Overview: This hilarious Christmas film tells the tale of a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf.

Years later Buddy learns he is not really an elf and goes on a journey to New York City to find his true identity.

4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Elf in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this November 1st, 2022.

For my money, this Elf [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Elf presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265 (75.53 Mbps), Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: HDR10 Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 and Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable.

For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color; such as the I’m in a store and I’m singinnnng scene! Completely stunning Zooey Deschanel into silence when Will Ferrell defies her beliefs that you cannot have fun in an empty store, he sings his very own song (which she loves, BTW!).

Indeed, the picture enjoys the fruits of the added resolution in terms of bringing out the aforementioned extremely fine facial and some of the yellow graded material; notably the You Sit on a Throne of Lies scene, which is one of the best, funniest and yet internally heartbreaking scenes to watch in the movie, of course.

As for the audio, well we have a veritable smorgasbord of choice here: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps) and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps).

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the movie itself, well, this film has a very good cast with some big names of the time and past in entertainment. Elf is a modern Christmas fairy tale that scores well just for its comedy. Somewhere amid the crazy antics and situations there is a Christmas message or two.

But this film is something to enjoy just for the laughs. Most of the humor comes from an overgrown elf trying to adapt and learn how to live in an adult world. Along the way, he spreads some Christmas joy.

Will Ferrell is Buddy – an overgrown elf by mistake, whose doings resemble the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, and Merwin’s magic. It’s hard to imagine anyone else giving the performance Ferrell gives here. The role seems written for him.

Bob Newhart is Papa Elf. I don’t know any other comedian who could get people to laugh so much with a straight face. He applies his trademark as well in Elf. Ed Asner is Santa Claus, and James Caan is Buddy’s real father, Walter, and a whole host of younger actors do very well in their supporting roles also (including the cute-as-a-button Zooey Deschanel, of course).

In short, Elf is a fun movie that most should enjoy just for the silliness and laughter!

DIGITAL, 4K & BLU-RAY ELEMENTS:
Audio Commentaries with actor Will Ferrell and director Jon Favreau
Deleted/Alternate Scenes
9 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes
Music from ‘Elf’
‘Elf’ Karaoke
Theatrical Trailer

The film is directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It is produced by Jon Berg, Todd Komarnicki , and Shauna Robertson, and stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Edward Asner and Bob Newhart.

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