Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

After Hours 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 12, 2023

Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" (1985) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Martin Scorsese; updated archival audio commentary by Martin Scorsese, actor/producer Griffin Dunne, producer Amy Robinson, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and editor Thema Schoonmaker; new program with designer Rita Ryack and production designer Jeffrey Townsend; deleted scenes; vintage trailer for the film; and more. In English, with optional Engish SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The man that had to be stopped

You won’t drown if the man upstairs has decided that your life will end in an avalanche somewhere in the Swiss Alps. My late grandfather used this statement a lot. When I was growing up, I did not like it at all because I thought that it was oddly cruel. Also, the statement bothered me because my grandfather loved to read, analyze, and question and I did not think that it was reflective of his rationality. However, years later, long after my grandfather had passed away, I slowly began to understand that there is always a point in a rational man’s life when he inevitably concedes that the real world in which he exists can be very irrational. After that, it is easier for the rational man to continue making the right choices, which is how in the real world rationality is defined.

In an exclusive new program that is included on this release, Marty Scorsese shares very interesting information about his state of mind during the period in which he made After Hours. In the mid-1980s, after several major setbacks, one of which was the poor reception of The King of Comedy, Scorsese returned to New York and purchased an old apartment somewhere in Tribeca, hoping that somehow he would manage to get back on the right track and start directing big films again. Scorsese apparently had a good game plan in his head, but he realized that he was “completely locked out” and became very miserable. For a while, it was so bad Scorsese considered the entire SoHo area “sinister”. It was around this time when Scorsese began noticing a lot of strange human behavior and having similarly strange experiences that were essential parts of his rational environment. However, instead of looking for the elusive logic that explained their existence, Scorsese recognized the humor that defined them and the environment began to make sense to him.

The sum of these strange observations and experiences and their acceptance made it possible for Scorsese to easily identify with the main protagonist in After Hours.

Everything that Paul (Griffin Dunne) goes through in After Hours happens over the course of a single night. At a lonely café in New York City, word processor Paul meets Marcy (Rosanna Arquette), a beautiful, heartbroken girl, who gives him her phone number and a couple of hours later invites him to come to her place in SoHo. Convinced that he has hit the jackpot, Paul then jumps in a taxi, having only a twenty-dollar bill in his pocket, and his world spins out of control.

It is pointless to describe precisely what happens after that. The taxi ride to SoHo becomes the first phase of a wild roller-coaster ride that temporarily transforms Paul into a dangerous lunatic, but only because it seems like he is the only one in the neighborhood with a properly functioning head. In other words, the only rational person that does not fit in an utterly irrational environment suddenly becomes the neighborhood’s biggest lunatic.

After Hours does not produce a witty social commentary on life in SoHo during the 1980s. It is a small and quite transparent film that makes the bizarre look funny in much the same way Night on Earth (1991) and The Monster (1994) do. Scorsese directs it with confidence and style but it is not one of his greatest films that has been undeservedly ignored.

There are several wonderful cameos. Teri Garr plays a frustrated waitress that quits her job and tries to have a rushed rendezvous with the lunatic. John Heard is a bartender that pushes the lunatic on the verge of a very serious nervous breakdown. Linda Fiorentino is an undiscovered visionary sculptor with a kinky personality. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong emerge from the shadows in a familiar van and keep breaking into empty apartments in the area where the maniac roams free.

After Hours 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of After Hours is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:

"Approved by editor Thelma Sschoonmaker, this new digital master was created from the 35mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner. Director Martin Scorsese's personal 35mm print was used for color reference. The origina monaural soundtrack was remastered from the magnetic track.

Transfer supervisors: Thelma Sschoonmaker, Lee Kline.
Colorist: Yvan Lucas/Company 3, Hollywood and New York."

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-27 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #30-37 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs introduce a brand new 4K restoration of After Hours that was approved by editor Thelma Schoonmaker. On the 4K Blu-ray, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision or HDR. I chose to view it with HDR.

On my system, the entire film looked spectacular, which is not easy considering that very large areas of it are dark or very dark. Shadows and shadow nuances looked particularly great in native 4K, though I tested numerous areas of the 1080p presentation and I think that the overall quality of the visuals there is just as impressive. Close-ups with sufficient lighting boast fantastic delineation, depth, and clarity (see screencapture #3). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections, so grain exposure is outstanding. Color balance is convincing. A few indoor shots begin to look a bit cool, but I did not think that there were any troubling anomalies. Perhaps saturation could have been a tad better, but all primaries and supporting nuances looked fine. The HDR grade is gentle yet very effective in doing what it is supposed to do -- produce visuals with a superior dynamic range. This is the only area where the native 4K presentation had an edge over the 1080p presentation, which is hardly surprising. Fluidity is equally pleasing in native 4K and 1080p, though admittedly the darker visuals help the 1080p presentation. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, I think that fans of After Hours will be extremely happy with the new 4K restoration that was prepared for it and its presentation in native 4K and 1080p.

After Hours 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is outstanding. It is immediately obvious that it has been fully restored because the audio is very clear and wonderfully rounded. Its dynamic potency is great, too. The footage from Club Berlin, for instance, is quite intense, plus elsewhere the music produces terrific dynamic contrasts. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

After Hours 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Martin Scorsese, actor/producer Griffin Dunne, producer Amy Robinson, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and editor Thema Schoonmaker in 2004. However, this presentation of it features additional comments by Dunne and Robinson that were recorded in 2023.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Martin Scorsese, actor/producer Griffin Dunne, producer Amy Robinson, cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, and editor Thema Schoonmaker in 2004. However, this presentation of it features additional comments by Dunne and Robinson that were recorded in 2023.

• Martin Scorsese and Fran Lebowitz - in this new program, Martin Scorsese discusses the exact period in which After Hours was conceived and shot, his state of mind at the time and some of the professional issues he was dealing with, the dark humor that permeates the film, and the personality and unique qualities of Griffin Dunne's character. Scorsese is interviewed by writer Fran Lebowitz. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Filming For Your Life: Making "After Hours" - this archival documentary focuses on the production history of After Hours. Included in it are clips from interviews with Martin Scorsese, Griffin Dunne, Amy Robinson, and Thema Schoonmaker. The documentary was produced in 2004. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• The Look of "After Hours" - this exclusive new program features audio interviews with designer Rita Ryack and production designer Jeffrey Townsend, illustrated with film clips, production stills, and ephemera from After Hours. The interviewees discuss the visual appearance -- with some very interesting observations about Michael Ballhaus' approach to lighting -- of After Hourse. The program was produced in 2023. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• Deleted Scenes - presented here are seven deleted scenes from After Hours. In English, not subtitled. (9 min).

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for After Hours. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by critic Sheila O'Malley as well as technical credits.

After Hours 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sometimes in the real world you have to go through cycles of experiences that do not make sense. You do not try to understand them, you endure them and move on. In After Hours, Griffin Dunne's character gets stuck in one of these bizarre cycles and the more he attempts to behave as a rational human being, the more he compromises himself. The majority of his experiences are pretty darn funny, but only because they are manufactured. I assure you an authentic cycle like that would have ended much earlier and very, very differently. Criterion's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack introduces an outstanding new 4K restoration of After Hours that will make fans of the film ecstatic. It looked gorgeous on my system. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.