The Long Walk (2025) 4K Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook Review (PAL) – Fantastic Steelbook, Disappointing Extras

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are going to be taking a look at the Limited Edition 4K Blu-ray Steelbook version of The Long Walk (2025). Now, this is the PAL version of this release and that’s exactly where the problems start. Let’s take a look.

The Long Walk 4K Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-ray

For those of you who don’t know, The Long Walk is the 2025 movie adaptation of the 1979 Stephen King novel of the same name. King actually penned this story under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

Back then, it was generally thought that authors shouldn’t release more than one title a year. King, being somewhat more prolific than the average writer thanks to being off his face on cocaine, decided that the best way to get around this rule was to release under a different pen name. Hence we have the Bachman books.

King didn’t just use this window as an opportunity to release more titles, however. He also used it as an opportunity to dial back some of the supernatural stuff and explore darker, grittier themes.

There’s something rather nihilistic and grim about a number of the novels he released under the Bachman pseudonym. Rage, Roadwork, and the title we are looking at today, The Long Walk, are great examples of this.

A grim yet compelling story

Directed by Francis Lawrence, the story takes place in a dystopian version of America ruled over by a militaristic regime led by a heartless, cruel figure known as The Major (Mark Hamill).

“North American copies are fantastic but they messed up hugely with this UK release.”

Each year, a group of teenage boys takes part in an event known as “The Long Walk” with the promise of infinite wealth and one wish to the winner.

Participants march at a rate of 3mph continuously until only one remains. If any fail to keep pace, they are warned once, twice, and one final time before being shot dead.

Essentially, the movie plays out as one long continuous scenario as the boys march relentlessly to their doom. The only locations we visit are those that appear in the background of the endless road and the entire cast is established right from the get go.

It sounds fairly dull but it’s actually a genuinely compelling story that bounces between being funny, quite disturbing, and even rather touching. The themes of camaraderie through struggle, along with the setting, lend it that ultra distinct Stephen King feeling that you tend to get with movies like It and Stand by Me.

You can check out our The Long Walk review for a full breakdown of the film itself. You can also take a look at our The Long Walk Ending Explained if you are looking for answers to the plot.

Now, on with the review of the actual Blu-ray. As I mentioned earlier, this is the PAL version of the Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate. North American copies are fantastic but they messed up hugely with this UK release, in my opinion. Let’s talk about why.

Packaging & Physical Presentation

Right off the bat, this is a fantastically presented 4K Blu-ray Steelbook. As most of you probably know, the vast majority of 4K steelbooks are packaged as is with a simple J-Card (cardboard wraparound with the blurb etc) included for movie related information. Lionsgate have gone above and beyond, here.

The Long Walk is presented as a matte steelbook with metallic effects that are most noteworthy on the glasses and dog tags featured on the front and back.

Where this feels a little different is in the fact that the steelbook is protected by a plastic slipcover featuring all of the movie’s information on the back. This is super common with video game steelbooks but less so with horror releases.

What I really like is how Lionsgate have gone out of their way to incorporate the Major’s glasses into the design. The steelbook itself features the Major’s glasses showing a reflection of the horizon while the slipcover adds a reflection of the boys marching. It’s a small thing but very neat.

Incidentally, the slipcover has a lot of indentations, I am assuming from the machines used to print the overlay. It’s a small thing but quite noticeable. The inside cover features a landscape image of the boys marching while the discs feature an image of army boots and a pair of Chuck Taylor Converse.

From what I can tell, this is a bespoke piece of artwork specifically made for the steelbook and I like it a lot. The print is fantastic, the dog tags look nice, and luckily it arrived without any damage.

4K Video Presentation

This is a native 4K presentation that respects the source material completely. I believe the film was shot on Alexa 35 digital cameras and is encoded for this home release in HEVC/H.265- at 2160p. The film is framed in the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio so all pretty standard stuff and exactly what you want to see for a modern movie release.

“I doubt you will notice a screaming difference if you just watch with HDR 10.”

It’s a fantastic looking film with a perfect transfer.

The interesting thing here is how restrained the use of Dolby Vision is. It’s very clear that Lawrence was aiming to really nail that 60s vibe. It’s so desaturated and bleak that you might be disappointed if you are expecting tonal richness and blinding colours. Honestly, with that being said, the gloom only adds to the production rather than detracts from it.

The place where I noticed Dolby Vision really shining was in some of the flashback sequences, the closeups of the Major, and most of the night time shots.

There’s a little extra tonal variation and the shadows are a little more nuanced. I doubt you will notice a screaming difference if you just watch with HDR 10, though.

Naturally, this was shot on Alexa 35 so there is no native film grain for your television’s noise reduction to go haywire with and nothing added afterwards in the transfer. I didn’t notice any compression artifacts or macroblocking in darker scenes, either.

One interesting thing I found far more noticeable was the backdrops during character closeups early in the film.

The soft focused tree lines almost swirl together as if viewed through a fish eye lens. It’s quite unusual but I am assuming it was partly down to cinematographer Jo Willems enlisting Dan Sasaki at Panavision to tweak the lenses for extra fuzziness at the edges. It’s something I completely missed in the 1080p stream but got immediately in the 4K Blu-ray.

Audio Tracks

We watched The Long Walk in 5:2:1 Dolby Atmos and, to be perfectly honest, it’s a pretty restrained audio presentation. Much of that is due to the fact that this is, for the most part, 100 minutes of marching, but it does have its moments.

Scenes where the walkers are picked off are infinitely more impactful thanks to the soaring score and impactful thud of the bullets. You really get the sense that the chaos is absolutely everywhere, completely surrounding the walkers and that effectively ups the intensity quite significantly. Many of the warnings come from right behind you which almost affords the viewer a sense of marching along with the boys. It’s a very nice touch.

Certain scenes rumbled through the floor, as well, adding a nice sense of urgency to the events.

The vertical channels don’t really come into it until the weather breaks and the rain falls. This sounds fantastic and definitely helps you to buy into the horrible situation the walkers are in. There is some verticality to the gunshots, as well, but it’s more to envelope you in the sound rather than create a directional effect.

Voices were perfectly balanced in the mix which is something I am enormously grateful for as this is a dialogue heavy film. I didn’t have to adjust anything to hear anyone.

Bonus Features & Value

This is where the UK 4K Blu-ray Steelbook release of The Long Walk really falls apart and left us with a sour taste in our mouths. We are missing some of the extras that North American buyers got on their discs.

“The documentary is a nice extra and it is 60 minutes long but the lack of the alternate ending and no audio commentaries is a big disappointment.”

While North American buyers could look forward to the 8 minute alternate ending and the “Stephen King: An Appreciation” feature, as well as the theatrical trailers and the Ever Onward making of documentary, UK buyers were stiffed. We only got the Ever Onward documentary and theatrical trailers. We didn’t get the Stephen King featurette or the alternate ending.

That sucks and is a massive impact on the value of this Blu-ray.

I had no clue about this because places like Nerdly UK obviously use AI to write their articles and completely misrepresented the UK version. It’s a crying shame because the least you expect with the 4K Steelbook release is a complete version.

The documentary is a nice extra and it is 60 minutes long but the lack of the alternate ending and no audio commentaries is a big disappointment. It’s also a stark reminder to be careful reading reviews from large media conglomerates that are simply generating articles using AI based on press releases sent to them by the publishers.