As you might expect from a brand that has been covering home cinema hardware for the best part of half a century, our reviewers and team are all pretty big movie fans.
It's one of the reasons we can stay sane while reviewing TVs, projectors, soundbars, speaker packages and the ilk using the same scenes from our 4K Blu-ray test discs over and over, and over again.
It also means we are always updating what we watch, doing everything from trying out new titles to revisiting forgotten classics every month.
Here to help you get in on the action and to give you a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at what we’re enjoying each month, we have introduced a new Now Watching column.
For this, our second compilation, covering what we have been watching in March, we have quite a list – one that’s sure to delight any movie buff looking for something to watch.
Labyrinth
I know seeing a classic Jim Henson movie here isn’t going to surprise many of the older movie fans among our readers. I mean, who doesn’t love them?
But last month I revisited 1986 classic Labyrinth for what is likely the 100th time. What made this viewing special, though, was that I was showing off the classic fantasy adventure starring David Bowie to my nephew – and in 4K at that.
Is it a technically great showcase? Not especially, from a visual perspective – there are no demanding fight scenes or tricky segments to push a TV's upscaling powers. But the physical effects Jim Henson is famous for remain wonderful to behold, especially in the 4K version that was released at the start of February.
And, thanks to the clever script, it remains a delight that has stood the test of time remarkably well – especially when Bowie’s incredibly 80s mullet and “iconic” Goblin King costume (tight pants, frilly shirt et al) have to be taken into account.
Like, say, Little Shop of Horrors and A Nightmare Before Christmas, its stellar score, including team favourite Magic Dance, makes it a great way to gauge your audio system’s performance, even if it lacks the Dolby Atmos presentation that a more modern movie would enjoy.
It remains, then, an enthralling, enjoyable romp – as my nephew’s instant interest in juggling after that one, iconic dance scene clearly showed.
Words by Alastair Stevenson
Buy the Labyrinth 4k Blu-ray on Amazon
Invincible
“You might as well give up. I’m…”
Wham! The title card appears in resplendent yellow and blue, often accompanied by a gratuitous splash of crimson blood or an earthquake-like cracking as the text disintegrates, lifting the curtain on one of Amazon Prime’s greatest serialised assets. He’s strong. He’s fast. He’s…well, you can guess the rest.
Amazon’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s beloved superhero saga does its damndest to live up to its source material’s gore-laden grandeur, ensuring that each frame of the adult animated adventure is a blood-soaked feast for the eyes. Serving up a bold palette characterised by sledgehammer hits of colour – big blue skies, pristine hero costumes, the red and white of a recently dislodged set of teeth flying through the air – it’s even better if you have a TV that can bring out those bright, punchy tones to their fullest.
Great to look at, expertly crafted and engrossing to watch either as a big old binge or in self-contained chunks, Mark Grayson’s conflicted tale of a young superhero juggling early adulthood with his emergent powers is as super as its titular crusader.
Words by Harry McKerrell
Stream Invincible on Amazon Prime
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
After Marvel’s triumphant Avengers: Endgame, I must admit my obsession with the MCU all but disappeared – mainly out of fatigue. Releasing at least three films per year (not to mention all the TV shows) can do that to a person. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, however, was one of the newer movie theatre releases that piqued my interest. Sure, it’s not a cinematic masterpiece and it has all the usual modern Marvel foibles. But it fulfils the superhero brief with plenty of action-packed sequences as well as satisfying character arcs.
Despite Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi trying to escape his violent past by moving to San Francisco, he is forced to confront his father who is the leader of dangerous organisation The Ten Rings. This leads him to track down his estranged sister and try to take down his malevolent dad for good. Some absolute cinematic royalty also graces the screen with Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame playing a prominent role and In the Mood for Love’s Tony Leung as Shang-Chi’s father.
There’s almost too much choice when using this as a test disc, but my recent go-to has been the hair-raising sequence when Shang-Chi is confronted by his past on a bus journey with his best friend Katy played by Awkwafina. The tension is palpable as two baddies attack our titular hero, but his insane martial arts skills prove not to be reckoned with, most of which were performed by Liu himself. When one villain pulls out a fire-hot sword (as you do), you can feel the blade go from one side of the screen to another perfectly with a good set-up. The fight is punctuated with a bass-heavy synth track that also sounds great in Dolby Atmos.
Words by Robyn Quick
Stream Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Disney+
Buy Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on 4K Blu-ray
Interstellar
At each annual edition of the Bristol Hi-Fi Show, we set up a bit of a cinema so we can demonstrate some sort of AV technology or theme to visitors. This inevitably involves us watching the same movie clips over and over for three days straight which, as you can probably imagine, tends to get very tedious for those of us doing the presenting – the dreadful Gemini Man still haunts my dreams.
This year, though, we were demonstrating upscaling on a huge Samsung 8K TV and, as part of that, we played a clip from the DVD (yes, DVD) of Interstellar. The clip we used was the descent to and landing on Miller's Planet (the one with all the water), and it simply didn't get boring, even on the 30th showing.
I first saw Interstellar on the day it hit cinemas back in 2014, and I've always felt that it's a movie with great bits (and one of the best soundtracks ever created) but not actually a great movie overall. Inspired by our Bristol demo, I decided to give it another go at home, partly because I wanted to see how the 4K version would look after seeing the DVD upscaled by the 8K Samsung, and partly to find out whether I still felt the same about it as a film.
On the latter point first, the ending still stinks to high heaven but the rest of the movie is so damned good that somehow that doesn't prevent it from being a bit of a masterpiece. The pacing is perfect, the characters are brilliantly realised and the whole film resonates emotionally in a way that's hard to put your finger on.
The at-home presentation is magnificent, even when streamed (I bought it from the Apple TV store). Despite the lack of Dolby Atmos (Christopher Nolan is not a fan), the audio is exceptional. The atmosphere, the weight, the perfect harmony of effects and score – it's a tour de force. And the 4K picture is superb, too, with the high resolution and HDR serving the cinematography rather than smacking you around the face.
All told, a great movie that's now firmly back in rotation as a test disc (we've now bought the 4K Blu-ray). Tenet, though? I can't see myself changing my mind on that one.
Words by Tom Parsons
Buy Interstellar from the Apple TV (iTunes) Store
Buy the Interstellar 4K Blu-ray from Amazon
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