Welcome to moviemarbles!

We do things a little differently here than you may be used to, so here is a quick tutorial of how our Blu-ray scorecards work.

Most review sites use a 1-5 star scoring system when reviewing Blu-ray releases. Due to the amount of detail contained in a review scorecard, we had to re-think the way to display our review ratings. Gone is the standardized “star” rating structure, replaced with a simple + or -.

So how do these + and - relate to the old-school star ratings? In our world, a + would be the equivalent to a 4 or 5 rating while a - would equate to a 1, 2 or 3 rating. So if a disc gets a + rating in one of the categories, you know it is top quality.

These +’s and -’s are then weighted (35% film, 25% audio, 25% video, 15% extras) to create an overall verdict of the disc, back in the common five-star rating system... it is quite a science.

Here are the terms used in our Blu-ray scorecard so you can get a better understanding of what each of our ratings mean...

Film

  • plot (story, flow)
  • acting (dialogue/believability)
  • sound (score/soundtrack/sound mixing)
  • visuals (special effects/costumes/set design/vibrancy/cinematography)
  • entertainment value (replay value, watchability)

Audio

  • fidelity (degree of accuracy with which sound is recorded or reproduced)
  • dynamic range (difference between the max level of distortion-free signal and the minimum limit)
  • dialogue (clarity and placement of voice activity)
  • bass (LFE) (low in pitch; of the lowest pitch or range)
  • soundstage (surround activity, sound movement through the different channels)

Video

  • transfer (lack of digital artifacts/noise/edge enhancements/compression artifacts)
  • image depth (dimension, 3D feel)
  • sharpness (lack of film grain, clarity of image, image detail)
  • color levels (color accuracy, vibrancy)
  • contrast (accurate deep black levels, range of brightness between the darkest/lightest elements)

Extras

We have taken a very simplified approach to the this section by informing which extras add value to a release and which are not worth your time. We have listed the most commonly valuable extras found on Blu-ray releases - featurettes, commentaries, deleted scenes (including outtakes and alternate endings), documentaries & digital extras (digital copy, bonus view, bd-live) - and if the extra is worth watching you will see a +, if the disc does not contain the extra or it is not worth watching you will see a -.

We are really changing the game here, so this new review format may take some getting used to... but I am sure you will come to realize that this new game is the way it should be played.

Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Trilogy 4K | reviewed by: William O'Donnell | October 28, 2025
  plot acting sound visuals entertainment value
film
  fidelity dynamic range dialogue bass soundstage
audio
  transfer image depth sharpness color levels contrast
video
  featurettes commentaries deleted scenes documentaries digital extras
extras
verdict
An immense package that brings many features from past sets but all are boosted to 4k quality to make this essential for fans.
genre Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi
synopsis Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
lead actors Michael J. Fox | Christopher Lloyd | Crispin Glover | Lea Thompson | Claudia Wells | Thomas F. Wilson | Marc McClure | Wendie Jo Sperber | George DiCenzo | Frances Lee McCain | James Tolkan | J.J. Cohen | Casey Siemaszko | Billy Zane | Harry Waters | Jr. | Donald Fullilove | Lisa Freeman | Cristen Kauffman | Elsa Raven | Will Hare | Ivy Bethune | Jason Marin | Katherine Britton | Jason Hervey | Maia Brewton | Courtney Gains | Richard L. Duran | Jeff O'Haco | Johnny Green | Jamie Abbott | Norman Alden | Read Morgan | Sachi Parker | Robert Krantz | Gary Riley | Karen Petrasek | George Buck Flower | Tommy Thomas | Granville 'Danny' Young | David Harold Brown | Lloyd L. Tolbert | Paul Hanson | Lee Brownfield | Robert DeLapp | Tony Pope | Charles L. Campbell | Huey Lewis | Hal Gausman | Deborah Harmon | Arthur Tovey | Tom Tangen | Tom Willett
director Robert Zemeckis