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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Creed II (Blu-ray) (2018)

Creed II (Blu-ray) (2018)

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Released 6-Mar-2019
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Deleted Scenes Featurette-Fathers and Sons Featurette-Casting Viktor Drago Featurette-The Woman of Creed II Featurette-Rocky's Legacy
Rating
Year Of Production	2018
Running Time	130:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Steven Caple Jr.
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael B. Jordan Sylvester Stallone Tessa Thompson Phylicia Rashad Dolph Lundgren Florian Munteanu Russell Hornsby Wood Harris
Case	Standard Blu-ray	Starring
RPI	$29.95	Music	Ludwig Göransson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Atmos English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (640Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French German Italian Spanish Danish Dutch Finnish Greek Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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Plot Synopsis

    An ostensibly shaky proposition, 2015's Creed eclipsed expectations to earn significant acclaim and solid box office, propelling director Ryan Coogler into the spotlight. Creed II sees Coogler assuming a diminished executive producer role, with newcomer Steven Caple Jr. (2016's The Land) stepping in to helm this inevitable follow-up, working from a script by Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor (his first screenplay credit). Essentially functioning as a sequel to 1985's Rocky IV, Creed II's narrative admittedly amounts to a "greatest hits" compilation, but the execution is miraculous - this is an outstanding, highly involving boxing drama peppered with top-notch fight sequences. Moreover, Creed II is all about fathers and sons, with connections to Rocky IV serving a legitimate thematic purpose when the story could have been a surface-level cartoon. Indeed, the film's most significant achievement is accomplishing something wholly compelling despite building upon the unabashed lunacy and cartoonishness of Rocky IV.

    Son of the late Apollo Creed, Adonis/Donnie (Michael B. Jordan) enjoys a string of victories as he rises to the top, ultimately winning a bout against Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward) to earn the title of World Heavyweight Champion. With former champ Rocky Balboa (Stallone) still in his corner as both a coach and a close friend, Donnie marries Bianca (Tessa Thompson) and receives news that a child is on the way. As Donnie adapts to the changes in his life, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) travels to the United States with boxer son Viktor (Florian Munteanu), who was single-mindedly bred to earn glory in the ring and regain respect for the family name. With Viktor challenging Donnie to a boxing match, and sordid promoter Buddy (Russell Hornsby) emphasising the revenge angle due to Apollo's death at the hands of Ivan, Rocky fears history will repeat itself, and questions the champ's motivations for fighting as he becomes determined to face such a powerful opponent.

    Eschewing the ostensible temptation to simply rehash Rocky II, this Creed sequel plots its own path, borrowing from Rocky II (Donnie and Bianca starting a family), Rocky III (learning from an initial defeat), and Rocky IV (returning to training basics before fighting in front of a hostile Russian crowd) while carving out a touching dramatic story carrying weighty themes. Incorporating the Dragos here feeds directly into Donnie's overarching arc, exemplifying the narrative's central fathers and sons theme. Creed II is about Donnie's relationship with the father he never met, as well as his relationship with Rocky, who represents a surrogate father figure. Rocky reminds Donnie to never lose sight of his reasons for stepping into the ring, initially refusing to train the world champion to take on Viktor since he immediately recognises that the fight is more about unfinished business and revenge. Donnie's daddy issues are evident, with the champ moving to an apartment in Los Angeles and marrying Bianca as he tries to become his own man. Meanwhile, Rocky has his own issues, remaining in Philadelphia estranged from his son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia), unable to muster up the courage to even call him, as he wrestles with shame and self-doubt.

    Whereas the first Creed was keenly focused on Donnie, Creed II facilitates narrative asides to explore the personal lives of Rocky as well as the Dragos, though Donnie remains the primary protagonist. It is a tough balance to strike, but Caple manages to pull it off, supported by smart, well-judged editing. Inevitable fan service does sneak in, but Creed II astutely avoids revelling in the ridiculous possibilities of Ivan's return, with Caple striving for legitimacy as opposed to absurdity. Here, Ivan yearns to restore glory and respect to his family name through Viktor after his humiliating loss on his own home turf, which is what also prompted Ivan's wife Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen) to abandon the men. Against all odds, the movie works to transform the Dragos into proper three-dimensional characters instead of cartoonish villains, using them to serve the picture's themes rather than indulging in pure formula. Themes run deep, involving legacy and redemption, making for an incredibly poignant follow-up that perfectly justifies its existence.

