Ocean’s Eleven appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K product, this edition looked great.
Sharpness worked well. The only softness related from photographic choices, so the vast majority of the movie seemed accurate and tight.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt light but consistent, and print flaws remained absent.
Typical of Steven Soderbergh’s films, the movie offered stylized hues that meant a broad and vivid color schemes, and the 4K replicated these tones well. Soderbergh apparently likes for colors to border on oversaturation, and that happened here.
However, the hues remained vivid and tight throughout the movie, as they just managed to keep from crossing that line. HDR gave the colors added vivacity and impact.
Black levels looked nicely deep and rich, and shadow detail felt appropriately heavy without any excessive darkness. Whites and contrast got a nice boost from HDR. Across the board, the movie gave us a terrific image.
As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it didn’t excel, but it did its job. The soundfield remained fairly heavily oriented toward the front spectrum.
In that domain, the music offered solid stereo imaging, and effects seemed natural and well defined. Those elements spread cleanly across the forward channels, where they showed good blending, and panning appeared smooth and natural.
Surround usage seemed limited but acceptable. The rear speakers reinforced the film’s music and they also occasionally offered decent effects support.
Admittedly, these channels remained fairly passive much of the time, but they came to life acceptably during scenes like those at the casino or the dog track. Actually, the boxing match provided the strongest surround action, and the demolition of the hotel also gave us a good auditory segment.
Audio quality also seemed positive. Speech came across natural and distinct, and I never encountered any concerns related to intelligibility or edginess.
Effects seemed clear and accurate, and they provided the film’s strongest examples of subwoofer usage. For instance, the building demolition kicked in some good LFE.
Music provided clean and bright highs and fairly solid lows. Ultimately, the soundtrack of Ocean’s Eleven failed to make a strong enough impression to merit more than a “B”.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray from 2008? Both came with similar soundscapes, but the 4K’s lossless audio seemed richer and fuller compare to the BD’s lossy track.
As for the 4K’s visuals, they brought a massive upgrade over the mushy Blu-ray. With superior accuracy, colors and blacks as well as the elimination of the BD’s speckles, the 4K trounced the problematic prior release.
The 4K brings pre-existing extras, and we find two audio commentaries. The first comes from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ted Griffin, both of whom were recorded together for this running, screen-specific track.
I enjoyed the Soderbergh commentaries I heard in the past for both Out of Sight and The Limey. Interestingly, those two also paired the director with their films’ authors.
This usually makes for some nice chemistry between Soderbergh and the writers, and the track for Ocean’s Eleven follows suit. On the negative side, it starts somewhat slowly, and it suffers from too many empty spaces.
However, the content of the track helps make up for those flaws. At the start, Griffin dominates the commentary and it appears to take a while for Soderbergh to get into a groove.
That eventually occurs, and the two riff off of each other nicely. They cover a slew of topics, as we learn about technical considerations, dealing with the original subject material, working with the actors, and many other topics. While the track’s flaws keep it from being a great one, it still seems very interesting and informative.
In addition, we get a second commentary from actors Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia and Matt Damon. Actor commentaries often end up as disappointments.
When I hear of them, they always sound enticing. I mean, how could it not be cool to hear Chevy Chase discuss European Vacation or listen to Arnold Schwarzenegger chat up Total Recall?
In reality, many of these tracks fall flat, and I can think of very few actor’s commentaries that I actually enjoyed. Many of the good one involved Brad Pitt, so that got my hopes up for the second Eleven track. Unfortunately, even with Pitt, it falls short of expectations.
From what I could tell, Pitt sat on his own, while Garcia and Damon got recorded together. Ala the Eric Idle/John Cleese/Michael Palin track for Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the track’s producer’s make it sound as though all three chatted in the same place.
However, based on the way they refer to each other, it seems fairly clear that Pitt taped elsewhere. His remarks got deftly edited into the Damon/Garcia track to create a pretty seamless piece.
Whatever the case, the three offer a rather spotty commentary. On the positive side, they prove to be charming and engaging, and they offer some fun anecdotes about the shoot.
As always, Pitt provides a number of biting statements and good laughs, especially when he cracks on Clooney. Damon add a funny impersonation of producer Jerry Weintraub as well, and the commentary always feels loose and lively.
