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Review: The Empire Strikes Back

review | The Empire Strikes Back

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The latest release of the best of the Star Wars bunch excels on both the 4K HDR and Atmos fronts

by John Sciacca
April 29, 2020

Disney and Lucasfilm gave Star Wars fans a real gift this year, making all nine of the franchise films (plus offshoots Rogue One and Solo) available for the first time in 4K HDR transfers with Dolby Atmos immersive-audio soundtracks. And, as an even more special May the Fourth present, the films are also all currently marked down at sale prices through digital retailers, with each movie available for download at Kaleidescape for $13.99 (opposed to the usual $33.99). A bargain in any galaxy . . . no matter how far, far away!

While I’ve reviewed the two latest films in the Star Wars canon—The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker—we thought it would be interesting to take a look further back in the franchise and view one of the installments widely considered to be the best of the bunch: The Empire Strikes Back.

I was seven when Star Wars—now known as A New Hope—was released in 1977, and I can’t remember being as excited about seeing a sequel as when Empire came out in 1980. I clearly remember begging my dad to take me on opening night and then breaking down and sobbing when he said he wouldn’t—a devastating blow to 10-year-old me having to wait even one extra day! (For the record, I have seen every Star Wars film since—including the Special Edition re-releases—on opening day.)

As impressive as the first film was, Empire ratcheted everything up several notches: Exciting new locations—Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin; new weapons—snow speeders and AT-AT walkers; Jedi training, and a far more impressive lightsaber battle between Vader and Luke (Mark Hamill) ; new characters—scoundrel/frenemy Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), the Emperor (Ian MacDiarmid), a character so powerful even Vader kneels before him, and a new Jedi Master, Yoda! Plus, a huge—you actually want to hear an audience let out an audible gasp!?—revelation from Vader, along with introducing everyone’s favorite bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

With all that going on, it’s no wonder this movie is both the best reviewed—Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 94—and most fan-loved—audience score of 97—of the series, along with being my personal favorite. And it not only holds up after 40 years, but, oh my damn! does it look and sound absolutely amazing! Fully restored and taken from a new 4K digital intermediate, Empire is clean, detailed, sharp, and visually stunning, and has never looked as good as we have it now.

As stunning as the audio and video transfer is, nearly as impressive is not only how well the film holds up but just how impressive the visual effects still are. Sure, you can tell that the Tauntauns and AT-ATs are stop-motion miniatures and some of the matte paintings can’t compete with modern CGI, but overall, the film still absolutely delivers. (Leia calling Han “laser brain” and Luke oddly scratching Chewie under the neck still remain cringeworthy.)

George Lucas famously broke away from the Hollywood machine after the first film, deciding to take full control of his story and opting to finance Empire entirely on his own (a story documented in the fascinating two-and-a-half-hour Empire of Dreams—The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, available for streaming on Disney+). Doing this not only made him fabulously wealthy, it made him realize he would be too busy to take on the directing chores, instead asking a former film professor, Irvin Kershner, to take over at the helm. Besides managing finances, Lucas also supervised the special effects of his other budding enterprise, Industrial Light and Magic, and remained involved as executive producer, writer, and editor, something you get an interesting glimpse into via one of the included special-feature docs “George Lucas on Editing The Empire Strikes Back.”

You’ll notice the improvement in picture quality literally from the film’s opening seconds. The starfield is black and crisp with hundreds of bright pinpoints of starlight (were there always that many stars?), and the text scrawl is a glorious vibrant yellow that’s so razor-sharp it leaps off the screen.

All of the space shots are wonderfully deep and black, with bright star points and little lights illuminating the various ships along with a variety of colored engine plumes. These shots feature far more contrast, and the Imperial Star Destroyers look gorgeous. Featuring a beautiful shining-white leading edge, they’re illuminated by hundreds of lights, making them appear more ominous, alive, and massive, and allowing you to appreciate all the detail.

Edges are just sharp and clean throughout with closeup detail so good you see every line and pore in the actors’ faces. Leia (Carrie Fisher) looks incredibly fresh-faced, young, and beautiful. You also notice that the shoulder restraints of the snow-speeder pilots appear to be just bubble wrap. The tight shots reveal individual strands of Chewbacca’s fur, along with each wispy piece of hair on Yoda’s head, face, and fingers, and each wrinkle and expression. Puppet Yoda is more alive and real than ever, and you can really appreciate the master work done here by Frank Oz.

The film has a lot of practical sets and props, and the image quality really lets you appreciate the detail and care that went into them. The detail and texture along the Falcon is amazing and you can see all of the little nicks and scratches and wear on the various pilots’ uniforms and helmets. The details of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in carbonite—with little dimples and cracks and pits—are also clearly visible. We get several nice interior shots of the Falcon’s cockpit, alive with hundreds of glowing and blinking lights of different colors, all vibrant in HDR.

While the Hoth battle scene is one of my very favorites—and as exciting today as ever, enhanced with both better images and audio—one of the most visually striking parts of the film is in the carbonite freezing bay. Here the deep black of the room is accentuated with glowing orange, with bright blue lights and with smoke all around. When Vader and Luke face off here in the first saber duel, it looks phenomenal. The images are crisp with tons of contrast, creating cinematic images that are every bit as dynamic and compelling as anything you’ll see in modern film.

As good as the images are, the sound does an equally impressive job of bringing Empire up to modern sonic standards, with the mixers taking every opportunity to have ships and objects flying or rumbling past overhead. Right from the start, probe droids launched from the Destroyer whiz across your ceiling, not to mention all the flyovers from tie-fighters, snow speeders, mynocks, and more. Ghost Obi-Wan (Sir Alec Guinness) and the Emperor’s voice boom from overhead and all around as appropriate.

Beyond the big action scenes, we get a ton of ambience and atmospheric sounds in nearly every scene. Listen to all the little things that are happening inside the Rebel bass on Hoth—there are shouts from off screen, ambient little buzzes and droid noises, and mechanical sounds of repairs going on. Outside on Hoth, the blizzard whips wind and snow around the room. On Dagobah, we;re immersed in jungle sounds, with creature noises and leaves rustling, and a brief rain storm that showers the room.

Bass is deep and powerful, whether it is explosions or the mighty foot stomps of the AT-AT walkers. Perhaps most important, dialogue is always clear and properly placed, not always in the center channel but tracking characters as they move off screen.

I honestly can’t say enough about this 4K HDR transfer of The Empire Strikes Back; it is truly reference quality in every way. And having purchased the Star Wars films in so many formats and versions over the years—VHS, letterbox VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray—I was seriously planning on sitting this round of Star Wars releases out. But after watching Empire, I’m starting to question that decision. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ve never seen the movies look like this, especially in a fine home theater. In many ways, it feels like seeing them for the very first time—and that is a priceless experience.

Probably the most experienced writer on custom installation in the industry, John Sciacca is co-owner of Custom Theater & Audio in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, & is known for his writing for such publications as Residential Systems and Sound & Vision. Follow him on Twitter at @SciaccaTweets and at johnsciacca.com.

PICTURE | Fully restored and taken from a new 4K digital intermediate, Empire is clean, detailed, sharp, and visually stunning, and has never looked as good as it does here.

SOUND | The Atmos soundtrack does an equally impressive job of bringing the film up to modern sonic standards, with the mixers taking every opportunity to have ships and objects flying or rumbling past overhead.

Review: Alien

review | Alien

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The style-driven sci-fi horror flick that launched Ridley Scott’s career gets a terrific 4K HDR restoration, but not a new Atmos mix

by John Sciacca
August 26, 2019

Forty years. That’s how old the seminal sci-fi, suspense, horror film Alien turns this year. And to celebrate the milestone, 20th Century Fox has given it a complete 4K HDR restoration, supervised by director Ridley Scott, with the transfer taken from a 4K digital intermediate.

What can be said about Alien that hasn’t been said in hundreds of other reviews, columns, blogs, and forums? Released in 1979, the movie has a different look, feel, and style than anything else that had come before. And like throwing a boulder into a pond, it caused a ripple effect through the filmmaking world that influenced the style and storytelling of virtually every sci-fi film that followed—principally Scott’s own Blade Runner. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley—looking incredibly young and fresh-faced here—launched the idea of a strong female hero, and Scott’s gritty, decaying Nostromo showed that the future didn’t need to be shiny and new.

I remember the first time I saw Alien. All I really knew about it was the tagline, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” The original trailer had an incredibly slow build, almost a full minute of a slow pan down to an egg, followed by a lot of dark scenes with people running and panicking. And not a single spoken word—not one.

