A/V Adventurers Club

Hi everyone, I am back with another review for you guys. After my first review of ‘One Battle After Another’ I thought it would only be right to have a look at it’s biggest competitor during the previous awards season just passed ‘Sinners’.

The Facts

Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring long time collaborator Michael B. Jordan. Sinners was released in cinemas 17 April 2025 opening to $48 Million domestically in it’s first weekend. Sinners would make history receiving a record breaking 16 Academy Award nominations and would go on to win 4 of them including Michael B. Jordan for Best Actor.

This 4K Blu Ray release is being distributed in house by Warner Brothers and includes a Dolby Vision HDR format as well as a Dolby Atmos audio format.

The release contains a shifting aspect ratio throughout the film, alternating from 2.76:1 for standard scenes and an expanded 1.78:1 for scenes shot with IMAX film cameras.

Also included in this release is quite a few special features including a making of documentary and deleted scenes. More on this down below

Audio

Sinners comes packed with a goosebump inducing audio mix. Right from the get go this mix grabs you right as Sammy enters the church. For the next hour there is great subtle Dolby Atmos usage that helps immerse you in 1932 Mississippi. There is lots of little things like chatter in the background when in the stores and when meeting Delta Slim.

Where this mix really takes off though is once we are in the Juke Joint and Sammy takes the stage. I mentioned above this being goosebump inducing and this is why. Enough has been said on why this scene is so special so I won’t harp on but all channels here especially the bass and surrounds are all working together perfectly to produce something truly special on the audio front. This is the definitive scene to show someone why you spent so much money on your setup in my opinion.

From this scene onwards there is nothing but demo worthy moments. The scene where Cornbread is outside and starts to her whispers is an excellent and very eery use of surrounds which made me feel almost uncomfortable in a good way, all other music scenes deliver the goods and when the action ramps up so does this mix but the dialogue is never pushed aside and is always clear. This mix is a treat from beginning to end.

Audio Rating – 5/5

Video

When a Blu-Ray release includes a shifting aspect ratio to show off scenes shot with IMAX cameras you usually know you are in for a good time and this is the case here. When the screen opens up it shows you exactly why cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw won the oscar for this film. Scenes like Remmick’s introduction at sunset and Stack and Sammy driving just have an added weight to them utilising the IMAX cameras. The film also has the aspect ratio expand in front of you in real time for a couple of scenes which is just the cherry on top for this release.

I will note from my experience some of the scenes in the Juke Joint are very, very dark on my end. I’m using a LG OLED TV on filmmaker mode and found some of these scenes very dark. This might be an issue on my end as most reviews I’ve seen didn’t show any issues with this. It was never a deal breaker for me as I only noticed this for about 5-10 minutes of the films 137 minute runtime but when compared to the high standard the rest of this film has set in the visual department it did stand out.

Even with the issue stated above this is a high quality picture that is the best this film will ever look outside of the cinema.

Video Rating – 4/5

Special Features

Sinners also comes with a variety of special features/deleted scenes to enjoy after you’ve finished the film including the below:

Dancing with the Devil: The Making of Sinners: A deep dive into the creation of the film with director Ryan Coogler and the cast.
Blues in the Night: The Music of Sinners: Explores the Delta Blues soundscape created by Ludwig Göransson.
Thicker Than Blood: Becoming the Smokestack Twins: Behind-the-scenes on Michael B. Jordan’s dual role.
Spirits of the Deep South: Explores the setting and folklore of the film.
Wages of Sin: The Creature FX of Sinners: A look at the film’s practical and digital effects.

I want to give a shout out to the first two listed here. The over 30 minute making of documentary is a great look at how this film came together. I’m a sucker for these type of things and as they become less common it means a lot that something like this is included.

The music feature is also a standout which makes sense given how music is at the forefront of the film but provides a fascinating look at the the level of detail required to make all musical elements work as well as they did.

Conclusion

Sinners 4K Blu-Ray release is a more than worthy addition to your collection. The Atmos mix does not put a foot wrong for the entire runtime and the video more than impresses with the shifting aspect ratio and incredible cinematography despite some scenes being on the darker end for me.

Total Score – 9/10

Hope you all enjoyed the write up for this one, if theres any Blu-Rays you guys are on the fence about purchasing let me know and if I have it I would be more than happy to give you my thoughts. I’m a big criterion collector but also dip my toes into most of the boutique labels and normal studio releases.