A scintillating screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's award-winning Broadway musical that tells the personal stories of members of New York City's Washington Heights Latinx community.
Three months after the big screen and streaming release of In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who appears in a small role as the Piragua Man) this new 4K UHD Blu-ray disc has arrived. The screenplay by Quiara Alegria Hudes, the co-creator of the original musical, has been brought exuberantly to life by Alice Brooks’s cameras and Jon M. Chu’s direction. The show literally leaps off the screen with unflagging energy from the opening crowd dance scene until the final notes of the last number.
The film opens with bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) telling stories about the Washington Heights Hispanic community to four young children one of whom is his daughter Iris (Olivia Perez). Usnavi and his late father emigrated from the Dominican Republic to the Heights where the subsequent action takes place. Usnavi introduces us to several members of the Heights’ community: Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) who raised him; Kevin Rosario (Jimmy Smits) who runs a cab company and his assistant Benny (Corey Hawkins) who is in love with Kevin’s daughter Nina (Leslie Grace) who has just dropped out of Stanford; the salon’s gossip girls, owner Daniela (Daphne Rubin-Vega), Carla (Stephanie Beatriz) and Cuca (Dascha Polanco); and aspiring fashion designer Vanessa (Melissa Barrera), Usnavi’s crush.
What follows is a series of vignettes or rather suenitos, little dreams, in which romantic relationships blossom, careers take off, hard work is rewarded, and the cycle of life in the barrio eventually runs its course. The dramatic crux of the musical occurs when Usnavi’s cousin Sonny (Gregory Diaz IV) sells a lottery ticket to Abuela Claudia that turns out to be a $96,000 winner. During a massive blackout, Abuela suddenly dies leaving the lottery ticket to Usnavi, her sole heir. As he prepares to leave for the Dominican Republic and rebuild his father’s damaged bodega, Usnavi uses some of his new-found fortune to help Sonny get on a path toward acquiring his green card.
Returning to the present time, Usnavi and his wife Vanessa, now a successful fashion designer, have used some lottery money to reopen their redesigned bodega and have made a new life for themselves in Washington Heights.
In the Heights (2021)
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Corey Hawkins, Anthony Ramos, and Gregory Diaz IV in In the Heights (2021)
Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace in In the Heights (2021)
Keomi Key, Melissa Barrera, and Anthony Ramos in In the Heights (2021)
In the Heights (2021) Poster
In the Heights Blu-ray (Warner Bros.)
In the Heights 4K Ultra HD Combo (Warner Bros.)
The Video
The film was originally shot in both 35mm and 70mm for theatrical viewing in standard or IMAX versions. Panavision Millennium DXL2 and G-Series lenses were used in this 4K HEVC 2160p version mastered from a 4K digital intermediate. This is a very natural appearing film that takes full advantage of the Dolby Vision encodement. The flesh tones are perfect, the colors vibrant, and the details are crisp. While there are very few dark scenes like the blackout in Washington Heights, the blacks are reasonably deep. The visual quality of the new Blu-ray disc in this set is surprisingly close to its 4K counterpart if not quite its equal in details or color palette.
The Audio
The original soundtrack versions were recorded in Dolby Atmos and IMAX 6-Track. There is not much going on in the surround or height channels except during the crowd dance scenes where the music simply explodes out of the speakers. The pulsating rhythms of salsa are brought out in abundance, and I defy anyone to sit still while this infectious music is playing. The songs are very well recorded and, as the sonic backbone of this stage show brought to the screen, their essential lyrics are crystal clear.
The Supplements
A separate Blu-ray disc has the following extras:
Paciencia y Fe: Making In the Heights
When You’re Home: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (5:32)
Hundreds of Stories: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (8:22)
Alza La Bandera/Raise the Flag: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (6:45)
Wepa!: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (7:30)
That Music in the Air: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (10:00)
Who Keeps Our Legacies: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (6:30)
In the Heights Sing Along: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (7:44)
96,000 Sing Along: English Dolby Digital Stereo 48k (6:06
A digital download from Movies Anywhere is included
The Final Assessment
This Warner Brothers 4K UHD disc is a must-have Blu-ray that leverages its enhanced audio and video technology and a wonderful cast to deliver what might well be a 2022 Oscar-winning film to the comfort of your home theater. This is a disc to cherish and one that deserves repeated plays. Highest recommendation.
In the Heights is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo & Blu-ray August 31, 2021 from Warner Bros.
Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for some language and suggestive references)
Studios & Distributors: 5000 Broadway Productions | Barrio Grrrl! Productions | Likely Story | SGS Pictures | Endeavor Content | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Director: Jon M. Chu
Written By: Lin-Manuel Miranda | Quiara Alegria Hudes
Run Time: 143 Mins.
Original MSRP: $27.99
Street Date: 31 August 2021
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
Primary Audio: English Dolby True HD 7.1
Secondary Audio: English Dolby Digital | French Dolby Digital | Italian Dolby Digital| Spanish Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English | French | Spanish | Italian | Chinese | Korean | Spanish | Danish | Finnish | Swedish | Norwegian
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A scintillating screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's award-winning Broadway musical that tells the personal stories of members of New York City's Washington Heights Latinx community.In the Heights (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review)
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Three months after the big screen and streaming release of In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who appears in a small role as the Piragua Man) this new 4K UHD Blu-ray disc has arrived. The screenplay by Quiara Alegria Hudes, the co-creator of the original musical, has been brought exuberantly to life by Alice Brooks’s cameras and Jon M. Chu’s direction. The show literally leaps off the screen with unflagging energy from the opening crowd dance scene until the final notes of the last number.
