7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman. So begins the wildest night of his life, as bizarre occurrences pile up with anxiety-inducing relentlessness and thwart his attempts to get home.
Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong, Linda FiorentinoDrama | 100% |
Surreal | 29% |
Dark humor | 28% |
Film-Noir | 27% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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
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.
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.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
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.
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