Of course, as an 11-year-old, the infamous chest-burster scene was shocking but not actually the nightmare fuel one might think. No, what lingered in my brain was nightmares of running through a darkened ship, klaxons blaring, strobes flashing, being chased by a monster as a countdown timer steadily wound down towards destruction. Fun times.

Unfortunately, Alien has never lived up to its potential on the home screen. DVD and LaserDisc versions were overly grainy and noisy, and the previous remastered Blu-ray version couldn’t do the shadow and black-level detail justice. All of that is made right with this 4K HDR version, which looks fantastic. Fortunately, the restoration isn’t heavy-handed, getting rid of the bad bits of noise and deterioration while keeping Scott’s look and stylistic feel solidly intact.

The film begins with the unrestored 20th Century Fox logo showing you just how grainy and noisy the source material was but once we jump into the film, the image is clean, clear, and beautifully solid. The blackness of space is deep, inky, and clean, with the stars as bright pinpoints of light. They definitely took a mild touch with HDR, not overdriving the film but enhancing key scenes, punching up the appropriate highlights like the ship’s drive engines, spotlights, flames, and strobes. Much—and I mean much—of the film takes place in the dark, with many things hidden in shadows, and it’s here the cleaned-up transfer and HDR have the greatest impact.

Occasionally, there are scenes where the boosted brightness of a spotlight will highlight a bit of noise in the image, but these are few and unobjectionable. There’s a brutal video torture test at 24:30 in, where the crew is exploring the moon that’s the source of the spurious radio signal. Here we have myriad shades of gray illuminated by various lighting sources and swirling smoke that could be an absolute banding nightmare, but the image holds up wonderfully. While Alien will never be accused of being a colorful film, 4K’s wider color gamut is used modestly to enhance the bright reds and oranges of the many indicator lights located around the Nostromo.

It’s been years since I’ve watched it, and I couldn’t entirely recall the storyline, so it was nice to go into it semi-fresh. What I really appreciated was the total lack of exposition. You’re thrown into the Nostromo with the crew as they’re awakened out of hyper-sleep and have to figure out things along with them. Several minutes pass before a word is spoken. The depth of the image during the slow, wandering journey through the empty space ship is almost 3D. HDR is used nicely here, allowing us to see more shadow detail than ever, letting you appreciate the lengths taken with the practical sets. The same can be said for the spacecraft the crew discovers on LV-426. Here you can marvel at H.R. Giger’s design style and really appreciate the look of the Space Jockey and leathery texture of the eggs in the egg farm.

Whether by design or technical limitations, the glimpses of the Xenomorph are kept few and are often just snatches or in shadows. This reminded me of Jaws, where Spielberg keeps the huge Great White a visual mystery for much of the film, proving that often the dangers we can’t see are the most terrifying.

I was amazed how well the story and effects hold up. The only things that really date the look are the ancient displays and computer tech located around the Nostromo. Some of the graphics on these screens look a bit of a mess, while others—namely the text on Mother’s screen—look razor-sharp. The alien looks just as terrifying as ever, with the workings of its glistening, goo-filled inner jaws clearly visible.

Part of the danger of making a film this old look so good is that some things best left unseen are revealed. There were a couple of moments where it was too obvious that the alien’s movements were a tad too human-in-a-costume or that we were looking at models instead of full-sized crafts. Fortunately, these were minor and certainly didn’t detract me from enjoying the film.

One thing not changed from the previous Blu-ray release is the audio, including the 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master Audio. Would I have loved a new Dolby Atmos or DTS:X mix? Absolutely. There are many scenes where an immersive track could have been used to great effect but this mix plays well in a luxury cinema and my processor’s upmixer did a great job of putting blaring alarm klaxons up into the overheads.

Both the 4K disc and the Kaleidescape download include the original theatrical cut and the director’s cut (which actually plays a minute shorter) along with two commentary tracks and two isolated soundtrack scores. Alien is a must-have for any film fan, and I dare say it will never look better than what we have here.

PICTURE | The 4K HDR restoration looks fantastic, getting rid of the bad bits of noise and deterioration while keeping Ridley Scott’s signature style solidly intact.

SOUND | This is the same 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix that was on the Blu-ray release but a processor’s upmixer can do a great job of putting things like the blaring alarm klaxons up into the overheads.

Review: The Wizard of Oz

review | The Wizard of Oz

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The 4K HDR restoration shows there’s more subtlety to the film’s Technicolor palette than we’d expect based the previous home releases

by Dennis Burger
October 31, 2019

As much as we tend to discuss Ultra HD video and high dynamic range in relation to the latest Hollywood and Netflix have to offer, it’s sometimes easy to forget something important: The films that stand to benefit most from current home-video standards aren’t the newest digital spectacles but classic works created entirely in the analog domain. Older films possess a level of detail and nuance no previous home-video format has been capable of replicating and short of cinema revivals, most of us have never seen them in all their splendor.

I don’t know of any film as old as 1939’s The Wizard of Oz to make the leap into 4K HDR before now. For that matter, I don’t know of any other movies filmed in three-strip Technicolor that have been remastered for 4K HDR to date. That alone makes this new home-video release academically interesting, even if the Judy Garland classic holds no emotional sway over you.

Not that it matters, of course, but it does for me. Hold emotional sway, that is. I’ve owned Oz on every home-video format available in the U.S., including every VHS release, every Laserdisc release, every DVD and Blu-ray. But my love affair goes further back than that. One of my earliest memories is of lying belly-flat on the rug in our den, watching Dorothy and friends traipse down the Gray Brick Road on our old black & white tube TV. Much to my dad’s chagrin, that was the start of a yearly tradition for me—one I uphold to this day every Thanksgiving.

I can almost define each era of my life in relation to how I experienced that annual ritual. My first time viewing it on a color TV was, it should go without saying, a significant revelation. And although there have been upgrades since (the 1989 restoration of the sepia tones in the opening and closing acts, the 2005 restoration and re-alignment of the original Technicolor film strips), rarely has any viewing of Oz blown my mind quite to the same degree as seeing it in color for the first time.

Until now. This 4K HDR release of The Wizard of Oz is the first to actually replicate the experience of viewing the movie by way of a pristine 35mm print. And this is evident as early as those early sepia-toned shots in Kansas, which you wouldn’t think would make for a great HDR demo. It’s important to remember that, for all the talk about peak brightness and nits and whatnot, the most significant boost to dynamic range HDR delivers is in the lower end of the value scale. There are simply more steps of near-black to work with here, and that’s put to good use in the opening scenes by dragging detail out of the shadows without brightening the overall image.

It should come as no surprise, though, that this new transfer doesn’t really come to life until Dorothy steps through the monochromatic door of her wind-tossed home into the rainbow lands of Oz. But again, the benefits here may not be what you’re expecting.

If you go in anticipating tons of intense specular highlights, you’re going to be left wanting. Some vibrant peak brightness is used to bring out the sparkle of Glinda’s jewels and of course the gleaming glimmer of Dorothy’s ruby slippers. But in all cases, this higher-intensity brightness is organic and tastefully done—so much so that it may only affect you subliminally.

There’s simply no mistaking the color palette of this new transfer for that of any previous home release. Early offerings of Oz did what they could with their limited color gamut. Around the time of the aforementioned remaster in the mid-2000s, though, Warner saw fit to actually boost the color saturation of the movie in order to approximate the Crayola hues Technicolor was capable of delivering.

The problem with that was that the entire palette of Oz was dragged along for the ride. So, although the Wicked Witch’s verdant skin tones may have looked close enough, subtler colors like the pastels of the Lullaby League were overly boosted and overly intense—just plain wrong, when you get right down to it.

When viewed via Kaleidescape, the 10-bit palette of this new release (which was taken from an 8K, 16-bit scan of the original film elements) puts all of the colors in their proper proportions. So, for example, in certain scenes in Munchkinland, subdued pastels share the screen with luscious primary hues—something most of us have never seen outside of the film’s more recent theatrical revivals.

The detail and definition of this transfer will henceforth be my response to those who say we don’t need 4K resolution at home. Subtle details that were obscured by previous 1080p and lower-resolution releases are restored for all the world to see—even down to the individual hairs on Dorothy’s head.

There is, of course, a hefty helping of softness to the image in places, especially in closeups of Billie Burke (Glinda). My point is, it’s taken until now to bring all of the detail—softened, filtered, gauzed though it may be in some scenes—to home displays. I’m struggling to see where even an 8K release could improve on what I’m seeing here in terms of detail and definition, much less color and contrast.

