It (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray) (4K Ultra HD) [4K UHD]

This is the updated 2017 live-action adaptation of Stephen King's novel, It, directed by Andy Muschietti. This is the first of two movies and is set in the late 1980s when the heroes are kids.The movie stars Jaeden Lieberher as the main protagonist Bill Denbrough, whose brother Georgie is killed by a monster at the beginning of the movie, setting Bill on a quest for revenge, and Bill Skarsgard as It/Pennywise, the ancient evil that terrorizes the town of Derry Maine every 27 years. The rest of the main cast includes Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Nicholas Hamilton.There are several differences between the movie and the book, one of the main differences being that the Children's part of the story is set in the late 1980s as opposed to the 1950s. Also, the book jumps back and forth between the story with the group as kids and as adults, which makes it very hard to follow, so the movie is much more streamlined in the storytelling. And, even by splitting the story into two movies, they could not include every element that was included in the book, so there are parts of the story that the movie takes out. The book has a lot of exposition and backstory that is honestly not needed in the movie, so I do not think anything that is left out of the movie is really missed. And, the movie does change the most controversial part of the book from something that could never be filmed to something that could.For those who get the 4K set, there are two discs, the UHD disc with just the movie itself, and the regular blu-ray which has the movie and the extra. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fine, but not great. The movie was shot in 2k, so it is upscaled to 4k, and honestly does not look much different than the video quality of the regular blu-ray. The extras include trailers, about 15 minutes of deleted scenes, and three different behind-the-scenes featurettes, one on Pennywise, one on the cast of kids, and then one in which Stephen King is interviewed about this latest adaptation of the book.Overall, the movie is very good. It is still not overly gory, but it does get a bit gory toward the end. Still, it is more of a psychological thriller than a blood-and-guts horror movie. The acting is very good, which given the cast was made up of young, mostly unknown actors (Finn Wolfhard was probably the most well-known of the child actors), is kind of surprising. Bill Skarsgard is great as Pennywise, who is definitely the main attraction. He can switch from innocent, to creepy, to scary at the drop of a hat. Even if you are not a huge fan of the book, this is still worth watching, as it is one of the few times where I have found a movie to be better and more entertaining than the book. It is definitely a must-watch if you like horror movies.

Horror Movie Review (9.5/10) “Phenomenal” (Non-spoiler)ItDirector: Andy MuschiettiWriters: Chase Palmer (screenplay), Cary Fukunaga (screenplay)Starring: Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Sophia Lillis (Beverly), Finn Wolfhard (Richie), Chosen Jacobs (Mike), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie), Wyatt Oleff (Stanley), Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise)Plot: A group of bullied kids band together when a shapeshifting demon, taking the appearance of a clown, hunts children.Review: This is a perfect storm of a movie: the right director, the right script, the right kids, and the right actor to play the villain, makes this the scariest movie of the year. I was blown away as the first five minutes of the movie sets the tone for the rest of the movie – and I will add that it is a dire, dark tone (sprinkled with some humor) that never really lets up. Something terrible happens to Bill’s brother Georgie, and the viewer realizes that the director is not afraid to push the elements involved in the movie. Adults are not only subject to violence – sometimes children get hurt brutally. Although, the movie doesn’t have a lot of blood or gore, Director Muschietti pushes the story forward with kinetic and unsettling visual medium that you can’t help but feel unsettled throughout the movie.First off Skarsgard pulls off one of the scariest villains of all time. Not only does he have that scary, eerie clown getup, but his acting is so mesmerizing as you see the subtleties and nuances in the way he does things to make you feel unsettled and make the clown more unpredictable. In the first five minutes of the movie immediately you see that Pennywise is an other-worldly villain and a force of nature rather than just a man and it is truly horrifying. I loved every one of the child actors and I felt that they really were a group rather than just a bunch of actors thrown in together and each character had his or her quark that made each of the characters stand out in the movie and this was only possible because each of the characters delivered such solid performances. Bill is the leader of the group whose soulful look made you believe something truly terrible happened to him; Ben was the heart of the group as his childlike, naïve performance made you fall in love with him; Beverly as the head strong girl of the group who doesn’t want to take crap from anybody despite problems at home; Richie is the troublemaker and fun guy of the group; Mike is the strong, silent one that will be there for his friends; Eddie is the anal kid who must overcome his fears; and Stanley is the rabbi’s kid who doesn’t like to dive into danger. My only gripe was that I felt that Mike was the least developed and I wanted to see more from him, but Jacobs still did a great job of portraying the character.This isn’t a faithful adaptation of the book or these things would pop everywhere: #childsexorgy #extradimensionalturtle. I felt the writers took a very realistic approach to the novel and made just enough touches of “other-worldiness” to make the movie unsettling enough. It is the subtleties that make this movie even better and truly terrifying. There are plenty of jump scares, but what really makes this movie terrifying is the psychological nature of the villain as the kids never know how Pennywise will try and attack them next. So good I am seeing it again tonight!