6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
This rousing tale of buried treasure, bleached bones, battles, duels and, above all, romance is set on the high seas of the 1600s--when men were daring... and so were the women. Morgan Adams, the beautiful daughter of a pirate, inherits a portion of a coveted treasure map. Also inheriting command of her late father's ship, The Morning Star, Morgan and her men set off on a mission to lay claim to her fortune. In an effort to decipher the map's contents, she buys the handsome, educated William Shaw at a slave auction. A swindler and cheat who has finally been snared, Shaw joins the crew of The Morning Star and helps Morgan steal another portion of the map. Together they set sail in a race to beat the sinister pirate Dawg Brown to the legendary treasure of Cutthroat Island.
Starring: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick MalahideAction | 100% |
Adventure | 53% |
Romance | 13% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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.
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.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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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