Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Cutthroat Island 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 2, 2024

Lionsgate continues to surprise and/or confound with its 4K UHD and/or SteelBook release strategies, and if that's a lot of "and/or" to wade through, consider this: for the past couple of months Lionsgate has been bringing out a rather wide slate of SteelBook releases offering 4K UHD and 1080 discs in a partnership with Wal-Mart, though somewhat hilariously several of those were previously Best Buy exclusives. All of the 4K UHD SteelBook releases I've personally reviewed have had prior 4K UHD releases (in standard packaging), and at least one of them has had a previous SteelBook release. Which brings us to Cutthroat Island. This long lambasted "female pirate" film from 1995 actually had a long ago 1080 release in 2009, and considering what I've repeatedly joked might have been Lionsgate's "strategy" in getting rid of 1080 remainders with "new, improved" 4K UHD packages including older 1080 discs, this release actually offers a shiny new 4K restoration of the film on both the 1080 and 4K UHD discs in this package.

Casey Broadwater's Cutthroat Island Blu-ray review of that now "ancient" 1080 release from Lionsgate should provide more than ample plot information for anyone wanting a summary, and Casey's interesting analysis of what may have "gone wrong" with this epic misfire (which basically sank - no pirate pun intended - Carolco) should also provide salient information for readers, but I'll add my own two cents' and/or (sorry, couldn't resist) pirate's booty worth, since I've had a long quasi-love/hate relationship with Cutthroat Island. While Casey probably accurately points out some of the performance deficits at play in the film, I perhaps lay as much of the blame for perceived deficits in Cutthroat Island on producer and director Renny Harlin. As Harlin himself gets into in both interviews and a commentary track included on the 1080 disc, some of what he encountered was definitely beyond his control, including Michael Douglas dropping out literally just as filming was slated to begin, and then, after filming had begun, things like an injury taking out Harlin's original cinematographer.

Those kinds of things, combined with a budget spiraling out of control and a difficult location shoot, probably all "conspired" to unsettle the cast and crew enough that the entire enterprise feels slightly askew, though even Harlin's directorial choices can seem haphazard at best in several of the actions scenes, where things like wild pans in order to "find" appropriate activity to focus in on seem to suggest there may have been a lack of storyboards (despite some being ostensibly offered on the 1080 disc). The most glaring disconnect to me is what I'd call the "contemporary" acting styles of Davis and Modine and the flowery language that the screenplay writers evidently thought evoked this historical period. On the plus side, production values are typically fantastic throughout, even if they're not always shown to their best advantage courtesy of Harlin's sometimes iffy coverage.

Cutthroat Island 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Cutthroat Island is presented in 4K UHD and on 1080 Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p and AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 2.39:1. Both the 4K and 1080 presentations begin with the following text card (which includes a couple of kind of charming quasi-typos that reveal StudioCanal's French origins):

This 4K restoration was produced in 2023 by StudioCanal.

The 4K 16 bit scan was done by Picture Shop, using the 35mm original negative. Picture and sound restauration were then completed by VDMI Laboratory - France. Color grading was supervised by Reginald Gallienne.

This project was brought to you by StudioCanal and supervised by Delphine Roussel, Sophie Boyer et Jean-Pierre Boiget.

Casey gave great marks to the now long ago first 1080 release of Cutthroat Island from 2009, but of course what may have been a "4.0" in 2009 might not get the same reaction these days. One way or the other, both the 1080 and 4K UHD versions offer some noticeable improvements over the old 1080 disc (like I said, I have a love/hate relationship with this film, and I actually still have the old 1080 disc which I was able to haul out and do side by side comparisons with). Both the 1080 and 2160 presentations in this set are markedly different from the older 1080 presentation in terms of color temperature in particular. The older release had a kind of warm, pinkish look a lot of the time, while both of the discs in this new release are considerably more skewed toward yellow a lot of the time. This may strike some as unnatural (and it frankly did to me a few times as well), but the palette is still incredibly well suffused and even the yellow skewing doesn't materially affect other tones, like reds, where one might reasonably expect an orange tint given the yellow undertone. In fact, in the 4K UHD presentation (with HDR / Dolby Vision), I'd argue some of the reds, notably the governmental uniforms, are actually more crimson or rust than in the new 1080 version, which might suggest a bit more blue or purple in the mix. Detail levels and just baseline clarity both show definite improvement when stacked up against the older 1080 release, but this is another combo 1080 / 4K UHD set where I wouldn't be surprised if some actually prefer the 1080's overall grain resolution to the 4K UHD accounting. Even putting aside factors like the rather long optically printed opening scenes which offer credits, the grain field can be very thick and at times quite splotchy and yellow (adding even more to the jaundiced appearance), and all of those qualities are only increased with the resolution and HDR of the 4K UHD presentation. Some of the most brightly lit outdoor material tends to offer the most tightly resolved grain in both resolutions offered in this release. Fine detail levels in particular show a noticeable improvement in the 4K rendering, and textures on costumes and props in particular are typically outstanding. HDR / Dolby Vision adds some interesting highlights in the blue graded material (notably some in the third act) in particular. There's a noticeably splotchy, even slightly pixellated, quality to the underwater rescue scene early in the film in both the 1080 and 4K UHD versions.

