Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		5.0

Body Double 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 30, 2024

Brian De Palma's "Body Double" (1984) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include archival interviews with Brian De Palma and cast members; remastered vintage trailer; music video; and more. In English, with multiple subtitle options for the main feature. Region-Free.

"She does it every night, like clockwork"

The more time passes, the clearer it becomes that the people that used to routinely dismiss Brian De Palma’s work because he apparently kept ripping off Alfred Hitchcock simply could not, or did not want to, see the obvious -- that he had a unique style of his own. De Palma did make a few duds, but they are not the politically incorrect films the politically correct crowds rejected.

Ambitious but struggling actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is fired by an obnoxious director (Dennis Franz) on the same day he discovers that his girlfriend is cheating on him. After the girlfriend kicks him out of her apartment, Jake meets another actor, Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry), who offers him a place to stay until he figures out what to do next. The place is a futuristic house unlike any other in Los Angeles -- it looks like a Martian saucer and it is built on a stunning hillside overlooking the city. Inside the house there is a big spinning bed, a fancy bar, and a telescope. Before he heads to Seattle to shoot a new film, Sam tells Jake that he can use the telescope to enjoy the beautiful panoramic vistas -- or Gloria Rovelle (Deborah Shelton), the sexy neighbor living in the massive mansion below him, who likes to strip in her bedroom.

While waiting for Sam to return, Jake becomes obsessed with Gloria. Night after night, he watches her strip and imagines being next to her. But his fantasies are disrupted when a mysterious man tries to hurt, possibly even kill, Gloria. Determined to save Gloria, Jake quietly begins following her across the city.

This is a film with endless twists, but the majority of them are actually irrelevant. The bulk of the lines that are exchanged in it are also irrelevant. That’s right. What matters here is the style that blends everything together and the mood that emerges from it.

The events that ensue after Jake moves into the luxurious house send the film into two drastically different realities. In the first, hordes of mainstream actors try hard to become stars, while the wealthy enjoy the very best Los Angeles has to offer. This is the clean and healthy reality most people want to spend their time in. In the second, a different group of actors is making the type of films the other reality does not recognize. It is here that Jake meets Holly Body (Melanie Griffith), a bubbly beauty and prolific adult actress, who agrees to help him get the mysterious man.

The film’s charm comes from De Palma’s ability to effectively target various cliches that characterize the two realities. (See the incredibly funny sequence where Holly Body humiliates the mainstream actress). And while he does it, he also plays with the many genre rules Hitchcock’s films established. The end result is truly remarkable. Despite the intended overstylization, or perhaps because of it, the film offers a strikingly accurate summation of Los Angeles from the 1980s and its people. This is a place of remarkable contrasts, wealth and power, beauty and cruelty, and people with admirable ambitions and dangerous desires.

Pino Donaggio collaborated with De Palma on a number of different projects during the years, but his contribution to this film remains his best work. There are various sequences where the light electronic music -- not the visuals, the camera movement, or the actors -- actually changes the rhythm of the film. Also, there is a fantastic sequence that uses Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s monster hit “Relax”.

Body Double 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's release of Body Double is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs are Region-Free.

Please note that some of the screencaptures induced 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 #1-20 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #23-30 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #33-35 are from Frankie Goes To Hollywood's hit "Relax".

The release introduces brings Sony's 4K restoration of Body Double to 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. The 4K restoration was introduced on Blu-ray a while ago and in multiple markets. I have in my library this Blu-ray release from British distributors Indicator/Powerhouse Films. I am very happy with it because Body Double looks gorgeous on it.

The native 4K presentation of the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision. After that, I only quickly sampled the 1080p presentation.

In native 4K, Body Double has an outstanding lush appearance, which is exactly what I expected to see on my system. Colors are almost always strikingly vibrant but perfectly balanced, so the film's native look is pitch-perfect. The many darker areas reveal equally prominent shadows whose interaction with these vibrant colors is impressive, too. In the same areas, the Dolby Vision grade never produces flatness or crushing, it just makes them appear richer, easily creating the impression that depth is improved. On my system, this was the most notable and consistent improvement from the transition to 4K. I did various comparisons between the native 4K and 1080p presentations and while some daylight footage, such as the one where the pretty girl's purse is stolen, does reveal minor improvements too, I do not think that the difference is as obvious. Why? Because the density levels, delineation, clarity, sharpness, and depth of the 1080p presentation are already quite impressive. I did not notice any encoding anomalies to report in our review. All in all, I think that the native 4K presentation does offer meaningful improvements, especially if one views it on a very large screen.

Body Double 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs have different audio specs, so I am listing them separately.

The 4K Blu-ray disc has the following audio tracks: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Spanish (Castilian) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and Spanish (Latin American) Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The Blu-ray disc has the following audio tracks: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Italian Dolby Surround 2.0, Spanish (Castilian) Dolby Digital 2.0, and Spanish (Latin American) Dolby Dgital 2.0. Optional English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, and Turkish subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the native 4K presentation of Body Double with the new Dolby Atmos track. It is great. However, I have to immediately mention that Body Double has a fantastic soundtrack -- and I mean a soundtrack with a fantastic sound design -- so there are seemingly endless opportunity for the Dolby Atmos track to impress. For example, in multiple sequences, the audio field feels expanded, but there are already terrific dynamic contrasts there, so the Dolby Atmos track enhances them. Or at least this is the impression I was left with. I still think that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is superb.

Body Double 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Music Video - presented here is the original music video for Frankie Goes To Hollywood's monster hit "Relax". Dolby Digital 2.0. (4 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Body Double. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Still Gallery - a collection of archival promotional and production stills. Silent. (3 min).

Featurettes:

• The Seduction - in this archival featurette, Brian De Palma addresses the type of research and discusses the auditions that were done during the pre-production process, and addresses some popular myths and half-truths. Melanie Griffith and Deborah Shelton also recall how they became involved with Body Double. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (17 min).


• The Setup - in this archival featurette, Brian De Palma and cast members discuss how various sequences were shot and some of the obvious Hitchcockian overtones in them. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (18 min).


• The Mystery - in this archival featurette, Brian De Palma and cast members discuss the adult footage that was created for Body Double, including the sequence with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and the use of music. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (13 min).


• The Controversy - in this archival featurette, Brian De Palma, Deborah Shelton, Gregg Henry, Dennis Franz, and Melanie Griffith discuss some of the unusually harsh reactions the film inspired and explain why it has become a cult classic. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (6 min).

EPK Interviews:

• Craig Wasson - in this archival interview, actor Craig Wasson quickly addresses his involvement with Body Double and shares his thoughts on the style and identity of the film. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (4 min).

• Brian De Palma - in this archival interview, Brian De Palma explains why Body Double is his "dream movie" and discusses the cast that was assembled for it. De Palma also comments on the similarities between his style and Alfred Hitchcock's. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (4 min).

• Melanie Griffith - in this archival interview, Melanie Griffith explains what Body Double is about and discusses her kinky character, Holly Body. In English, with multiple subtitle options. (3 min).

Body Double 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is hardly a secret that Sony's 4K restoration of Body Double is a stunner. It has been available on Blu-ray for quite some time. This combo pack release offers a native 4K presentation of it with an exclusive new Dolby Atmos track. I think that it is a gift for fans of the film, like me. However, while I am grateful that the original music video for Frankie Goes To Hollywood's monster hit "Relax" finally can be seen with the film, I wish it was fully remastered and remixed so that it also looks as good as it should. I will still include the combo pack on my Top Ten list at the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.