Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Borderlands 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 26, 2024

Variety just published an article detailing a perhaps surprisingly unbroken run of unmitigated box office disasters released by Lionsgate over the past several months, and though that old adage states "there's no such thing as bad publicity", it probably stung the creative folks behind Borderlands just a bit that their film was singled out in the article with both a still from the movie as well as that all important "star billing" (i.e., the film is mentioned first in the article's list of Lionsgate's flops). Borderlands is a big, colorful, flashy and often extremely noisy film, and for those who are content to coast on a series of baroque visuals, cartoonish characters and an almost overwhelming sound design, it may well suffice perfectly well for an hour and half's entertainment. Those wanting an actual story, not to mention the arrival of a perceived "tentpole" for an assumed franchise (something that's kind of hilariously hinted at in some of the supplements, probably produced before the film's abysmal theatrical exhibition performance), might want to keep looking.

For those who, like myself, are unacquainted with the video game version of this film, the good news is you don't have to have any knowledge of the game, its setting(s), or its characters to follow the narrative here. Whether or not that ends up mattering much is probably a question up for debate, but the basic through line here involves bounty hunter Lilith (Cate Blanchett), who has been tasked with finding a strange girl named Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). Tina's Elon Musk-esque father, Deukalian Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), suggests Tina has been kidnapped by a rogue soldier in Atlas' mercenary group the Crimson Lance. That AWOL operative is a guy named Roland Greaves (Kevin Hart), but as things progress, the truth may be somewhat more ambiguous (if, frankly, never very surprising).

A background of supposed contextual history is briefly offered in some opening narration, which includes a mysterious stronghold called The Vault, located on the planet Pandora (not that one, unless there has been some pretty serious deforestation courtesy of Unobtanium mining, and, yes, that's a joke). That of course ends up playing into things as Lilith is forced to team up not just with Tina and Roland, but her estranged foster mother Patricia Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), Tina's mutant (and largely mute) "psycho" (an actual class of character in the story) protector Krieg (Florian Munteanu) and a cheeky droid named Claptrap (voiced by Jack Black) in order to figure out why Tina is so sought after and what exactly all of that has to do with The Vault.

The actual on screen story may not be as involving as some of the evident backstage drama during the shoot and then in whatever happened in post. Depending on which source is cited, Eli Roth was either too busy or wasn't actually asked to do retakes, but in terms of EPKs produced before any "creative differences" may or may not have arisen, one of Roth's now ironic statements in a supplement on this disc is that he wanted to "make [Borderlands] appeal to fans and to newcomers", and probably ended up not pleasing either group in the process. There's also some lip service in some of the supplements about wanting to provide backstory for Lilith in particular, but the film is kind of hilariously already stuffed with "Daddy issues" vis a vis Tiny Tina, so when it turns out Lilith has Mommy issues, the lunatic world of this story starts to become positively Freudian.

While the film obviously didn't connect with the ticket buying populace, it may find new life in home theater environments, if only because the production design, while undeniably derivative, is often quite a bit of fun. That includes what kind of comically may be things which supposedly suffice for meaningful character information like Lilith's orange hair, but which at least give the look of Borderlands some undeniable allure.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was even less impressed with Borderlands than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts on the film here.

Borderlands 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package, which Il feel probably gives an overall better representation of the palette in particular than had I sourced screenshots directly off the 4K UHD disc, which by necessity would have been downscaled to 1080 and SDR.

Borderlands is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Arri Alexas and finished with a 4K DI, this is a stellar looking presentation, no matter what one may think of the actual film. An already excellent 1080 presentation is clearly afforded both noticeable upticks in fine detail, but probably even more noticeably a significantly energized palette. Despite the prevalence of CGI, most of which actually looks surprisingly sharp in this 4K presentation, there is such a glut of whimsical production design on display throughout the story that there are consistent opportunities for really precise renderings of everything from textures on costume fabrics to some of the more outlandish props that are utilized. Close-ups offer admirable detail levels on faces and other features. The palette is one of the film's undeniable assets, and it receives a rather interesting set of highlights courtesy of Dolby Vision / HDR. Rather interestingly, some "signature" elements like Lilith's hair can actually attain just a bit more of a rust color rather than outright orange in this version (pay attention for example to the early bar scene where Lilith "meets" Atlas, at least virtually), though at other times it has the same general bright orange look that is more ubiquitous in the 1080 version. Certain scenes which are either graded or lit toward certain hues also offer some more vibrancy here, including the very early scene bathed in red where Tiny Tina is "rescued" (?) by Roland, or, later, when the team is in a quasi-sewer and things are bathed in a kind of sickly yellow green color. Despite these stylistic quirks, detail levels remain perhaps unexpectedly consistently strong throughout. A very light dusting of digital grain is probably more discernable at this resolution than in the 1080 version.

Borderlands 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Borderlands features a pretty bombastic Dolby Atmos track, one that takes full advantage not just of "traditional" surround channel engagement, but clear emanations from the Atmos speakers, as in the scene where Tiny Tina rains explosions down on Lilith. The track is consistently alive with side and rear channel placement of all sorts of ambient environmental effects, and the interstitial action scenes offer some powerful bursts of LFE. Things are "turned up to 11" quite often throughout the story, meaning perceptions of dynamic range may ultimately seem somewhat limited, though there are some at least relatively quieter dialogue scenes. All spoken material, whether dialogue or narration, is presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Borderlands 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package sport the same slate of supplements:

• Borderlands: From Game to Screen (HD; 5:20) offers several talking heads including Eli Roth discussing the adaptation.


• Meet the Team (HD; 4:29) introduces several of the principal characters, with an emphasis on Lilith.


• All Aboard the Death Choochoo (HD; 5:10) documents some stunt material.


• Bringing Borderlands to the Screen (HD; 5:29) perhaps ironically lionizes Eli Roth.


• Badonkadonk Time (HD; 5:11) focuses on weaponry.


• Fashion and Action on Pandora (HD; 7:37) highlights translating the game design into the film.


• High Tech Hellscapes (HD; 9:17) looks at VFX and production design.

A digital copy is included, and packaging features a slipcover.

Borderlands 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe due to the fact that advance word was so negative about this film, or perhaps also because I have never played the video game version and so had absolutely no frame of reference, my "expectations bar" was properly suitably lowered so that I actually was reasonably entertained by Borderlands. Is it some underappreciated masterpiece unduly rejected by critics and audiences? Hardly. But neither is it a complete, unmitigated disaster in my opinion. The story is, yes, derivative and pretty predictable, but there are some fun characters and the production design and cinematography give the film an engaging look. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements rather enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.