Ultra HD Blu-ray

After painstakingly eroding the charm of the first Pirates Of The Caribbean film with three increasingly leaden sequels, Disney here tries to reboot the franchise by pretty much remaking the first one, with a bit of the second thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately, the script lacks the wit to make its rehashed ideas fly and, apart from Javier Bardem's drooling, hissing Captain Salazar, none of the new characters make an impact. Still, average though it is, it's possibly the second best Pirates of the Caribbean film, so we guess that's something.

Curiously, Disney has chosen not to release the film (known here as …Salazar's Revenge) on UHD Blu-ray in the UK, but a 4K platter is available to import from the US…

Picture: The opening scenes set a rather soft tone, only showing marginally more detail than you get with the 1080p encode. Also, while peak bright highlights look more intense, they're fairly restrained by 4K BD standards. It's the same with colour; there's more intensity to tones, and more finesse and detail. But that's as far as it goes.

That said, occasionally the transfer goes up a gear – mostly during the daylight on-deck sequences between Barbossa and Salazar. But such moments are the exception, not the rule.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: If the 4K picture quality barely justifies its extra expense over the 'regular' Blu-ray, the soundtrack fares rather better. It offers a strong Atmos mix full of height effects and if there's not quite enough detailing among the bombast (especially in the rear channels) to qualify it as a reference mix, it's still rousing and enjoyable.
Audio rating: 4.5/5

Extras: Best of the bonus bits (all stowed away on the accompanying Full HD platter) is a 47-minute Making of… documentary. The rest is all fluff by comparison; just a brief (though inevitably amusing) blooper reel, a selection of photographs taken by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and a series of four deleted scenes.
Extras rating: 2/5

We say: A decent 4K HDR presentation of a solid, if unspectacular, franchise sequel.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Walt Disney, Ultra HD Blu-ray & All-region BD, £35 (US Import)
HCC VERDICT: 3/5