    The relatively inexperienced Caple exhibits the confidence of a seasoned veteran overseeing his first major motion picture, coaxing outstanding performances out of a talented cast, and staging several thrilling, edge-of-your-seat boxing matches. Caple adeptly recreates the meditative, dramatic tone of the Coogler-directed original, with fighting pushed to the movie's peripheries throughout the second act to concentrate on Donnie's newfound fatherhood as he starts a family with Bianca. Although pacing is occasionally hit-and-miss as the movie loses sight of narrative momentum, things soon pick back up, leading into a magnificent third act. Furthermore, cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau (Fahrenheit 451, Terminator Genisys) imbues the material with honest-to-goodness immediacy and sincerity. The photography is primarily handheld throughout, but Morgenthau never falls victim to gratuitous shaky-cam. Accompanying the visuals is a first-rate score by returning composer Ludwig Göransson (who earned an Oscar for 2018's Black Panther), which underlines the story's drama and accentuates the sheer excitement during the fights. Göransson does sample Bill Conti's iconic Rocky theme at a certain point in the climax, which is sure to elicit goosebumps.

    Stallone and Jordan remain an excellent pairing, with their chemistry and camaraderie shining through in every frame. The bantering between the two is a never-ending source of pure joy and amusement, demonstrating a mutual respect and fondness for one another. Although the script does not permit Stallone anything as heart-wrenching as some of the material in the first Creed, he's still eminently likeable, slipping back into his iconic role with ease. Meanwhile, Thompson - a fiercely talented actress - eschews the "long-suffering love interest" designation, presenting something welcomely original and measured. She has a substantive part to play in Creed II, and her performance is flawless. But the perpetually underappreciated Dolph Lundgren is easily the most interesting thing in the film, purely by virtue of unpredictability. After all, his Ivan Drago was a one-dimensional cartoon villain in Rocky IV, but here he's legitimately compelling, given unexpected additional layers and an honest-to-goodness, effective arc. It's constantly surprising to see where Creed II takes Ivan, and Lundgren assuredly executes the dramatic material. As Ivan's son, Munteanu is a smart pick; he's an intimidating physical presence, and believable as an unbeatable fighting machine. This is Munteanu's first feature film credit, yet he also exudes impressive on-screen confidence. Meanwhile, Phylicia Rashad is one of the movie's secret weapons as Mary Anne Creed. She is utterly believable playing the role of a loving mother, emanating warmth and strength, and her interactions with both Jordan and Thompson are incredibly naturalistic.

    Creed II has clichés to spare, but it all coalesces into a hugely effective and affecting drama that is worthy of both the first Creed, and the Rocky franchise. This sequel works from start to end, delivering boxing spectacle as well as touching human drama, and it's one of the best movies of 2018. According to Stallone, Creed II represents the end of the line for Rocky Balboa after forty-two years, and it's one hell of an ending. Long-time Rocky fans will struggle to hold back tears as the movie reaches its touching dénouement, with the iconic character's story finally concluding on a fitting, optimistic note. With Rocky departing the spotlight, the Creed series is now free to create its own legacy, though the prospect of future sequels is not entirely inviting. Indeed, the formula for these types of movies is not exactly fresh, and a third Creed should only materialise if there is an original, worthwhile story to tell.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Captured digitally with a mixture of Arri Alexa XT and Arri Alexa Mini cameras, Steven Caple Jr.'s Creed II arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Roadshow Entertainment, with an AVC-encoded, 1080p high definition transfer presented at the movie's original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The movie shares a dual-layered BD-50 with nearly 45 minutes of supplemental material, and there aren't endless audio tracks competing for space - as a result, the movie is mastered with an average video bitrate approaching 26 Mbps, which is quite good by Roadshow's standards. The resulting presentation is good but not great, slightly limited by the compression as well as the digital source, but I don't have too many complaints. It is worth pointing out that due to the deliberate visual style of the movie as well as the way it was made, it's not exactly eye candy, so don't expect a total knockout. Nevertheless, this is an admirable and faithful representation of the source.

    For the most part, Creed II looks very clean, with a noise/grain-free image. The original movie was coated in noticeable source noise from start to finish by design, but Creed II doesn't follow suit - noise only sneaks in from time to time, and it's more noticeable in some shots than others. Luckily, the noise which does appear is always finely rendered and nicely resolved, as opposed to blocky or distracting. I was surprised by how well this 1080p transfer handles noise, but then again this format can still look excellent, particularly in the hands of those who know how to encode these presentations properly. There is a tonne of fine detail in almost every shot, and it looks sharp to boot, revealing intricacies on clothing and skin. When Donnie and Bianca talk at the 15-minute mark, every segment of his necklace is easily discernible. Whenever Ivan Drago is on-screen, you can count all the grey hairs on his face. When he first meets Rocky in the restaurant at the 21-minute mark, you can make out virtually every wrinkle and pore on Stallone's face during close-ups, while close-ups of Lundgren are just as impressive. This continues throughout, with the transfer revealing textures on landscapes and sets, especially during scenes set in daylight (see the climactic training montage at around the 95-minute mark).

