Hello and welcome to the first Blu-ray Bounty of 2026! To kick off the year, I’ll be checking out six new 4K discs to see whether they’ll make a fitting addition to your collection.
If you’re new to the Blu-ray Bounty, you can check out previous editions here. In the December 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, I tested Catch Me If You Can, The Warriors (Paramount), Heathers, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, His Girl Friday and I Know Where I’m Going!
As usual, I’m not reviewing the movies themselves, just their picture and sound quality to see whether they’ll be a good way to show off your home theater system.
Tron: Ares
Tron: Ares (2025), starring Jared Leto, Greta Lee and Jeff Bridges, is the third movie in the Tron franchise. It follows the story of Ares (Leto), a digital construct who's sent into the physical world: the first of its kind to do so.
Tron: Ares looks superb on 4K Blu-ray. Colors from light cycle trails and the neon within character’s suits are bold and vibrant, really popping on screen throughout the movie, especially in Dolby Vision. Peak highlights are punchy, which creates powerful contrast as bright tones balance well with the jet blacks. Textures are refined, with real-world sequences looking true-to-life and digital world sequences delivered with spectacular clarity.
With a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, Tron: Ares sounds superb and will be a real showcase for your home theater system. Whether it was the droning of the bass synths in the score or the rumble of the light cycle’s engines, bass was hefty and room-filling. If you have a big subwoofer, you’re in for a treat.
Other effects are accurately mapped, with the sound of flying discs during a fight sequence delivered by the HW-Q990C soundbar with pinpoint precision. Finally, there’s the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack, which is powerful and immersive, with bold bass, euphoric synths and crunching guitars: all of which were superb thanks to the Atmos mix.
Captain Blood
Captain Blood (1935), starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone, is a swashbuckling adventure film straight out of Hollywood’s Golden Age. It tells the story of Peter Blood (Flynn), a doctor who escapes wrongful imprisonment to become a pirate. This is the oldest movie we’ve tested to date on the Blu-ray Bounty.
The Criterion Collection has done an excellent job with the 4K restoration of Captain Blood. Detail is refined and textures have been wonderfully upscaled, particularly in close-up shots where character’s clothing and skin appear sharp and clean. There’s great contrast here as well, with bright whites, deep blacks and a wide range of gray tones in between.
During some daytime shots, white can be a little over-bright and I noticed some scenes dimmed at times, but considering the age of the movie, it’s an impressive job. Purists will be happy to know there’s still plenty of film grain too.
With a monaural soundtrack, Captain Blood won’t give your home theater system a workout. However, the soundtrack has been cleaned up nicely, with clear dialogue and good clarity for effects such as clashing swords, cannon fire and the movie’s sometimes-dramatic score.
Dead Man
Dead Man (1995), starring Johnny Depp and Gary Farmer along with an all-star cast, tells the story of William Blake (Depp), an accountant on the run for killing a man who meets a Native American called ‘Nobody’ who believes Blake is in fact the reincarnation of William Blake the English poet.
Dead Man is yet another fantastic restoration from The Criterion Collection. Shot entirely in monochrome, this 4K disc delivers dazzling whites, such as highlights in the sun, and inky blacks, such as Blake’s hair and shadowed areas within forests. Contrast is strong, with a perfect balance between light and dark tones.
Textures have been cleaned up nicely, which can be seen mostly in close-up shots where scars and facial hair are incredibly detailed. An exceptional looking disc. Fear not, cinephiles, there’s still a good amount of grain here, too.
The soundtrack is DTS-HD 2.0, and while there’s nothing here to really show off your speakers, Neil Young’s powerful score, composed entirely of improvised solo electric guitar, has plenty of chugging and twangy Western-sounding riffs that are detailed and clear. Dialogue is crystal clear throughout, and sound effects such as gunfire are accurately placed.
Yi Yi
Yi Yi (2000), starring Wu Nien-jen, Elaine Jin and Jonathan Chang, is a Taiwanese drama that follows the story and struggles of three generations of one family, headed by NJ (Nien-jen), an engineer.
Yi Yi looks great in 4K – textures have been upscaled nicely, with real refinement in people’s skin and hair, and with some nice detail in environments. Colors are accurate and look wonderfully vibrant in some scenes, particularly with the red curtains in the wedding scene in the opening. There’s a nice amount of film grain present here as well.
While Yi Yi won’t test your sound system like an action blockbuster, both the 2.0 and 5.0 soundtracks are DTS-HD MA, and deliver clear dialogue that’s front and center, and there are a good number of scenes that make use of the surround soundtrack.
A karaoke scene produced immersive mapping of sound, with the performer resonating from the front soundbar but the claps of the audience coming from the surround speakers. This is just one standout scene, but really the sound placement is nice throughout.
The Dead
It’s been a busy month for The Criterion Collection, as this is its fourth entry on the list. The Dead (1987), starring Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann, is a period drama based on the James Joyce short story of the same name. It tells the story of a group at an Epiphany dinner, focusing particularly on the thoughts and emotions of one married couple, Gabriel Conroy (McCann) and his wife Gretta (Huston).
Another 4K restoration via Criterion, textures have come through well, making people’s skin look natural and giving clothing more detail and authenticity. Colors are true-to-life, and contrast is strong with deep blacks. A quick note: the movie is quite dim, so you’ll need to manage your viewing room if it’s bright.
There’s a 4.0 DTS-HD surround sound soundtrack supplied, and while this isn’t an audio powerhouse, dialogue is clear throughout the movie and musical sections, such as the piano recital sound accurate and detailed.
Black Phone 2
Black Phone 2 (2025), starring Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw and Ethan Hawke, is the second full film in the Black Phone franchise (though there was a short too, as part of V/H/S/85). It follows siblings Finney (Thames) and Gwen (McGraw) who attend a winter camp, only to be haunted by the Grabber (Hawke), the serial killer from the first film, who has a connection to the winter camp.
Black Phone 2 looks good in 4K. Large portions of the movie (dream sequences) are given a grainy VCR effect, which obviously doesn't do much for detail, but is really fun. During real-world sequences, there’s inky, rich blacks during night scenes and the white of the snowy landscape is vibrant and bright in the day. Textures are crisp with good detail, making the murder scenes feel more visceral and gruesome.
With a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the bass of the foreboding, electronic synths is punchy and room-filling. Dialogue is clean throughout and as for the movie’s other effects, such as hacking axes and the scraping of ice, these are disturbingly crisp and punchy. Good sound design is essential for a horror movie and Black Phone 2’s Atmos really shows this element off.
➡️ Read our full guide to the best TVs
1. Best overall:
LG C5
2. Best under 1000:
US: Hisense U8QG
UK: TCL C7K
3. Best under 500:
US: Roku Plus Series
UK: TCL C6K
➡️ Read our full guide to the best 4k Blu-ray players
1. Best overall
Panasonic DP-UB820
2. Best budget
Sony UBP-X700
3. Best premium
Panasonic DP-UB9000
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