Assassin’s Creed appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a strong presentation.
Overall definition looked positive. A few effects shots came across as slightly soft, a factor I thought may have reflected an attempt to make these elements look more “organic”, but those remained minor and the vast majority of the flick seemed concise.
No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred. I saw no edge haloes or print flaws.
When I examined the film’s palette, I saw a lot of the standard teal and amber/orange. These tones looked fine, as the image brought them out in an appropriate manner, and HDR gave them added impact.
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Blacks were dark and deep, and low-light shots displayed nice delineation. Whites and contrast enjoyed extra punch from HDR. The movie offered the expected high-quality visual experience.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Assassin’s Creed came with a solid Dolby Atmos soundtrack, as the mix opened up the movie’s many action scenes in a lively manner. Various battle elements swarmed around the room and created a compelling, involving sense of the action.
Quieter sequences worked fine as well. These used the different channels to place in various situations with smoothness and aplomb. Music also provided nice stereo imaging.
Audio quality seemed good. Effects appeared full and dynamic, with positive low-end response. Music was bold and rich, while speech seemed natural and concise. The soundtrack added zest to the film.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The UHD’s Atmos expanded the prior disc’s 7.1 mix in a moderate manner.
Visuals showed improvements as well. Taken from a native 4K source, the UHD boasted superior delineation, colors and blacks, so it turned into the stronger presentation.
Viewers with the appropriate equipment could also enjoy a 3D Blu-ray version of Creed. How did it compare to the 4K UHD?
Without question, the 4K UHD offered superior visuals. It looked sharper and more dynamic than the 3D presentation.
Though the picture occasionally popped to life, the 3D imaging felt fairly unnatural and unconvincing. That made the 4K UHD the clear winner among the various options.
All the extras appear on the included Blu-ray copy, where we open with a collection of featurettes under Take the Pledge. This compilation fills a total of 41 minutes, five seconds as it provides comments from producers Patrick Crowley, Jean-Julien Baronnet and Frank Marshall, Ubisoft Head of Content Aymar Azaizia, director Justin Kurzel, stunt coordinator Ben Cooke, stunt performers Damien Walters and Ben Wright, costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ, armorer Tim Wildgoose, location manager Nick Oliver, brand manager Carsten Myhill, creative director Jean Guesdon, slackline performers Jaan Roose, Jan Kaeding and Tauri Vasehaar, and actors Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Ariane Labed, Michelle H. Lin, Michael K. Williams, and Callum Turner.
“Pledge” examines the property’s path to the screen, story/characters, cast and performances, stunts and action, sets, costumes, weapons and visual design, and locations. Parts of “Pledge” feel fluffy/promotional, but the pieces offer a reasonable amount of information. They give us enough substance to merit a look.
Conversations with Justin Kurzel runs 20 minutes, 22 seconds and involves the director as he chats with other production personnel. These include composer Jed Kurzel, editor Christopher Tellefsen, visual effects supervisor Ged Wright and writer Michael Lesslie.
The “Conversations” discuss music, editing, visual effects and script/story/characters. Each of these digs into its subject matter fairly well, so they add useful information.
In a similar vein, we get the 22-minute, 23-second Deleted Scenes Conversation. It provides notes from Justin Kurzel and Christopher Tellefsen as they show us cut footage and relate details about the material. Most of this follows an expunged character named Lara, and we get some interesting thoughts about the unused footage.
10 Deleted Scenes take up a total of 15 minutes, 44 seconds. This area largely shows the same clips found in “Conversation”, except we see the sequences without interruption, so we don’t get the redundancy I feared. Even though “Conversation” shows up before them in the menu, though, it probably makes sense to view the scenes on their own first.
As for the quality of the scenes, the footage with Lara adds minor intrigue, but her presence in the film wouldn’t have improved it. The remaining footage contributes a bit more exposition and detail but also wouldn’t bring out any improvements in the final product.
Even the “Alternate Ending” feels uncompelling. Still, it’s good to see these clips, and the combination of “Conversation” and the package of deleted scenes works well.
A Gallery splits into three domains. We examine images connected to “Concept Art” (14 stills), “Costumes and Weapons” (36) and “Unit Photography” (47). All provide some nice elements, but the package of costumes/weapons fare best because they let us see details of the artistry involved.
The Blu-ray disc opens with an ad for Logan. Sneak Peek adds promos for Vikings Season 4 Volume 2, Legion Season 1, and Morgan. We also get two trailers for Creed.
Any hopes that Assassin’s Creed would launch a cinematic franchise seem stillborn, as the movie flopped commercially. I can’t mourn its instantaneous death, as the film offers a dull, meandering affair that wastes the ample talent involved. The 4K UHD brings us very positive picture and audio as well as a mostly engaging set of supplements. Creed offers another weak big-screen adaptation of a video game.