If I have a nit to pick, it’s that this new color grade still gets the early and late sepia-toned film a little wrong. It’s important to remember that this footage was shot in black & white and hand-tinted sepia—and then hand-tinted sepia again in the ’80s. And as with every release of the past couple decades, this version takes that tinting just a touch too far, with slightly too much warmth. But that’s only a concern if you get overly fussy about “filmmaker’s intent.” (Incidentally, if you’re curious about how I can speak to “filmmaker’s intent” in this case, given that there were so many chefs stirring this pot, we can look to a scene later in the movie in which Dorothy peers into the Wicked Witch’s crystal ball and sees her Aunt Em in Kansas, in all her sepia-tinted glory. That’s what Kansas is supposed to look like.)

And . . . [checks notes] Yep. That’s it. That’s literally the only pedantic niggle I can come up with. Some viewers may take issue with the fact that those sepia scenes don’t quite hold up to the clarity and definition of the film’s colorful middle. That’s largely due to the original negatives for the first and last act having been lost in a fire in the 1970s, so they have since been sourced from an optical intermediate struck in the ’60s. The only original negatives we have at this point are for the color parts of the film, so this is the best Kansas is ever going to look.

The purist in me also wants to half-heartedly complain about the lack of the the original mono soundtrack with this new release, but I just can’t bring myself to grump about that, given how great the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix sounds. And this is a new remix, by the way—not the lossless 5.1 mix that was included with the 70th and 75th anniversary Blu-rays.

The surround channels are employed a little more frequently this time, and there’s an appreciable boost to dialogue intelligibility and vocal clarity, along with some enhanced bass, especially during the tornado sequence. But all in all, this surround mix is true to the sprit and overall aesthetic of the film. It’s certainly not as egregious or aggressive as some recent remixes for classic films. So even if the original mono were present, I can’t imagine I would ever listen to it.

As for the Kaleidescape presentation, my only beef is that, in addition to the 4K HDR version, you’ll also need to download the Blu-ray-quality version if you want access to all of the bonus goodies—including the audio commentary with historian and author John Fricke, which carries over from every home release since 2005. There’s also the excellent The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic from 1990, hosted by Angela Lansbury, which for some reason was dropped from the 75th anniversary video releases but makes a welcome reappearance here.

Oodles of other bonuses are worth your time if you’re a dedicated fan, but these two are essential viewing/listening for everyone, so download both versions of the film from the giddy-up. Why you can’t simply download the bonus features without double-dipping on the film itself is beyond me.

What else is there to be said? If you’re reading this, you already know what the film means to you—you’re simply deciding whether it’s worth the 4K HDR upgrade for an 80-year-old film. The answer to that is a resounding, enthusiastic, unapologetic “Yes!” Few films have benefited from the increased resolution, enhanced dynamic range, and most importantly the wider color gamut of our current home video standards nearly so much as this one. My biggest regret is that I can’t put 4K HDR screen grabs in front of you and let you see the improvements with your own eyes. Unfortunately, the limitations of the web make that impossible.

Dennis Burger is an avid Star Wars scholar, Tolkien fanatic, and Corvette enthusiast who somehow also manages to find time for technological passions including high-end audio, home automation, and video gaming. He lives in the armpit of Alabama with his wife Bethany and their four-legged child Bruno, a 75-pound American Staffordshire Terrier who thinks he’s a Pomeranian.

PICTURE | Few films have benefited from the increased resolution, enhanced dynamic range, and wider color gamut of our current home video standards.

SOUND | The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix is true to the sprit and overall aesthetic of the film, never becoming as egregious or aggressive as some remixes for classic films.

Review: Beetlejuice

review | Beetlejuice

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This isn’t just a subtle improvement over previous home video incarnations but a massive leap that breathes new life into this tale of the dead

by Dennis Burger
September 8, 2020

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice probably doesn’t spring immediately to mind as a prime candidate for a 4K HDR remaster. That’s not to say anything about the quality of the film itself, of course. In fact, I would rank it as the second-best “goth” film of all time (right after Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, of course). It’s just never been a film that made for decent home theater demo material. The DVD release looked like a skit performed for public-access TV, and the Blu-ray—while a huge improvement—was still a blown-out, garish, overly saturated mess of a thing that could be categorized as “watchable” at best.

That kind of thing sticks with you. For the past 32 years, the home video presentation of Beetlejuice has left a lasting impression in the mind of viewers of how this quirky and adorably dark film is supposed to look. My only hope here is that enough people give the UHD HDR release enough attention to undo some of the damage done by previous efforts.

You don’t really notice the advantages of the new HDR color grade at first, and I suspect that’s because the opening credits sequence—with its sweeping overhead view of the village of Winter River, CT, which morphs into a model thereof—seems to have been taken from a print, not the original film negative. So while you immediately get a sense of the enhanced resolution of this new restoration, the color palette is still a little limited and the overall quality of the image is ever-so-slightly dupe-y. As soon as the last title fades away, though, we quite obviously move to a scan of the original negative, and from here on out the image takes on all the qualities of beautifully restored (or perhaps lovingly preserved) 35mm film.

Perhaps the most startling thing is how nuanced the colors are. Gone are the ridiculously ruddy skin tones and the Hulk-Smash green of the foliage (both outdoors and in the scale model of Winter River that dominates the plot of the film). Yes, as the lovely Geena Davis and a surprisingly sufferable Alec Baldwin make their trek into the idyllic little town toward the beginning, the image is still peppered with vibrant primary hues—the sign on the hardware store, the covered bridge where Davis and Baldwin’s characters lose their lives—but because of HDR10’s wider color gamut, the saturation of the overall image doesn’t have to be cranked to 11 to allow for such vivid chromaticity when and where it’s appropriate.

The second thing you notice is that there’s just so much detail in the image that has been lost in previous home video transfers, and not wholly as a function of resolution. Take the short scene in which the pushy real estate agent played by Annie McEnroe surprises Baldwin’s character at the window in a desperate push to talk him out of his home. Even on Blu-ray, the scenery behind her is a white-hot blur devoid of depth or detail, which makes sense given the 8-bit limitations of HD video. The choice had to be made whether to overexpose the world outside that window or underexpose the interior and risk losing Baldwin in the shadows. In this new 10-bit transfer, both interior and exterior are perfectly exposed. Baldwin exists in the shadows, yes, but doesn’t get lost in them, while the depth and detail of the foliage behind McEnroe still shines through.

That’s one scene out of dozens I could point to in extolling the virtues of this UHD HDR restoration and its ability to breathe life into this tale of the dead. Other details that come to mind are the imperfections of Winona Ryder’s teenaged complexion and the fine filigree lace of Davis’s bridal gown, both of which are resolved beautifully. The film grain is also perfectly organic throughout—not too noisy, not too overbearing, but never artificially smoothed over.

But perhaps my favorite thing about this new transfer is the way it handles the scenes in the bureaucratic Neitherworld, which have always been the worst-looking aspect of the home video releases. Here, the HDR gets to flex its muscles with no concern for lifelike skin tones or believable greenery. Simply put, these sequences now glow and iridize like a fluorescent blacklight poster, which is how they’ve always looked in my memory of seeing the film far too many times to count on the big screen in the spring of ’88.

As for the sound, I think it’s safe to say Beetlejuice didn’t sound as good on the mixing stage as it does here. Aside from a few cute and subtle exceptions, the new Dolby Atmos remix doesn’t get too carried away with repositioning sound elements or making the film sound like a modern blockbuster. And thank goodness it doesn’t included any re-recorded sound effects, as does the travesty of a remix included with the 4K HDR remaster of Hitchcock’s Psycho. The mix mostly serves to simply give more space to Danny Elfman’s delicious score and the wonderfully uplifting Harry Belafonte soundtrack. But it’s also apparent that there’s also been some equalization done to the audio, which has an enhanced richness and fidelity I don’t recall ever hearing before. And dialogue clarity is among the best of any home video release. Like, ever.

There’s nothing much by way of extras, aside from three episodes of the Beetlejuice Saturday-morning cartoon that ran from 1989 to 1991. These haven’t been restored and are horribly compressed, so they likely aren’t worth your time. The Kaleidescape download, unlike the recent UHD Blu-ray release, also includes an isolated music track—that is, a version of the film devoid of dialogue or sound effects. But it’s unfortunately married to the pan & scan standard-definition transfer of the film, so its value is debatable at best.

