Fast approaching its 20th anniversary (!), Jon Favreau's Elf makes its debut on 4K with an impressive 2160p transfer that greatly improves

Documentaries–“Documentaries” is pushing it, below are 9 vignettes ranging in length from a few minutes to 20 minutes (“Film School for Kids”). The only time ‘Elf’ doesn’t feel like a breezy Christmas classic is when it has to wrap up every loose end in the third act and allow Buddy to emerge as a holiday hero to a variety of people. There are so many things for Buddy to accomplish -- reconnecting with his real father, winning the girl, saving Christmas, inspiring belief in children, and more -- that Favreau is forced to resort to familiar genre resolutions on more than one occasion. Don’t get me wrong, it fits the tone of the film, but the first two acts are so resourceful and clever that its conclusion feels a bit forced and unoriginal.

Elf

After several years on TV’s “Saturday Night Live”, Will Ferrell was ready (as so many SNL alumni are) to make the leap from the small screen to the big. He’d had some supporting parts in other movies, most notably in Todd Phillips’ Old School earlier in 2003; but it wasn’t until Elf that Ferrell really came into his own. Ferrell’s comedic talent is off the scale and he’s had me in stitches on more than one occasion. He’s got that kind of humor in which you really don’t know what will come out of his mouth next. Teaming up with director Jon Favreau was a smart move as well. Favreau has had some notable roles in front of the camera, but is most widely known for writing the indie-favorite “Swingers”. Ferrell’s humor and Favreau’s sometimes dark side combine to form a pretty entertaining movie and one that says a lot more about holiday spirit than others that prattle on about it.

remastered Blu-ray, it would've been interesting to see this new master without HDR metadata added; even with the drop in resolution, it may have smaller displays in 2008. But it's great to see the candy-colored Elf get a hefty new 4K visual upgrade, one that brings out substantially The new HDR10 grade, by and large, offers its own usual brand of improvement but also leads to this transfer's only slight speed bump. First, the Focus Points– You can essentially watch the above features while watching the film. I don’t know why anyone would, though.

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that linked review, but for some reason it still got a rather strong rating for picture quality). Sadly, that new 4K transfer is the only thing to get almost expected for this kind of film -- but unfortunately keeps Elf from flirting more closely with perfection. Had WB included a Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner (who we also lost just a little over a year ago), Peter Dinklage, Amy Sedaris, Michael Lerner, and Andy Richter lend the picture additional zip, but looming high above them all is the incomparable Bob Newhart, who brings his patented brand of dry, sardonic wit to the proceedings. As the bachelor elf who raises Buddy, Newhart is - in a word - priceless. His deadpan facial expressions and droll line deliveries raise the laugh quotient exponentially and set the madcap tone of Elf, which wouldn't be nearly as memorable without his participation.

Warner’s new Ultra HD release is a two-disc set that includes the film remastered in 4K on UHD as well as the previous 1080p HD on Blu-ray (the exact same disc released in 2008). Both discs including the following special features, carried over from previous releases: Warner Bros.' new 2160p, HDR10-enhanced transfer quite simply runs circles around their 2008 Blu-ray which, to be fair to our review of that disc, probably looked fine enough on to the HDR grade seen on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, is that certain skin tones again learn towards Buddy's child-like wonder, boundless seasonal enthusiasm, insatiable appetite for sugar, and genuine warmth make him an irresistible character, and Ferrell plays him with just the right mix of goofiness and sincerity. As a stranger in a strange land (and could there be any stranger land for a sheltered man-child than the Big Apple?), Buddy must adapt to a whole new set of rules and morals, and some of the film's best moments occur when he interacts with a gruff, cynical populace that's as frosty as an icicle.night-and-day visual improvements for a major studio home video release in recent memory. It's tempting to award Elf the full five stars for Production Featurettes (SD, 39 minutes) -- "Tag Along with Will Ferrell" follows the comedian on a typical day of shooting, "How They Made the North Pole" looks at the design and implementation of the arctic sets, "Lights Camera Puffin" examines the use of animation and special effects in the film, and "That's a Wrap" explores the various post-production work and efforts of the filmmakers. of noise reduction allowing costume textures, close-up details, and wide shots to earn much higher visibility, with most colors also getting an Disc encoding is very good with no visible compression artifacts thanks to the film getting its own 66GB disc, although a newly-mastered 50GB Deleted/Alternate Scenes (SD, 12 minutes) -- Eight cuts and extensions don’t amount to much material, but it’s an amusing collection that will give fans a few additional laughs.

James Caan), a glossy matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Since the included Blu-ray exactly matches its 2008 counterpart that reason alone -- more on that soon enough -- because in a pound-for-pound comparison, even those who don't think comedies deserve to look recycled and listed below mostly in name only, although both vintage audio commentaries are helpfully repeated on the 4K disc. Focus Points (SD) -- is an interactive feature provides access to brief featurette clips and behind-the-scenes info any time an icon appears on screen more fine detail, texture, depth, film grain, and contrast levels to its workmanlike visuals, with the result standing as one of the more tangibleSelected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge. Plot: What’s it about? Video: How does it look? Audio: How does it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? The Bottom Line Plot: What’s it about?