    However, in spite of the transfer's strengths, there is barely any source noise, and therefore the transfer can look a tad too smooth and slightly smeary at times, particularly in wide shots and dimly lit scenes. A wide shot of Rocky at the cemetary at 17:39 looks noticeably soft and oh-so-slightly smeary, lacking in fine detail. Likewise, a shot of tourists crowding the Rocky statue in the next scene, at 18:25, looks slightly lacking. Additionally, the transfer initially struggles during a scene between Donnie and Rocky at the 30-minute mark as they talk at night, looking slightly smeary in the wide shots, but the close-ups fare much better, with superb detail on faces, though clothing admittedly receives some underwhelming shadow detail. Added to this, the Blu-ray transfer thankfully retains the deliberate colour palette I recall seeing in the cinema; cold city streets in the Ukraine, while Donnie's world is more saturated and warm, which serves to contrast the different worlds inhabited by Donnie and Viktor. Colours don't have the richness or vibrancy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with added High Dynamic Range, but the transfer is eminently watchable and perfectly adequate in terms of colours nevertheless.

    Luckily, I was unable to detect much in the way of major encoding anomalies. I noticed some banding at times, particularly on the elevator behind Rocky at 58:55 in the hospital, but that's about it - the transfer is otherwise free of artefacts like aliasing and macroblocking. Additionally, the presentation is stable more often than not, with not much in the way of considerable smeariness. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray does improve upon this Blu-ray, but that's not to significantly denigrate this 1080p transfer, which looks commendable for the most part, all things considered.

    A variety of subtitle options are included, as detailed in the specs for the disc. The English track is well-formatted, easy to read, and free of errors.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Creed II punches its way onto home video with a thunderous, rip-roaring Dolby Atmos track (with a 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core) that's sure to give your surround sound system a real workout. The original Creed only came to disc with a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track, which renders this Atmos upgrade a bit exciting for audiophiles. As with all Blu-rays from Roadshow/Warner Bros., the disc defaults to the included DTS-HD MA 5.1 track (which is actually 24-bit as opposed to 16-bit), which performs fine in terms of the broad strokes but lacks the nuance and precision of the Atmos mix. As ever, you'll need to select the Atmos track from the main menu prior to viewing if you wish to hear the superior audio, but at least the Atmos is actually included, and at least it isn't neutered like all of Disney's recent discs. In addition to the English mixes, this Blu-ray also contains lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 dubs in French, German, Italian and Spanish (there's English Descriptive Audio, too), but the Atmos track is the focus of this review.

    From the opening sequence in Russia, to both Viktor and Donnie's respective initial boxing matches, the track packs incredible impact, with some astounding low-frequency effects beautifully accentuating the action, making you feel as if you're there alongside the characters. Every punch during every boxing match, or even when Donnie is hitting a bag at the 25-minute mark, has serious impact, with outstanding, deep subwoofer activity (though the punching sounds are more deep as opposed to Rocky IV-esque cartoonish). Indeed, none of the punches sound hollow or lacking in impact. Ludwig Göransson's score, too, gives the track ample LFE, particularly during the more sinister music that plays when the Dragos are on-screen during the picture's first half-hour or so. Surround activity and LFE remain sensational during the fights, exhibiting terrific dynamic range and subwoofer use. For instance, when Donnie makes his entrance to the arena at the 48-minute mark, both the crowd cheers as well as the introductory music fill all the surround channels, while the LFE is thunderous. There's real separation to boot - individual, separated crowd claps and cheers are evident throughout the matches, creating a pleasingly immersive soundscape. Even in smaller scenes, environmental ambience is evident, such as the commotion of the hospital, or the drone of a city street. At no point does the mix sound limp or underwhelming; it's lively, nuanced and authoritative.