But don’t let the lack of supplemental goodies bum you out. Beetlejuice is one of the worthiest UHD HDR remasters I’ve seen to date (almost on par with The Wizard of Oz), and the film itself is such a joyous (and ironic) celebration of life that it stands on its own.

PICTURE | Maybe the most startling thing is how nuanced the colors are, followed closely by the realization there’s just so much detail in the image that has been lost in previous home video transfers.

SOUND | It’s safe to say Beetlejuice didn’t sound as good on the mixing stage as it does here, and the Atmos remix doesn’t get carried away with repositioning sound elements or making the film sound like a modern blockbuster.

Review: Batman Returns

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The 4K HDR reissue really drives home how much better this sequel is than Tim Burton’s first stab at the Caped Crusader

by Dennis Burger
June 18, 2019

I’ve never been a big fan of shibboleths—those words or catch-phrases designed to set members of an in-group apart from outsiders. Especially in today’s geek culture, the use of such exclusionary memes seems divisive to me. But I’ll admit, I do have my own shorthand way of identifying my people: I simply work into casual conversation the observation that 1992’s Batman Returns is a better and more interesting film than the 1989 original.

What I love most about this revelation is the looks I get in response. At one end of the spectrum you have the folks who gape at me as if I’ve just licked their nostrils. At the other end there’s a spark of realization, a look in the eye that says, “You get it!”

What generally follows (with the latter folk, at least) is a lengthy discussion about why—why Batman Returns is everything Batman should have been, why it’s stood the test of time in a way the original hasn’t. Without hours to dig into all of it here, though, I’ll have to merely scratch the surface.

Simply put, whereas Batman—much as I love that film—is primarily a product, its weird and wonderful sequel is a genuine work of art, an aesthetic, thematic, and tonal expression that actually has something to say and stands up to legitimate re-interpretation as the years pass and the weirdness of our own world finally catches up in so many ways to the macabre and gothic political tale Tim Burton wove in this most anticipated of sequels. And surprisingly, very little of that has to do with the fact that Max Shreck—Returns’ primary villain and tertiary antagonist, played by Christopher Walken in all his scenery-chewing glory—is a nasty, narcissistic, big-city tycoon with underhanded political ambitions and a feint of concern for the common man.

In any other comic-book film, Walken really would have stolen the show. But the real standouts here are Danny DeVito as a deliciously disgusting re-interpretation of The Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer, who simply makes Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, her own.

If I had to guess, I’d say one of the reasons why Batman Returns was written off as an inferior sequel in its day is the heavy emphasis on its villains—delightful as they are—to the exclusion of the titular hero, who almost shrinks into the background as a mysterious boogeyman. Or perhaps it’s simply that this film is so dramatically different from the one it follows, almost having more in common with Burton’s criminally underappreciated Edward Scissorhands, which he made in between his two Batman efforts.

None of this is to say Batman Returns is perfect. Some of its dialogue falls flat, even if only by contrast with the sheer brilliance of other one-liners. And Keaton at times seems bored to be wearing the cape and cowl for a second time. But if, for whatever reason, you haven’t seen Batman Returns since its debut, you owe it another look, and there’s no better way to do so than the new UHD/HDR release on Kaleidescape.

To say the film has never looked as striking as it does here would be a banal understatement. The improvements over previous home video releases simply can’t be summed up in a handful of paragraphs. The additional detail over the Blu-ray release from 2010 is jaw-dropping from beginning to end, but it’s the HDR grade that truly brings this film to life.

Unlike Batman, which is a way more visually vibrant film than most people remember it being, Returns is genuinely stygian throughout, and the enhanced contrasts, shadow detail, and depth afforded by HDR give the streets of Gotham and the sewers beneath a depth and richness I don’t remember seeing even in the film’s original big-screen release. The new transfer also makes wonderful use of highlights, mostly to bring vivid clarity to the film’s diverse textures—especially in contrasting the dull, matte darkness of Batman’s costume against the gleaming, slick blackness of Catwoman’s getup.

The enhanced dynamic range also elevates certain narrative elements, such as the scene in which Penguin crawls out of the sewers for the first time and is blinded by the strobing of camera flashes. Those bright flashes aren’t quite eye-reactive but they are stark enough to illuminate Penguin’s discomfort and give the viewer some small taste of his experience.

I’ll admit, I was concerned going in that the HDR would do no favors to the numerous matte-painted cityscapes. But since the film is in many ways shot like a play whose audience is dragged from stage to stage at a frantic pace, the fact that you can now more easily see the seams in spots actually adds to the film’s charms in an appropriately weird way. Aside from a handful of optically composited effects, Batman Returns looks like it could have been shot yesterday—by a madman, to be sure (and certainly not funded by any major motion-picture studio outside of perhaps Netflix) but yesterday nonetheless.

As for the sound, unlike the UHD/HDR release of Batman, the new Dolby Atmos mix doesn’t introduce any re-recorded sound effects, largely because it doesn’t need to. The sound elements still hold up as shockingly modern and incredibly robust, and the Atmos mix simply draws atmospheric elements and bits of Danny Elfman’s iconic score into the height dimension.

I have to say, if this is the direction Hollywood is heading with Atmos mixes, either new or re-mixed, I might have to rethink my curmudgeonly stance on the format. The new mix never whaps you over the head with kitschy audio grandstanding but is instead used largely to build the film’s environments, to give a distinct sonic signature to interiors like the Batcave and the Penguin’s underground lair. In other words, it draws you into and reinforces the onscreen action rather than distracting from it.

One other thing worth noting about the new Kaleidescape release of the film is that it’s the only digital release of the UHD/HDR remaster to include bonus features, aside from the iTunes download. Vudu, Amazon, and others have released movie-only versions that sell the film short, in my opinion. On Kaleidescape, you’ll also need to download the Blu-ray-quality version of the film to get the bonus goodies, and said bonus goodies are only available in standard-definition, since they were originally created for DVD but it’s worth the extra effort. The supplements are a continuation of those created for Batman and give a nice inside look at the making of the film, especially its effects, set designs, etc.

I wish Burton’s commentary had also been attached to the UHD/HDR version since it’s a worthwhile listen, and having seen the film in all its 4K glory, it’s hard now to watch it in mere high-definition. But if nothing else, doing so gives one a greater appreciation of just how incredible the new restoration is.

PICTURE | This film has never looked as striking as it does here. The improvements over previous home video releases is jaw-dropping from beginning to end, but it’s the HDR grade that truly brings it to life.

SOUND | The Atmos mix never whaps you over the head with kitschy audio grandstanding but is instead used to build the film’s environments, drawing you into and reinforcing the onscreen action rather than distracting from it..

Review: The Matrix Trilogy

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The imminent arrival of the first Matrix film in 18 years makes this the perfect time to revisit the original trilogy

by John Sciacca
December 17, 2021

You might ask yourself why we’re reviewing The Matrix Trilogy a full three years after its 4K HDR disc release. The answer is simple—with the new The Matrix: Resurrections dropping next week both theatrically and on HBO Max, it seemed the perfect time to revisit this sci-fi classic.

To be even more honest, it had been years since I’d watched this trilogy and I’d never sampled the 4K HDR release with the new Dolby Atmos audio soundtrack. I couldn’t even remember exactly how the story finished, so I decided to take the Red Pill and once again head down the rabbit hole with Neo, discover how these films hold up some 20 years later, and get ready for the exciting fourth chapter!

Released in 1999, it’s no understatement to say The Matrix was groundbreaking. Everything from the ad campaign (“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”), to the look and style, to the visual effects was intriguing and mind-blowing. I can remember turning to my wife in the theater just minutes into the movie and saying, “I’m not even sure what is happening but I am loving this movie!” I’m happy to say that feeling holds up and the films are still a blast to watch!

And while the innovative “bullet-time” effects have been widely copied since, and even showed up in commercials for a while, the effects are still amazing to watch and, bolstered by the new Dolby TrueHD Atmos mix, are more immersive and impactful than ever.

Ultimately, though, what makes The Matrix work and hold up so well it is that it is just so damn cool. The world is cool, the concept is cool, the style is cool. But most of all, the characters are cool. With lesser actors, some of the lines could have been laughable, but this cast committed to the Wachowskis’ vision, and they inhabit their roles and the world so well it’s easy to go along for the journey. Laurence Fishburne as the all-wise and believing prophet Morpheus walking around with arms folded behind his back in a leather duster and spouting things like, “My beliefs do not require them to [believe].” And Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, in her skintight, shiny black bodysuit, is never sexualized but rather an incredibly strong female lead every bit as vital to the story. Hugo Weaving as trilogy Big Bad Agent Smith brings gravitas to a character that is really just a computer security program.