Cutthroat Island 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Interestingly Lionsgate's old 1080 release sported a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, while both the 1080 and 4K UHD discs in this package offer DTS- HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. Are the "extra" channels missed? Maybe a little in terms of both John Debney's boisterous score and some sound effects in the set pieces in particular, but this 5.1 rendering still offers considerable immersion, even if it's not quite at the bombastic levels of more contemporary action films. The outdoor material in particular tends to offer some of the best overall engagement of the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. The 5.1 track is noticeably louder than the 2.0 track. Optional English subtitles are available. The back cover offers fine print suggesting several other foreign languages and subtitle options are available, but they weren't on either disc.

Cutthroat Island 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: In the "continuing adventures of Lionsgate weirdnesses" department, my hunch is some and maybe most buying this release will encounter an oddity I discovered on the 1080 disc. The "legacy" supplements I've added an asterisk (*) to below are in 720 x 576 at 25 fps 50i, and that suggests to me a PAL source which more than one of my standalone players would simply not play. These supplements did play fine in both my PC drive and my 4K player.

4K UHD Disc

• Commentary from Director Renny Harlin

1080 Disc

• The Adventure of a Lifetime: Making Cutthroat Island (HD; 33:17) is a really fun and kind of gossipy featurette with C. Courtney Joyner, along with several cast and crew interviews, including Renny Harlin and Matthew Modine (but no Geena Davis).


• Charting the Course: Creating Cutthroat Island (HD; 24:10) focuses on screenwriter James Gorman, but kind of unavoidably goes back over some of the same content that's in the above supplement. This sounds like Gorman may have literally phoned or Skyped/Zoomed in his comments, and the audio is a little bright and brash, with some pronounced sibilance.


• Across the Bow: Editing Cutthroat Island (HD; 17:10) features co-editor Danny Retz.


• Summon Your Courage: Scoring Cutthroat Island (HD; 30:49) offers composer John Debney discussing his fun score in some detail.


• Ecce Pirate - A Short Film by Matthew Modine (HD; 21:25) features an optional commentary by Modine and some other unintroduced man who sounds like he might have co-produced.


• Commentary from Director Renny Harlin


• Making Of* (SD; 6:07)


• Behind the Scenes* (SD; 9:17)


• Storyboards* (SD; 1:54)


• Interviews* (SD; 31:40)


• Original Trailer (HD; 1:25)

The SteelBook packaging features a predominance of orange on the front and rear panels, with an appropriate skull and crossbones on the front and a few dangling corpses on the back. The interior panels feature an illustration of a wanted poster for a certain female pirate. The mylar O ring offers a fun hat and eye patch covering the skull, with credits on the back. Not to put the fear of the packaging gods into collectors, but my O ring arrived very badly damaged and actually cracked and falling apart. Finally, a digital copy is included.

Cutthroat Island 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no denying that Cutthroat Island is often pretty messy, but is it an outright mess? I personally don't think so, and I quite enjoyed revisiting it again after many years. This new release sports considerably different looking video qualities when compared to Lionsgate's old 1080 release, and the color timing in particular may strike some fans as odd. That caveat aside, technical merits are generally solid and the supplements (if you can access them) are very enjoyable. The handsome SteelBook packaging will be an extra selling feature for collectors. Recommended.