NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Universal 4K UHD (July 2020): Universal transferred Steven Spielberg's Jaws to 4K UHD. It features HDR. Jaws did not have the technology of budget of today's films - it exists with those limitations. There was always a bit of a dullish cast - even on the latest Blu-ray. So I wasn't anticipating that Jaws would now look as dynamic as a modern film. It doesn't and never will, however.... it has strongly improved over 1080P in my opinion. The problem in the past was a faithful replication of colors and contrast. But this 3840 X 2160 resolution has done three important things to the visuals. Firstly contrast - day lit scenes are brighter while night scenes (specifically the opening scene and catching the shark on a dock with a roast as bait) are much darker. The wider range of contrast has given a more varied appearance to the presentation. The reddish sunsets are.... stunning. Colors have become richer with more depth - this may be simply because of the higher res. Lastly, the texture of the film is far more prevalent - and we love to see that. The grain is beautiful and easily present presenting a far more film-like viewing experience. I found it far more captivating than watching my old Blu-ray. I was anticipating a more modest upgrade - but it has surpassed my expectations.       

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 60 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE.

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: The Invisible Man, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucio Fulci's 1979 Zombie  (software uniformly simulated HDR),, 2004's Van Helsining (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Shallows (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bridge on the River Kwai (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Deer Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Elephant Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Quiet Place (software uniformly simulated HDR), Easy Rider (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspiria (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pan's Labyrinth (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Wizard of Oz, (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shining, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Batman Returns (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Killed Killed and then The Bigfoot  (software uniformly simulated HDR),,  Bram Stoker's Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR),  A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR),  2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

Universal's 4K UHD offers both a DTS 2.0 channel track (24-bit) and a robust 7.1 Atmos representation. Audio effects surround the boat, the water and the beach crowd which all gain to some degrees with more discreet examples of separation. But one of the biggest beneficiaries is the, iconic, sore by accomplished composer John Williams, (The Rare Breed, The Missouri Breaks, War Horse, The Fury, Images, Sleepers, The Cowboys, Conrack, 1979's Dracula). It was, obviously, always impactful, but now the bass carries even more depth, you hear clarity in the harmonica and guitar in the opening scene beach get-together around the campfire, water splashing against the Orca, the band in the street. This adds another layer of highly effective scariness to the proceedings. There are French or Spanish foreign language DUBs and subtitle options including English (SDH) and as with all 4K UHD discs, this Universal package is Region 'Free' (included Blu-ray too!) playable worldwide. 

NOTE: For Atmos many non-compliant systems will recognizes it as TrueHD 7.1, but from Wikipedia: "Because of limited bandwidth and lack of processing power, Atmos in home theaters is not a real-time mix rendered the same way as in cinemas. The substream is added to Dolby TrueHD or Dolby Digital Plus. This substream only represents a losslessly encoded fully object-based mix. This substream does not include all 128 objects separated. This is not a matrix-encoded channel, but a spatially-encoded digital channel. Atmos in home theaters can support 24.1.10 channel, but it is not an object-based real-time rendering. Filmmakers need to remix and render the TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks with Dolby Media Producer."

Universal's 4K UHD disc has the same supplements as seen on past digital discs and the last Blu-ray (see our comparison HERE.) Notable are the extensive 2-hour 'Making of Jaws' that has... everything. The 10-part The Shark is Still Working: the Impact and Legacy of Jaws - itself is lengthy, Jaws the Restoration, Deleted Scenes etc. These extras are on both the 4K UHD and the included Blu-ray disc. There is a digital copy code (leaflet) and a 48-page booklet with color photos, storyboards and much more. It's a complete package for everything supplementary.

Being honest most people know Jaws ridiculously well (the scenes, the dialogue, Quint's lines, the singing - Show Me The Way To Go Home, Spanish Ladies, I Love to Go Swimming With Bow-Legged Women... etc.) - probably better than they do any other film. Jaws is a cultural phenomenon. It has been watched and re-watched possibly more than any film... ever.

On my system the 4K UHD viewing was a step up - far better than I have ever seen the film before (I was considered too young to see it in the theatre.) So, this is a fantastic package. The best image, audio and extras (booklet) yet available. It's a must-own and will make it's way to our Desert Island selection in the next update. It has our strongest recommendation! 

Gary Tooze