And then there’s Keanu Reeves as Neo. Of course, now, after three successful John Wick films, it’s easy to separate Reeves from his “whoa, dude!” past performances but in 1999 he wouldn’t have been an obvious choice for this role. Of course, it’s impossible today to think of Neo as anyone other than Reeves, and he plays the part with the perfect amount of curious/confused, “What the hell?!” that we as the audience are experiencing; and the underlying excitement of lines like, “I know kung-fu” after an entire day of having fighting skills uploaded into his brain come across as wide-eyed discovered excitement rather than silly.

The first film, The Matrix, is still the best. It was a wholly original experience, and while the second and third films fleshed out the world—and completed the experience—the first one stands head and shoulders above the others. Though I actually enjoyed the third film, The Matrix Revolutions, this time more than I did on first viewing. (There is definitely something to be said for being able to view an entire story back-to-back-to-back instead of needing to wait years between releases.)

The parts I remembered as being great from the second film, The Matrix Reloaded—namely the scenes with the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and the amazing freeway chase rescuing The Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim) from The Twins (Adrian and Neil Rayment)—are still fantastic, while the bizarre and way too long club-rave scene in Zion still goes on far too long and The Architect’s (Helmut Bakaitis) convoluted speech with “ergo,“ “concordantly,” and “assiduously” is still a bit of a headscratcher but a very cool concept presented in a cool Matrix-y manner.

The films all have different feels while still feeling and looking like parts of the same whole. The Matrix is more a think-piece divided into three distinct acts of Neo discovering the Matrix, learning his role, and becoming The One, and introduces the concept of this other world and what is possible when you become unplugged and learn how to control it. Reloaded builds out the mythology of who Neo is and what he can do and introduces the new threat replicating and emerging in the computer world, with Zion under imminent attack by the machines. And Revolutions is an all-out action assault as most of the characters are defending Zion while Neo and Trinity go off to confront the machines in Machine World.

I also can’t recall a film prior to Reloaded that ended on such a drastic cliffhanger, literally just ending and setting up the opening for Revolutions. (Much the way The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 concluded years later.)

All three movies were originally filmed on 35 mm stock, and these releases, taken from new, true 4K digital intermediates, look fantastic. The movies have the perfect balance between clarity, sharpness, and detail without scrubbing away noise into waxy softness. Only occasionally did I notice any grain/digital noise, usually in scenes with loads of all-white, like inside The Construct.

Edges are sharp and defined, and closeups have tons of detail. (I’d never noticed the pock marks on Reeves’ cheeks before—though certainly nothing to compare with Fishburne!). Whether it’s the texture aboard the interiors of the ships, or the construction of the human world of Zion, or the weaving of clothing in the “real world,” or the detail of the mechanized robots, or the stone and pebbled finish outside Neo’s office building, images are terrific-looking throughout.

You just get clean beautiful images that are the best these movies have ever looked, and the HDR grading makes this an entirely different visual experience. Blacks are deep, dark, and clean; colors are punchy, vibrant, and vivid; and bright highlights shine off the screen, especially in Resurrections during the final battle, which has plenty of eye-reactive lightning strikes. Right from the opening credits, the brilliant green text leaps off the screen, then there are plenty of highlights from lights aboard the ships or of autos, or brilliant orange-red flames or sparks of electricity.

Sonically, the new Dolby TrueHD Atmos track is another massive improvement and launches this series into the hallways of legendary demo material that showcases some of the best of dialogue clarity; massive, tactile bass; subtle atmospherics; and fully overwhelming immersive audio.

Take a listen to subtler moments, such as aboard the crashed ship in Revolutions. You’ll hear creaks and groans; venting gasses; crackling sparks; buzzes, clicks, and hums; and sounds of dripping fluids. There are other moments with deep rumbles of rolling thunder where you can pick up the individual droplets of rain falling. They are subtle but literally all around you, truly the hallmark of what an immersive audio track should deliver.

Of course, the movies’ huge action moments deliver the goods, and each film has its own truly demo-worthy scene, from the lobby shootout in The Matrix and the freeway chase in Reloaded to the attack on the dock in Revolutions. The gunfire is big and explosive, with reports and ricochets that wreak havoc and destruction all around the room. You’ll hear things collapsing and crumbling overhead, feel the ripples as bullets streak through the room, hear the race of cars blasting alongside you as Trinity races in her Ducati, and hear Sentinels crawling all around, behind, and overhead in a truly 360-degree surround field.

The Matrix Trilogy belongs in every collection, especially in 4K with the new Atmos audio mix. It is the epitome of exciting home theater viewing that is not only engaging but also highly entertaining. If you haven’t seen it recently, give it a rewatch so you’re caught up for Resurrections, the first new Matrix film in 18 years!

PICTURE | The 4K HDR transfers have the perfect balance between clarity, sharpness, and detail without scrubbing away noise into waxy softness.

SOUND | The new Dolby TrueHD Atmos mixes launch this series into the annals of legendary demo material, showcasing the best of dialogue clarity; massive, tactile bass; subtle atmospherics; and overwhelming immersive audio.

Review: Vertigo

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The Robert Harris restoration of one of Hitchcock’s best translates beautifully into 4K HDR

by Michael Gaughn
October 29, 2020

Lazy commentators on Hitchcock will tell you Vertigo is his best film like that’s the beginning and end of the discussion. I’ll allow that it’s one of his best—it’s definitely his most psychologically probing and, in its strange way, intimate—but I would also argue that both Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Doubt deserve to be placed on that same top tier.

What is inarguable is that this is by far the best of the first round of Hitchcock films to receive the 4K HDR treatment. Whereas the releases of Rear Window and The Birds are merciless in exposing the flaws in both the original productions and the current state of the film elements, Vertigo is practically seamless in its presentation, gliding from image to image without any jarring technical distractions (with one exception, which I’ll discuss below). If you’re a Hitchcock fan, this is the 4K title to start with.

But it’s not necessarily the best place to start if you’re new to Hitchcock. Vertigo lacks most of the puckish little gimmicks he used to lure in the masses and, if you take it on its own terms, it’s a pretty disturbing tale of a damaged and fundamentally weak man completely gutted by his belief in the cultural tropes of the saint and the whore. And it can get especially unnerving when you realize that that man isn’t really Jimmy Stewart—who delivers an amazingly fearless portrayal of a pathologically vulnerable ex-detective—but Hitchcock himself.

Also, Hitchcock takes his time with the pacing, which won’t sit well with the jolt-a-minute immediate-gratification crowd. It’s a cliché to say Vertigo feels like a dream, but that doesn’t make it any less true. And there’s something about the tactile crispness of the images and the sumptuousness of the colors in this release that just enhances that impression. (But, ironically, given how nightmarish Hitchcock’s imagery can be, Vertigo notoriously contains one of the worst dream sequences ever.)

Seriously aiding that sense of being seduced into and then trapped within a dreamworld is Bernard Herrmann’s masterful score, probably his best. It’s something to be savored, and is especially well presented here, sounding both epic and intimate in its Wagnerian longing, with the orchestra not just some indiscriminate wash of sound but an assembly of individuals where you can feel the bows being drawn across the strings, the metallic resonance of the French horns, and the reedy, wooden resonance of the clarinets. For just one example among too many to name, watch the scenes of Stewart’s car drifting up and down the hills of San Francisco where the muted strings, like a siren’s call, subtly limn his character’s loosening grip on the objective world.

This is undoubtedly Robert Burks’ most accomplished work for Hitchcock, with one subtly, and sometimes strikingly, stunning image after another. Given that this is Hitchcock, there is some occasional overreaching, but you can’t really fault Burks for not being able to rise to an impossible challenge.

There’s one borderline moment where 4K HDR really comes through. The pivotal scene where Madeleine reborn emerges from the green mist in Judy’s shabby hotel room had always looked corny on previous home video releases, like she was stepping out of a time transporter in a ‘50s sci-fi film. But here, by hitting just the right note with the green tone—not just in this shot, but in the ones leading up to it—and by now being able to just see through the haze, you can experience for the first time outside of a movie theater exactly what Hitchcock was aiming for—and it works. It’s not just a clever effects shot but a deeply subjective portrayal of a man using another person to purge his demons and sensing himself on the verge of redemption.

