free or Die Hard, & Collateral Damage), Dr. Heller, Jaxx (played by: Ruby Rose from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, John Wick: Chapter 2, & Batwoman), & DJ (played by: Page Kennedy from S.W.A.T, Rush Hour TV Series, & Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood).

The other 3 members are currently on a mission financed by Morris. Lori (played by: Jessica McNamee from CHIPS & Battle of the Sexes), The Wall (played by: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson from A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Last Witch Hunter, & The BFG), & Toshi (played by: Masi Oka from Heroes, Hawaii Five-0, Get Smart, Death Note, & Jobs) have discovered a whole new world no one knew existed deep inside the water. Everything seemed like a major success until a large unknown object invades their space & starts attacking the submersible. Suyin goes off on her own trying to save her friends. Jonas Taylor is called in to help with the situation after being retired for years because of the previous mission. He pulls off the unthinkable & he is able to save almost everyone until a tragedy strikes. They thought their problem was over until they realize they let the unknown beast out. It is identified as a Megalodon, the largest shark ever known & believed to be extinct for millions of years until now! The crew is forced to battle this oversized monster & save the world from it’s destruction. A few surprises cause some major issues with them & it ends being a fight until the death with the blood crazed shark!!!!

Jason Statham vs. a giant shark? SOLD!!!! That alone got me excited about this production. The Meg is the best shark horror feature made in a long time. That sub genre has kinda become a joke due to a certain franchise. It delivered on most of what you would expect from this type of film. It had lots of action, it had plenty of hilarious moments, & it was very entertaining experience. My biggest complaint with it was that it was PG-13 which I thought really stopped it from it’s full potential. The shark attacks & kills were decent I guess but they were too quick plus the gore was toned down due to the rating. It still worked but it would have been so much better if it was Rated R. The actual book is more towards that direction but I know at the end of the day they are trying to make money & it’s hard to do great at the box office with a higher rating. It was great to see Jason Statham in a bigger movie like this, he’s been doing some smaller projects lately. He always adds something unique to a feature, it makes everything better that he’s in & this was the perfect role for him. The supporting cast was real solid here & elevated the quality of the production. It had a nice variety of characters, never a dull moment here. I had so much fun with The Meg, the replay value is strong with it. I’ve already watched it twice within a short amount of time if that tells you anything especially considering all the movies & releases sent to me for review. If you are into action & shark horror then you need to check this out ASAP, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Warner Bros! This 2160p (2.39:1) transfer looks AWESOME on home video! As far as 4K releases go, this is one of the best looking recent releases. All the water scenes really pop out on the screen & look beautiful on this UHD disc. It has a huge variety of audio options which include English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hungarian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Russian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, & English: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this 4K release. WOW, this is definitely the best sounding 4K released in 2018! All the action & thrills have a nice boost to them here. The dialogue is very clean & the music sounds great on the tracks. It features English SDH, French, German SDH, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, & Turkish subtitles. As far as technical aspects go, this is the most impressive UHD disc from this year!!!!

Let’s discuss the special features on the blu ray disc, none are included on the 4K version. “Chomp on This” is a little over 12 minutes. It has interviews with various members of the production including cast & crew. They bring up how much fun it was making this feature. They talk about Jason Statham & show their appreciation for the actor. They chat about the locations & the boat. They mention their experience on this. They tell some stories from the set. They talk about everything in this was big. “Designing the Beast” is a little over 10 minutes. It has interviews with various members of the production. They show some early pre-production artwork for the creature. They talk about researching & creating the monster for the film. They chat about the visual effects. Jaws gets brought up as an example here. It goes into great detail about putting together this giant shark for this feature. “New Zealand Film Commission” is almost 2 minutes. It has interviews with various members of the production which some of the cast & crew. It focuses on filming in New Zealand. It shows various locations from the production. Local crew chat about working on the film. It mentions actor Cliff Curtis is from there & he talks about his home. It has a slipcover, digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now starting today in several formats including 4K, Blu Ray, DVD, & Digital. CHECK IT OUT!!!!