Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Blue Velvet Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 21, 2019

David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include large collection of deleted scenes and alternate takes compiled by the director; interview with composer Angelo Badalamenti; Peter Braatz's documentary "Blue Velvet Revisited"; brand new documentary with new cast and crew interviews; and more. The release also arrives with a 30-page illustrated booklet featuring excerpts from the novel "Room to Dream" as well as technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

There are multiple reviews of Blue Velvet on our site. We initially reviewed the single release of the film that was included in the David Lynch Collection, which Universal Pictures produced in the United Kingdom. A different review of the North American release of the film which MGM produced can also be accessed here.

***

College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers a human ear in a field. He contacts detective John Williams (George Dickerson), hoping that he would assist him in his search for the owner of the ear, but is quickly told to keep his mouth shut.

Together with the detective's daughter, Sandy (Laura Dern), Jeffrey launches his own investigation. Soon after, he meets the beautiful night club singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), who often sees a drug-addicted loner (Dennis Hopper) who loves hurting people. Without realizing, Jeffrey quickly gets sucked up in a dangerous world where everyone has something to hide and life is cheap.

This film has it all -- style, substance, and an incredible cast that delivers big. It is dark and unsettling, but at the same time deliciously perverse and occasionally even funny. Lynch hits like a champion should, with impressive precision and where it matters the most.

The main characters are impossible to forget. All of them, without exception, have unique qualities that impress. Some of their relationships are strange, but not unbelievable, certainly not for a Lynch film. More importantly, they are complete, and in the grand scheme of things perhaps even logical.

Frederick Elmes' lensing is outstanding. Some of the long shots are amongst the most original seen in contemporary American films. There is also a beautiful music score by the great Angelo Badalamenti, who also collaborated with Lynch on such films as Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive.

Blue Velvet Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Blue Velvet arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 35mm A/B original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management.

Transfer supervisor: David Lynch, Lee Kline.
Film scanning: EFILM, Hollywood.
Colorist: Roman Hankewycz/Harbor Picture Company, New York.
Additional color: George Koran/Fotokem, Burbank, CA.
Negative conform: Alndrew Alvarez."

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration of Blue Velvet which was supervised by director David Lynch. This is not the same restoration that MGM used when it produced this release of the film in 2011.

Before I address the technical presentation, I would like to mention a couple of things. First, this is the third high-definition release of the film that I have seen. The other two, which I also own, are the MGM release and the individual release from the David Lynch Collection that Universal Studios produced in the United Kingdom. When the MGM release arrived, I thought that it offered an outstanding presentation of the film, and I have not changed my mind. If I had reviewed it, I would have given it a perfect score. So, keep this in mind when you read my comments about the new presentation on this upcoming release.

I viewed the release the other night and thought that the film looks sensational on Blu-ray. If you can upscale to 4K, it is definitely a good idea to do so when you get the release because the new remaster is superb. So, how does it compare to the one that MGM used? Overall, I think that the main differences are primarily cosmetic, but depending on what type of system is used, I also think that different viewers will see different discrepancies. The most meaningful ones that I saw are the following: First, it appears that different types of color recalibraitons have been made. They are subtle, but not meaningless. More importantly, they are not generic adjustments, meaning that they don't proportionally affect color values across the board. In some areas they directly target saturation levels, and if you compare screencapture #20 with the corresponding screencature from our review of the MGM release you will see the difference. Elsewhere, and I was able to clearly see this during some of the darker footage, saturation levels appear more or less identical to the ones that were present on the older remaster. Second, select background highlights are different. Again, the difference is not substantial, but if you project it is easy to appreciate. Third, clarity is slightly better now. However, this is the most subjective discrepancy because I could only spot the difference during daylight footage and only in certain areas (see examples in screencaptures #3 and 7). So, these are the three meaningful differences that I saw on my system. The rest, I think, remains the same. Image stability is excellent and the film still looks very healthy. As it is always the case with home video release of Lynch films, there are no chapters. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Reigon-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Blue Velvet Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The two lossless tracks were supervised by David Lynch, so I after I viewed the film in its entirety with the 5.1 track I did some random comparisons with the old MGM release. Well, if there are any meaningful differences, I missed them. Clarity, depth, and the existing range of dynamic nuances are superb. This is hardly surprising because Lynch pays very close attention to the sound design of his films, so when the MGM disc was prepared the existing remaster was almost certainly already excellent. Bottom line is this: the current 5.1 track sounds great.

Blue Velvet Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Test Chart - vintage testing footage done before the shooting of different sequences from Blue Velvet. With music. (2 min, 1080p).

• The Lost Footage - presented here is a rather substantial collection of deleted scenes and alternate takes that were gathered by David Lynch. In English, not subtitled. (54 min, 1080p).

• "Blue Velvet" Revisited - this archival program was created by German filmmaker Peter Braatz who was invited to document the production of Blue Velvet in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1985. The program, which is described as a "meditation on a movie", features plenty of raw footage as well as various archival materials (Super 8 footage, photographs, and audio recordings), as well as original music by Cult with No Name, Tuxedomoon, and John Foxx. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (89 min, 1080p).

• Room to Dream - presented here is an audio recording of David Lynch reading from Room to Dream, the book he coauthored with Kristine McKenna in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (19 min, 1080p).

• Interviews -
  
  1. Angelo Badalamenti - in this video interview, composer Angelo Badalamenti discusses different stages of his career, as well as his involvement with Blue Velvet and the conception of its soundtrack. Also, there are some very interesting comments about the type of work he did with Isabella Rossellini and David Lynch's enthusiastic reception of his music. The interview was conducted in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080p).
  
  2. It's a Strange World - this new documentary takes a closer look at the genesis of Blue Velvet. Included in it are clips from brand new interviews with props technician Shaw Burney, makeup supervisor Jeff Goodwin, second assistant director Ian Woolf, filmmaker Peter Braatz (Blue Velvet Revisited), extras and casting supervisor Mark Fincannon, and steadicam operator Dan Kneece, amongst others. The documentary also visits some of the locations where key sequences from the film were shot. It was produced in 2019. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080p).

• Mysteries of Love - in this archival documentary, different cast and crew members recall their contributions to Blue Velvet and interactions with David Lynch. Amongst them are: Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Dennis Hopper, producer Fred Caruso, and cinematographer Frederick Elmes. Also included are clips from vintage interviews with David Lynch. In English, not subtitled. (71 min, 1080i).

• Booklet - a 30-page illustrated booklet featuring excerpts from the novel Room to Dream as well as technical credits.

Blue Velvet Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

When in 2011 MGM produced its Blu-ray release of Blue Velvet, I thought that it was the best home video release of a David Lynch film that we had on the market. I still like it a lot. Criterion's upcoming release of Blue Velvet is sourced from a new 4K digital restoration. The end result here is different, and overall I think that it rebalances certain areas of the film in a slightly more convincing way. Even if you disagree and conclude that the previous presentation was more appealing, I think that there is some outstanding new and archival content -- Peter Braatz's documentary Blue Velvet Revisited is very nice -- on this release that you will enjoy a lot. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.