Of course, a lot of the credit for the beauty of this 4K release goes to the 1996 restoration by Robert Harris and James Katz, who refurbished the film on 70mm to mimic its original VistaVision presentation. (I’m usually wary of extras, but it would have been useful if the Kaleidescape download had included something that put this somewhat controversial restoration in context since it’s so crucial to the film’s impact here.)

There is one glaring flaw, which I feel obliged to point out because I can see it’s going to be an issue with 4K releases of older films until someone finds a fix. The photo-backdrop cityscapes out Barbara Bel Geddes’, and to a lesser degree, Stewart’s apartment windows are unconvincing, and look so flat and static that they run the risk of pulling you out of the film. But that’s just not how they looked when Vertigo was shown in theaters.

This is the subject of an ongoing conversation between Gerard Alessandrini and me, and something he broached in his “When Restorations Go Wrong, Pt. 1.” These backdrops don’t stick out now not because people were more gullible back in the day. (In some ways, Studio Era audiences were far more sophisticated than today’s adrenalin junkies.) The cinematographers and production designers knew what they were doing and factored in the impact of images projected on a movie theater screen when they created these sets. But they couldn’t have anticipated what modern technology would do to their efforts. It’s kind of like seeing La Gioconda for the first time and only noticing the cracks in the paint.

Vertigo ranks up with The Shining as the best 4K HDR release of a catalog title I’ve seen to date. You not only get the benefit of experiencing Hitchcock at his best—you get to experience what greater resolution and a wider color gamut can do to restore the impact of an older film.

Michael Gaughn—The Absolute Sound, The Perfect Vision, Wideband, Stereo Review, Sound & Vision, The Rayva Roundtable, marketing, product design, some theater designs, a couple TV shows, some commercials, and now this.

PICTURE | Ranks up with The Shining as one of the best 4K HDR releases of a catalog title to date.

SOUND | Bernard Herrmann’s masterful score is something to be savored, and is especially well presented here.

Review: The Shining (1980)

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The horror classic finally receives a transfer that matches—even beats—the experiencing of seeing it in a movie theater

by Michael Gaughn
October 7, 2020

The critics hated The Shining. Some of the more prominent, and dubious, ones put it on their “Worst of the Year” lists. Some pointed to the first Friday the 13th installment, released around the same time, as the future of horror and dismissed Kubrick’s effort as quaint and out of touch. Stephen King famously damned the film—then went on with his own adaptation to prove that he knows nothing about filmmaking.

The Shining has, of course, since become a classic. But films are usually deemed “classic” more for their ability to pander to mass taste than for any inherent worth. The more important question is: Is it Kubrick’s best film?

I’m not completely sure about that, but I would tend to argue yes. In The Shining, his technique is in perfect sync with his ambitions, his execution fully, inventively, and surprisingly realizes his themes, and he dives deep enough into the much-abused but still fecund roots of the culture and returns with enough gold to craft something that might still survive when almost every other movie has been forgotten. The Shining is so well done it makes even the best of Kubrick’s previous efforts seem a little callow.

There’s no point in hashing out its merits as a traditional horror movie. While he does deploy some conventional elements, Kubrick primarily pursues horror through other, more effective, means—by using the very nature of film technique to keep the audience uneasy and to pull them into the action against their will.

The most obvious instances are well known by now, the two most famous being seeing the hyper-realistic manifestation of the old woman rising out of the bathtub at the same time her cackling horror-movie double is already chasing Jack Nicholson from the room, and Nicholson asking Shelly Duvall “Which room was it?” only to have the film cut to a cold open of a Miami newscast. (Kubrick intentionally placed that cut at a reel change so the audience would think the projectionist had screwed up.)

Things like that and the infamous title cards makes you wonder “Is this supposed to be a joke?” while baffling you why it should be, which eventually induces a skittish sense of “I can’t trust anybody here.” Taking a puppet-master’s delight in messing with the audience, Kubrick’s cunning runs the gamut from puckish to perverse, dancing right up to the edge of sadistic.

More relevant for our purposes is his astonishingly successful effort to transport the viewer into the film. It’s a cliché to say that The Overlook is a character in The Shining, but going there kind of misses the point. Kubrick took the strategies Roman Polanski used in Rosemary’s Baby to give The Black Bramford a palpable presence and seriously upped the ante by grafting them onto the medieval Art of Memory to achieve not just the sense of being lost in the film but trapped inside a labyrinthine hotel with a madman.

But anyone who’s only seen The Shining at less than 4K resolution—even on a cinematic home theater screen—has never had this experience—which means they’ve never really seen this film. All of which is a longwinded way of saying that Kaleidescape’s 4K HDR release is the first time anyone has had the chance to experience The Shining at home with the full impact Kubrick intended.

That impact hinges on a number of things, but primarily on accurately reproducing the naturalness of the artificially created outdoor light, matching the resolution of the original film print so all of the detail—especially in the landscape shots—is faithfully reproduced, and having enough resolution so the movie can be experienced from the proper viewing distance, without distractions.

That last point is the most key: Sit at the right distance, and you begin to experience The Overlook the way the characters do. You accurately feel the scale of both the large and smaller spaces and can mentally navigate the corridors the same way they do—even when they’re not around. After a while, you begin to have this sensation independently of the action on the screen. You feel haunted, in real-time—which is what makes the film uncanny and horrific in a way no other movie has been able to achieve.

None of that would be possible at home without this transfer, which is the most beautifully done, and faithful, 4K HDR translation I’ve seen of any movie. Nothing is overemphasized; all of it is in the service of the film.

And you can feel the full impact from the very first shot, where the faint ripples on the surface of the lake create the sense the small island is rushing toward you, and where the detail deep in the landscape makes the shot seem almost 3D—an effect maintained throughout the opening sequence, where the images have so much detail in the distance that they border on vertiginous. With HDR, the landscapes seem not just grand but crisp and cold and almost nasty.

This carries over to the interiors, where the ability to perceive even the smallest details reinforces the reality of The Overlook, adding to that sense of being trapped within it. I was especially awed by the wide shots of the gold ballroom, where you can clearly see the variations in the metallic surfaces and on the parquet walls way in the back of the room, and where all the lighting sources and reflections are properly balanced without being blown out. The movie hasn’t looked this good since the pristine prints from its initial release.

The quality of the transfer is just as important in the many striking closeups, with their natural skin tones and often uncomfortable intimacy. Letting yourself get lost in those shots helps reinforce the sense of being a complicit member of the film’s highly dysfunctional family.

I really can’t fault the transfer for anything—except two somewhat inadvertent things. The HDR is so revealing that it gives away how Kubrick was able to achieve the seemingly impossible overhead shot of Wendy and Danny walking through the middle of an improbably elaborate version of the hedge maze. And Kubrick relied on the random variations of film grain and the motion of the film through the projector gate to sell the shot of Jack sitting frozen in the snow. Seen as it is here, with no film or grain movement, it’s all too obviously a photo still.

I don’t mean to shortchange the film’s soundtrack, but the images are so beguiling that you have to force yourself to really focus on what’s going on there. First off, the music score is to be savored. Without question the most effective use of existing cues in any film ever, Kubrick so carefully wedded and molded its elements that most viewers probably assume it’s an original score.

As for chest-thumping explosions, window-rattling gunfire, and the other aesthetically dubious bombast we’ve come to expect from a contemporary surround mix, there’s none of that here. Kubrick was too much a master of his craft to resort to gratuitous jolts. Intent on keeping you inside the action, he wouldn’t have wanted viewers thinking about the potential seismic damage to their homes.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is as deft as the visual transfer, enhancing the atmospheric sense of inevitability without drawing attention to itself or doing anything that would make you wince. The best stuff is the most subtle—the contrasting sonic signatures of the hotel’s rooms, lobby, ballroom, and other spaces, and the first hints, and then rising presence, of the winter storm. It’s like a perverse twist on New Age pablum, using the sounds of nature to lull you into a nightmare.

I feel obligated to mention the extras while kind of dreading it. To save the best for first, there’s “The Making of The Shining,” a documentary by Kubrick’s daughter Vivian that Kubrick suppressed during his lifetime but couldn’t keep from popping up from time to time on YouTube and elsewhere. Because of his daughter’s unrivaled access and her skill, even at 17, as a filmmaker, it’s really the only portrait we have of Kubrick as a filmmaker. It’s also surprisingly revealing about Nicholson, Duvall, and Danny Lloyd, and the whole dynamic on the set. If you’re even casually interested in Kubrick or The Shining, it’s a must-see.

