The Equalizer 3-Movie Collection (4K UHD Review)

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

This review focuses on The Equalizer 3. For reviews of the other two films, you can see our previously published reviews of The Equalizer on 4K and The Equalizer 2 theatrical review. I point out differences in the technical details in the sections below. The ratings for this review are weighted toward the third film.

This third installment in the film franchise based on the classic television series, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Robert McCall (Denzel Washington reprising his role) finds himself in the small Sicilian town of Altamonte where he finds a drug smuggling ring at a winery connected to terrorist groups in Syria. After settling in at a friendly local doctor’s place when he is wounded, McCall begins to feel at home amongst the people. He discovers the small town is being terrorized by the Camorra, a mafia criminal group, who are connected to the drug smuggling ring he uncovered. McCall takes exception to the group’s treatment of the locals and decides to take them down – one by one – in the only way he knows how, very brutally.

Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk successfully meld an actioner with a globetrotting spy thriller for this third outing. The story plays it by the books, with nothing surprising for the character of McCall the mood can tilt toward being sentimental, but this is juxtaposed with unapologetic brutality. Some of the violent set pieces verge on slasher film violent without reaching the operatic excessiveness of a film like John Wick 4, for instance.

Where The Equalizer 3 really shines is in the gorgeous cinematography which plays with shadows and light, has plenty of deep focus shots and lingering shots of the Italian coast and winding backstreets and stairways. There is so much to feast your eyes on in this film, which serves as a pleasing entry even if it still does not have the same sort of energy as the original film in the franchise.

The Video

Each film has been framed at 2.40:1 in an HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) HDR10 encodement. The Equalizer 3 has HDR10 metatdata showing a MaxLL of 468 nits

And MaxFALL of 329 nits. This is far lower than the earlier two films which come with a MaxLL of 1458 nits and MaxFALL of 925 nits for The Equalizer and a MaxLL of 1313 nits and MaxFALL of 890 nits for The Equalizer 2. Nits aside, Equalizer 3 (and 1 and 2) looks amazing. This is pure reference quality imagery. The lighting is well managed with specular highlights that ‘pop’ against dark shadows. The textures are crispy, with lots of high frequency information. Like both of the previous films in this franchise, The Equalizer 3 is a show piece home video release.

The Audio

Both Equalizer 2 and Equalizer 3 come with lossless DTS:X (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 compatible) audio mixes on these 4K Ultra HD discs, but, inexplicably, for the 4K disc for the first film in this collection Sony has inexplicably pulled the Dolby Atmos mix that was on the original release and opted to replace it with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. I do not understand why they would choose to go backwards and leave an already available object-oriented mix off the new disc rather than convert it to DTS:X even if necessary. Anyway, focusing on The Equalizer 3, we get a very enjoyable, and balanced mix with excellent height awareness. There may be some songs that have vocals and instrumentation mixed too aggressively into the height channels, but overall, this is a big and dynamic mix that really works. The low end is muscular. The low end is not as ground shaking as, say, the recent release of The Fugitive or a mix like John Wick 4, but it will still please those who live for the bass. Briefly talking about The Equalizer 2 DTS:X mix, it is a little more aggressive than 3, starting with the sound of the train in the opening scene filling the room with thunderous atmospherics. You cannot go wrong with any of the mixes, even the 5.1 mix on the first film, which is also of the aggressive variety and places lots of sounds in the surround channels.

The Supplements

The discs in this 4K collection do not have any bonus features, but the Movies Anywhere Digital codes do include special features. The digital special features for The Equalizer 3 are:

• Blood Brothers: The Collaboration of Denzel Washington & Antoine Fuqua
• Call to Action
• Robert McCall: A Man of the People
• Denzel and Dakota: A Reunion
• Postcards from the Amalfi Coast
• Jacob Banks “Monster” Lyric Video

The Final Assessment

This 4K collection from Sony serves up wonderful home theater entertainment with excellent picture and sound despite nixing the Atmos mix for the first film and having no on-disc extras. The individual combo release of The Equalizer 3 will get you more bonus features on disc, but what is available here is still reference.

The Equalizer 3-Movie Collection is out on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray November 14, 2023 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

• Rating Certificate: R (for strong bloody violence and some language.) (The Equalizer 3)
• Studios & Distributors: Columbia Pictures | Eagle Pictures | Escape Artists | ZHIV Productions | TSG Entertainment | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Director: Antoine Fuqua
• Written By: Richard Wenk | Michael Sloan | Richard Lindheim (The Equalizer 3)
• Run Time: 109 Mins. (The Equalizer 3)
• Street Date: 14 November 2023
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: HDR10
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • The Equalizer:
    • MaxLL: 1458 nits
    • MaxFALL: 925 nits
  • The Equalizer 2:
    • MaxLL: 1313 nits
    • MaxFALL: 890 nits
  • The Equalizer 3:
    • MaxLL: 468 nits
    • MaxFALL: 329 nits
• Primary Audio: English DTS:X (DTS-HD MA 7.1 Compatible) | English DTS-HD MA 5.1 (The Equalizer)
• Secondary Audio: English Audio Descriptive Service | French DTS-HD MA 5.1 | French Audio Descriptive Service | Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English | English SDH | French | Spanish