However, it loses points for a couple of reasons. For one, quite a few empty spots appear throughout the commentary.
Significant minutes pass without information. In addition, the three meander into broad praise too much of the time.
While I feel disappointed by the commentary’s inconsistencies, I still like it. Just don’t expect a stellar track.
Found on the prior Blu-ray, The Look of the Con goes for nine minutes, 40 seconds and concentrates on the film’s clothing. We hear from Soderbergh, Pitt, Garcia, Griffin, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, and actors Julia Roberts, George Clooney, and Carl Reiner.
Despite the moderately extended roster of speakers, Kurland offers the lion’s share of the data as he covers how he approached clothes design for the actors. It’s an informative and entertaining look at this element of the process, and it seems useful.
The remaining four featurettes already appeared on a bonus disc from the Ocean’s Collection Blu-ray set. Are You In or Out? runs 28 minutes, eight seconds.
It involves Soderbergh, Griffin, Clooney, Reiner, Garcia, Roberts, Damon, Pitt, producer Jerry Weintraub, writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien, special effects coordinator Kevin Hannigan, 2nd ADs Basti van der Woude and Trey Batchelor, editor Stephen Mirrione, 1st AD Gregory Jacobs, production designer Philip Messina, film journalist Anthony Kaufman, and actors Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle and Eddie Jemison.
“In” examines the decision to remake the 1960 version and the 2001 flick’s development, story/characters, cast and performances, editing and visual design, sets and locations, and related domains. Though we get an awful lot of praise here, “In” offers enough useful content to merit a look.
Pros and Cons lasts 13 minutes. Here we find remarks from Soderbergh, Gould, Pitt, Jemison, Clooney, Cheadle, Mac, Griffin, Koppelman, Levien, Reiner, Damon, and crime novelist Gary Phillips.
Here we get more thoughts about the movies’ characters. Phillips offers neat insights about how the “Eleven” fit some genre standards, but this feels like a fairly superficial piece in general.
After this we go to The Style of Steal. In this 10-minute, 48-second reel, we get info from Soderbergh, Damon, Clooney, Jacobs, Garcia, Paymer, Griffin, Phillips, Koppelman, Levien, Kurland, Entertainment Weekly Senior Writer Geoff Boucher, Vanity Fair Senior Editor Krista Smith, and costume designer Milena Canonero.
Though I thought “Steal” would be about fashion and clothes, and it occasionally covers those subjects. However, much of it looks at the movies’ notion of “cool”, so it’s less informative than expected.
Original Ocean’s, Original Cool spans 13 minutes, 48 seconds. It delivers statements from Clooney, Soderbergh, Mac, Boucher, Weintraub, Koppelman, Levien, Rat Pack Confidential author Shawn Levy, Sinatra biographer Bill Zehme, Sinatra friend/co-manager Tony Oppedisano, Esquire fashion editor Nick Sullivan, writer/producer Sandy Hackett, and writer Kario Salem.
“Cool” discusses the Rat Pack and aspects of the 1960 Ocean’s. Like the rest of the disc’s programs, it combines facts with happy talk. Still, it gives us a passable overview of the Rat Pack.
Note that the 4K drops three trailers and an HBO “First Look” featurette from the Blu-ray.
Easily superior to the 1960 original, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean's Eleven becomes a blast. The film manages a wonderfully light and brisk tone that makes it a consistent delight. The 4K UHD provides excellent visuals, fairly good audio and a mix of supplements. This easily turns into the best version of the movie ever to hit home video.
Note that Ocean’s Eleven can either be purchased solo via a steelbook package or as part of a three-disc “Ocean’s Trilogy” set that also includes 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve and 2007’s Ocean’s Thirteen. The latter lacks the fancy steelbook cases but it comes at a much cheaper price.
Each steelbook lists for about $40, whereas the three-movie set retails for around $60. If you love steelbooks, then go that route, but otherwise the “Trilogy” becomes the way to go, as it allows viewers to own all the flicks for half the cost of the three individual releases.
To rate this film visit the original review of OCEAN'S ELEVEN