“Wendy Carlos, Composer,” available only on the DVD version, is mildly interesting for both the casually curious and for students of Carlos’ work. The audio commentary, also only available on the DVD download, is a very mixed bag. Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown has a decent number of insightful remarks about his work on The Shining, but Kubrick biographer John Baxter is nothing but a train wreck. You’d think a biographer would be strong on details, but he gets so much wrong you get the sense he’s just making it all up as he goes along. And his Felix the Cat recounting of the action while we’re watching it play out on the screen is so dumb and pointless it becomes funny after a while. It’s like he’s narrating the film for a group of incredibly gullible blind people.

“View from the Overlook: Crafting The Shining” and “The Visions of Stanley Kubrick,” by the same team that perpetrated Full Metal Jacket’s “Between Good and Evil,” manage to neutralize the impact of any interesting comments by various actors, directors, studio executives, and authors through their appallingly inept editing of footage from the film. Like the Full Metal Jacket travesty, they’re a textbook example of what happens when you give people with no discernible taste or talent free rein to butcher brilliant material.

But don’t let any of that cause you to hesitate to download this film. This release of The Shining will quickly become the jewel of any serious film collection. But it’s not there to be revered but watched. This film’s impact hasn’t diminished a jot since the day of its release. And this 4K HDR version takes us all the way back to that first day without compromise. It’s kind of like the movie just keeps repeating itself in an infinite loop without ever aging. Right?

PICTURE | Kaleidescape’s 4K HDR release is the first time anyone has had the chance to experience The Shining at home with the full impact Kubrick intended. It hasn’t looked this good since the pristine prints from its initial release.

SOUND | The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is as deft as the visual transfer, enhancing the atmospheric sense of inevitability without drawing attention to itself or doing anything that would make you wince.

Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey

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As close as you’ll get to having the full experience of Kubrick’s space-travel epic without building a Cinerama at home

by Michael Gaughn
November 11, 2020

1968 (as I mentioned in my review of Rosemary’s Baby) was the year Hollywood, no longer able to lure people into theaters, blew everything up and started all over again. 2001: A Space Odyssey was the most radical product of that very radical year—not only because it flouted all the conventions of mainstream storytelling but because it went full-court Brecht to subvert the audience’s addiction to identifying with the protagonist, refused to use dialogue to Mickey Mouse viewers through the action, openly pissed on the convention of the traditional Hollywood music score, and stubbornly refused to be wedged it into any identifiable genre.

2001 is utterly sui generis—no film had looked anything like it before then; no film has looked anything like it since. It exists in its own, somewhat rarefied, universe.

Kubrick would never do anything that overtly adventurous again. Sure, Clockwork Orange was more outrageous but kind of in the same way as Dr. Strangelove; and “outrageous” isn’t the same thing as “adventurous.”

But neither adventurousness nor outrageousness on their own, or even together, are enough to make a film great. (The path from 1968 to the present is littered with the corpses of films that managed to do both, but little else.) 2001 is great because it sets an impossibly high bar and almost achieves it. Adventurousness and outrageousness are symptomatic of that ambition, but neither is essential to realizing it.

Which is why—to again return to an earlier review—I have to give The Shining the edge as Kubrick’s most accomplished work. Almost everything he does big and bold in 2001 he achieves quietly and more deftly in that later film. 2001 is the product of an artist so giddy he can’t help showing off; The Shining is the work of a master so confident in his abilities that he can just quietly drop clues and then wait as the rest of us scurry to catch up.

But why even go into all this? Because both 2001 and The Shining hinge on the experience of pulling you deep inside the film—not in a superficial, escapist way but so you begin to have the sensation of actually occupying the same physical space as the characters.

That the 4K HDR presentations of both films are reference-quality seriously ups the “you are there” ante—but with a crucial difference. And there’s the rub. The Shining is almost one-to-one true to the movie Kubrick created. When you watch it at home on a high-quality system, you’re seeing what he wanted you to see. 2001 in 4K HDR is just as extraordinary—but as a title card in the closing credits reminds you, this was originally a Cinerama presentation. And, unlike most of the other filmmakers who dabbled in Cinerama, Kubrick didn’t deploy it as a gimmick (Grand Prix, anyone?) but made it absolutely central to creating that sensation of taking an epic voyage into space.

So, is 2001, viewed in 4K HDR, in any meaningful way inferior to The Shining? On the technical level of the transfer, no, they’re both excellent—almost flawless. But since you can’t do Cinerama at home (at least not without a hell of a jerry-rigged setup that would have to verge on ludicrous), The Shining is truer to the original film.

All of the above is really just an exercise in praise by faint damning. The Kaleidescape download of 2001 is one of a handful of films so well served by the 4K HDR treatment that it has to be part of the foundation of any serious film collection. If there’s a single significant hiccup in this presentation, I didn’t see it.

To get lost in 2001 today, you have to get beyond ticking off what has and hasn’t come to pass and look past all that Swinging ‘60s clothing and furniture and get on the wavelength of the film Kubrick actually created, which exists in an elaborate and self-consistent world that merely uses the trappings of reality to achieve escape velocity.

The 4K resolution can’t reveal every detail of the original 70mm print, but it shows so much more than any previous home video incarnation that it’s shocking to realize to what extent Kubrick created outside his era, how unencumbered he was by the stylistic ticks of that time (or even of the future). On the level of film technique and film grammar, 2001 still holds.

What really takes the experience to a new, truer level is the HDR. Yes, many of the special effects now even more obviously look like still photos traveling across painted backgrounds. But shots of actual physical objects in motion, like the space station, the Discovery, and most of the extravehicular footage of the pod, are stunning. The brightness of objects in space is one of the things 2001 got basically right, and the HDR makes them look so crisp and cold they’re almost tactile.

Scenes to check out include the scientists walking down the ramp into the lunar excavation, where Kubrick shoots directly into a large worklight, with the light so intense you almost have to look away. The beginning of the final act, where the floating monolith guides Bowman into the Stargate, is especially compelling because of the convincing luminosity of Jupiter and its moons. And the virtual hotel room where Bowman goes through his transformation, which Kubrick created to mimic the look of early video, is more convincing with the white and other light tones pumped just enough to glow without becoming bloated or diffused.

As for the audio: Talking about the soundtrack of 2001 has always been kind of a ticklish business because this is essentially a silent movie. Kubrick rediscovered and then reinvented the core grammar of silent film, much of which had been glossed over and obliterated by the tyranny of the microphone during the Studio Era, and used it to not just drive this film but all of his subsequent efforts. It’s not that the audio is superfluous; it’s just not redundant with the visuals the way it had been since the introduction of sound—and continues to be.

(Curiously, another product of 1968—Blake Edwards’ The Party, which was much maligned at the time and is now revered—is also basically a silent film. Edwards, on a parallel track with Kubrick, dipped back into silent comedy to bring a sense of grace and redemption that had been missing from movie comedies since the Chaplin era.)

So, things like The Blue Danube, the heavy breathing, and the various warning sounds all sound perfectly fine. But this is a film of stripped-down and barren environments, without warfare or roaring engines, so there’s, thankfully, little audio-demo fodder to be found.

As for the extras—all I can say is “beware.” I’ve already sufficiently dumped on the team that created (although that seems far too kind a word) the promotional videos disguised as mini-docs included with Full Metal Jacket and The Shining. Their efforts here are equally awful. The other videos here are just as irritating and, for the most part, pointless. It would be great if somebody could unearth the Primer to “2001” Keir Dullea hosted on CBS in the late ‘60s. It would make all these other efforts seem superfluous.

The trailer included here isn’t the one from its initial release or even its legendary initial re-release but a contemporary stab that feels like a cliché film-school exercise (people are going to look back 20 years from now at our addiction to dips to black and laugh their asses off) and indulges in exactly the kind of manipulative melodrama Kubrick despised.

The only extra worth going out of your way for is the extended audio-only interview Jeremy Bernstein did with Kubrick in 1966. You get to hear the director walk through his whole career to that point, beginning as a failed high school student who became the youngest photographer ever at Look magazine and then went on to learn filmmaking, in a world without film schools, by making his own features. Not only is it better than anything any writer has ever done on Kubrick, it confirms, beyond a doubt, that Peter Sellers’ Quilty in Lolita is basically an extended Kubrick impression—which puts that deeply flawed film in a whole new light.

PICTURE | The Kaleidescape download of 2001 is one of a handful of films so well served by the 4K HDR treatment that it has to be part of the foundation of any serious film collection.

