6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
At a rundown desert motel, Agnes (Ashley Judd) begins a tentative relationship with a newcomer named Peter (Michael Shannon). He has a strange charisma, one that offers fearful and unstable Agnes a flicker of hope. When Peter reveals that the military deliberately infected him with a bug and that he has tiny insects crawling under his skin, paranoia begins to envelope the desperate pair.
Starring: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr., Lynn Collins, Brian F. O'ByrneHorror | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 18% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
William Friedkin's "Bug" (2006) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary with the director; archival making of featurette; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
This tiny bug... It can bring the whole thing down.
Kino Lorber's release of Bug is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray disc is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray disc is Region-A "locked".
Please note that some of the screencaptures included 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 #1-25 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #30-38 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Last year, we reviewed this Blu-ray release of Bug from Australian label Imprint Films. It was sourced from an older but quite nice master. This combo pack is sourced from a new 4K master struck from the original camera negative. In native 4K, the film can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR.
I liked what I saw on my system a lot. However, I have to immediately mention that the difference in quality between the older 1080p presentation and the new native 4K presentation is not dramatic. I was prepared for such a scenario because the previous master was quite nice. However, I expected to see some improvements in darker areas, which is where select darker nuances I thought could have been more convincing. In native 4K, these darker areas look slightly better, but my impression is that the superior encoding is responsible for virtually all noticeable improvements, and they are not big. Why? The HDR grade makes these areas look even darker, so the margin of the improvements becomes smaller. This is not the case with well-lit footage. All visuals there tend to look sharper and better detailed. What about color reproduction? I liked what I saw a lot. All primaries and supporting nuances look very healthy and are properly balanced. While revising the film, I did not spot any anomalies, so I did not perform any comparisons with the previous 1080p presentation. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent.
What about the new 1080p presentation? How does it compare to the previous 1080p presentation? I sampled various areas from the 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray, some very dark, some with plenty of lighting. In the darker areas, consistent improvements are difficult to recognize. Some emerge, but you must look for them. If you have a very large screen, bigger improvements can be seen only during well-lit footage, where many visuals boast some marginally sharper detail.
There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Once again, I viewed the entire film with the 5.1 track. The 5.1 track on the previous release was excellent, and this 5.1 track perform just as nicely. I previously speculated that it might have been finalized under William Friedkin's supervision, or someone he trusted, and I have not changed my mind because on both releases the quality of the audio remains the same.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
In Bug, paranoia may be the name of the game, but its end destination is not as crystal clear as it is in Tracy Letts' best-selling play. This is why Bug is impossible not to describe as an original William Friedkin project. It is genuinely unsettling, but at the same time thought-provoking in ways that modern horror films struggle to be. It reminded me of Marina de Van's In My Skin, which came out a few years before it. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces a good new 4K makeover sourced from the original camera negative, so if you have been patiently waiting to upgrade an ancient DVD release, place your order with confidence. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
10th Anniversary Edition
2014
2019
1990
2016
2023
2020
1978
2018
2019
2013
2024
2021
2019
2018
The Secret of Marrowbone
2017
2016
1988
2015
Schock / Beyond the Door II
1977
1964