    The lossless Atmos mix is pristine and crisp to boot; it never sounds compressed, tinny or held back in any way. Additionally, I was unable to detect any encoding errors like hissing, drop-outs, clicks, pops, or sync issues. And amid the loud background ambience and music, smart prioritisation throughout the movie ensures dialogue is perfectly comprehensible and audible. I do not have an Atmos set-up and therefore cannot comment on the overhead activity or fully assess the track, but it performed excellently on my regular old 7.1 set-up. In short, I could find no problems with this professionally-mixed and impeccably-authored audio track, which will delight both fans and audiophiles.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Four featurettes, and a selection of deleted scenes. It's a disappointing package of special features, really; the lack of an audio commentary with Stallone and Caple feels like a missed opportunity. I still hold out hope that one day, the Creed movies will be reissued with more extensive extras.

Fathers & Sons (HD; 7:16)

This first behind-the-scenes featurette concentrates on the movie's primary theme of fathers and sons. Several of the cast and crew chime in to talk about the story and the themes, with Lundgren even revealing that Stallone asked him to play Drago again via a text message.

Casting Viktor Drago (HD; 5:43)

A brief featurette which zeroes in on the tremendous Florian Munteanu as Drago's son. Stallone touches upon the casting process, looking through hundreds of candidates before settling on Florian, who is a real fighter but not so much an actor (he only has one other screen credit, a short movie from 2016). Caple also speaks about the actor, while Florian discusses getting the role and preparing for the shoot by working on his acting.

The Women of CREED II (HD; 5:51)

Women play a large role in Creed II, and therefore this featurette gives credit to the movie's female characters. Interviewees discuss the movie's themes as well as the role played by both Bianca and Mary Anne in the story. Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad worked together to ensure their characters feel authentic when speaking, which shows in the finished movie. However, this extra neglects to explore the role of Brigitte Nielsen, who has a big influence on both Ivan and Viktor Drago in the movie.

The Rocky Legacy (HD; 15:01)

The most substantial featurette on the disc sees Lundgren hosting a fond retrospective looking back at the Rocky franchise and its influence on popular culture at large. Intercut with ample clips from the Rocky films, interviewees talk about how audiences respond to a timeless underdog story, as well as the franchise's themes being both relatable and universal. Additionally, Stallone and Lundgren are given the chance to reminisce about Rocky IV, looking back at the fight together which is fun to watch.

Deleted Scenes (HD; 9:46)

Four deleted scenes, totally nearly ten minutes of excised material is included here, which is all colour graded and suitably polished from an editorial standpoint, though audio is noticeably hissy. All are worth watching and are great by themsleves, but one can understand why these were cut (Caple actually spoke on the Empire podcast about cutting the "Locker Room" scene). Unfortunately, there is no sign of the Rocky/Drago brawl in the hospital that was seen in B-roll footage online. It's unclear why this was not included, but it's a real shame. Subtitles are included. The scenes are as follows:

Sc 34 - Rocky's Eulogy for Spider Rico - Here, Rocky attends Spider Rico's funeral service and delivers the eulogy. This is a great scene, and long-time Rocky fans will definitely want to check it out, but one can understand why it was cut - it's not relevant to Donnie, or the story. After all, this is a Creed movie, not a Rocky movie.
Sc 35-27 - Max's Cheesesteak Restaurant
Sc 57 - Rocky Trains Kids - After cutting ties with Donnie, Rocky is seen here training some kids. It's nice to see what Rocky was up to while Donnie was training for the fight, but this is still Donnie's story.
Sc 232A - Locker Room - In this truly great and touching scene, Donnie meets Viktor in the locker room after the fight, and speaks to him before Ivan enters. Rocky and Ivan also share a moment. I got goosebumps watching this scene, and it's a shame it had no place in the final cut, but it would take away from the perfect ending's sheer momentum. If nothing else, watch this scene.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

The U.S. Blu-ray from Warner Bros. features similar language options and an identical selection of special features. Buy local.

Summary

For my money, Creed II is the film of the year. It's a competent, exciting and emotionally rich story, confidently exceeding my most reasonable of expectations. It also provides a satisfying ending for the character of Rocky Balboa, over 40 years after his first screen appearance. I don't even think that a third Creed instalment is necessary, though I would watch one if released.

On Blu-ray, Creed II is a winner. Roadshow provide a perfectly adequate 1080p presentation, as well as an impeccable Dolby Atmos mix that will prompt your neighbours to register noise complaints. If you aren't 4K-compatible, you should be perfectly happy with this Blu-ray. The selection of extras is somewhat disappointing, but the disc still includes some quality content. I have no hesitation recommending this disc.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Sony UBP-X700 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player, using HDMI output
Display	LG OLED65E6T. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 2160p.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
Amplification	Samsung Series 7 HT-J7750W
Speakers	Samsung Tall Boy speakers, 7.1 set-up

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