SOUND | Things like The Blue Danube, the heavy breathing & the various warning sounds all sound perfectly fine, but this is a film of stripped-down and barren environments, without warfare or roaring engines, so there’s little audio-demo fodder to be found.

Review: Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

review | Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings

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Disney’s reach-out to Asian audiences is entertaining enough but doesn’t quite click as either an MCU entry or an action film

by John Sciacca
November 13, 2021

November 12th was the second annual Disney+ Day, a time when Disney promotes its streaming service by unleashing a torrent of new content to subscribers. This year, beyond new titles, the studio also added IMAX Enhanced content to many existing Marvel titles.

As per Disney’s site:

IMAX Enhanced content on Disney+ features an expanded aspect ratio of 1.9:1. This differs from most films where the picture appears wide but does not take up the full height of your screen.

IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio allows you to see up to 26% more of the original image and experience the full scale and scope of the picture from the comfort of your home or on the go. Some movies only have select sequences filmed in IMAX’s expanded aspect ratio.

For owners of 16:9 direct-view TVs or projection screens, which is a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, this means more of the screen is filled with picture instead of black bars (leaving roughly an inch of black above and below the image on my 65-inch Sony). Smartly, Disney also includes the film in its original 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio, which will be the preferred method for viewers with widescreen front-projection systems.

One of the biggest Disney Day releases was the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) entry, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This film is somewhat notable as Disney/Marvel’s first return to a post-pandemic exclusive cinematic release, without being simultaneously offered as a Disney+ Premier Access option.

Along with being available for streaming on Disney+, it’s also offered via digital retailers like Kaleidescape. For the best experience, specifically with the enhanced, lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos audio track, I downloaded and watched the Kaleidescape version.

I imagine there are two types of people who saw or are considering watching Shang-Chi—those who were avid comics readers familiar with the history of the character, and then the other 99% of the population that just wanted to see how this was going to fit into the fourth phase of the MCU—initially kicked off by the Disney+ series WandaVision and followed-up with Black Widow—and just wanted to see another big spectacle superhero film.

I was firmly in the second camp, and went into this knowing absolutely nothing about Shang-Chi. I was at least interested in the casting of Simu Liu in the lead, as my wife and I are big fans of the Netflix series Kim’s Convenience, where he plays Jung. (Seems that Liu can’t break free from his ties to the auto industry, as he works at a rental car agency in Kim’s and as a valet in Shang-Chi . . .)

After the massive success of Black Panther, you can certainly argue Disney is trying to be more inclusive with its films, breaking away from the traditional white male superhero. This is the first Marvel film to feature an Asian director (Destin Daniel Cretton) and a predominantly Asian cast, and following on the live-action Mulan remake, and then the animated Raya and the Last Dragon, Shang-Chi completes the outreach cycle.

Having said that, it didn’t feel like it is pandering or trying to shove culturally-appropriate images or messages down your throat, at least not to this outsider. The film feels organic in the way it presents things, whether it’s the family having breakfast, talking about the Asian culture’s emphasis on education or respect for family, or if the action is taking place in San Francisco—which has a large Asian population—or Macau.

The film also does what it can to tie into the larger MCU, even though it really takes place outside any of the action we’re familiar with, and doesn’t feel too connected to that larger universe. The “blip”—where Thanos wiped out half of the population in a finger snap before Iron Man brought everyone back—is referenced, Dr. Strange’s companion/assistant Wong (Benedict Wong) has a small role, and we see the return of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), who was last seen as the faux baddie Mandarin in Iron Man 3, who also references his time in prison (covered in the Marvel short All Hail the King). And, of course, we have the now-obligatory Marvel mid- and end-credits scenes that really try to flesh out the franchise, as well as set up additional installments in the MCU.

As an outsider to the story, the film’s opening minutes are a bit of an information dump where it attempts to bring you up to speed on the legend, history, and power of the Ten Rings and how they grant the wearer the strength of a god and endless life. After centuries of living, toppling governments, and changing the course of history, Xu Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) learns of Ta Lo, a hidden village with mythical creatures and ancient magic. While trying to gain access to Ta Lo through a magical forest, he falls in love with one of the city’s guardians, Ying Li (Fala Chen). They ultimately have a child, Shang-Chi (Liu), who has changed his name to Shaun and is now living in San Francisco where he works as a hotel valet with his friend Katy (Awkwafina).

One day while riding a city bus, Shaun is attacked by an unusual gang and despite putting up a heroic fight, the jade pendant given to him by his mother is ripped from his neck. He believes his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) is also in danger, so he heads to Macau with Katy to find and protect her.

Throughout, we learn of Shang-Chi’s background, his training, the fate of his mother, and his and Xialing’s relationship with their father. Ultimately Shang-Chi, Xialing, and Katy are all reunited with Wenwu, who is still searching for Ta Lo, but feels he has finally learned the secret to discovering the hidden city’s location.

There is a lot of hand-to-hand martial arts-style fighting, but the varied locations and participants help keep it interesting and from seeming too repetitive. The choreography is also hyper-fast, kinetic, and pretty inventive. While there is some Wuxia-style fighting, it doesn’t lean too heavily on this or ever feel Crouching Tiger-esque, though it certainly leans heavily into its mythical creatures bent at the end.

I’m an Awkwafina fan, but her wise-cracking sidekick role here, where she’s used to bring some comedic relief to almost all of her scenes, ran a little thin. In some ways, she felt a bit like her Sisu water dragon character brought-to-life in human form from Raya and the Last Dragon.

Shot in Arri at 4.5K, this transfer is taken from a 2K digital intermediate, and it certainly looks clean, clear, sharp, and detailed throughout. There are some shots showing Wenwu and his Ten Rings army and the Tan Lo army wearing different uniforms, and the fine detail and texture in their armor is evident. Closeups also show loads of detail in other fabrics and garments, as well as extreme facial detail, letting you see the difference in skin texture and smoothness. While the most detail is in the tight shots, longer shots can hold their own as well. Notice the tight line structure in the tile, stone, and thatch building roofs, or the clarity of leaves in bamboo forest.

The HDR grade gives the images plenty of shadow detail and a lifelike quality, but with plenty of pop and highlights when needed. Car headlights at night are appropriately bright as they pierce dark roadways, or the electric glow surrounding the rings and other weapons, or some fiery, golden lanterns set out to float. Notice early on the white-on-white detail in an outfit worn by Wenwu. Even though it’s very similar shades of the same color, we still get plenty of detail, texture, and pop instead of it just being a white smush.

We also get plenty of color pop, whether it’s the bright, vibrant greens in the forest, the hot reds of the valet vest uniforms, or the gorgeous, varied colors of neon lights in nighttime Macau. There are also several scenes lit with beautiful warm golden lighting. Throughout, the film really just looks great, and is visually vibrant and engaging.

One of the real benefits of watching on Kaleidescape is the lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos soundtrack compared with the lossy version supplied to streaming providers. Disney has been slagged for many of its recent home soundtracks, and I found it a little lacking at first, especially on the low-end dynamics. But after bumping the volume by 5 dB over my typical listening level, it returned a lot of the impact, particularly with the bass, which developed some tactile moments with the increased levels.

There are certainly some immersive elements but I found this to be a fairly front-centric mix, especially compared to a lot of modern titles. We do get some atmospheric moments like the sounds of swirling winds and leaves or noises inside clubs or traffic sounds. The mix kicks into higher gear during the many combat scenes, such as a spear-weapon that Xialing throws Scorpion-from-Mortal Kombat-style that whistles through the air and chunks into the side walls, Wenwu battling men around the room, the shouts and melee during training and combat, or a bus careening all over the room.

I didn’t notice nearly as much height activity as expected from such a big action film. Music definitely uses the height speakers for a big expansive, room-filling mix, and there are other moments, like soul-eaters flying overhead, or a booming voice beyond an armored wall, or the creaking and groaning of bamboo moving in the forest, but this certainly wasn’t as dynamic as Black Widow.

I’ll be honest—Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was just OK. It was fun to watch, looked great, the fight scenes were dynamic and visually interesting, and the actors—particularly Leung, who brings some real depth to the villain character—did a fine job, but the story itself felt a little thin. And, ultimately, it just didn’t feel like a Marvel movie. But with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% and an Audience Score of 98%—the highest combined score of any film in the MCU—it seems like I’m in the minority here, and perhaps my opinion will change on future viewings.

PICTURE | The HDR grade gives the images plenty of shadow detail and a lifelike quality but with plenty of pop and highlights when needed.

SOUND | The Atmos mix certainly has some immersive elements but is fairly front-centric for a modern action film.

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