Frailty 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Frailty 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 18, 2025

Bill Paxton seems to have been one of those rare show business professionals who was generally admired and even loved by most everyone who worked with him. His unexpected death after heart surgery (something that evidently led to a pretty big lawsuit by his family) deprived the world of a seemingly unaffected Everyman, and Paxton puts that perceived persona to disturbing use in Frailty, a film which marked Paxton's feature directing debut, and one of only two features he helmed (the other was The Greatest Game Ever Played). Lionsgate released a 1080 version of Frailty way back in 2009, and now their boutique etailer Lionsgate Limited is revisiting the film in a handsomely designed edition that includes both 4K and 1080 discs and a perfect bound booklet containing the shooting script with what look like Paxton's own handwritten notes on many pages. For readers who regularly message me about these Lionsgate Limited releases, the 1080 disc in this package is not a recycled older version, but a new transfer with different supplements.

As mentioned above, Frailty had a 2009 release on 1080 disc courtesy of Lionsgate, and Ken Brown's Frailty Blu-ray review offers a plot summary, list of supplements on that version and Ken's reaction to the technical presentation.

Frailty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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

Frailty is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films' Lionsgate Limited etailer with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. As alluded to above, the 1080 disc in this package also sports a new transfer off of the same 4K restoration that is offered on the 4K disc. Ken wasn't especially enthused about Lionsgate's now pretty ancient 1080 release, and specifically mentioned some digital noise reduction in the opening two acts, and maybe just a bit ironically, then, in that regard, this is another new 1080 / 4K combo release where some may prefer the 1080 version due to at times rather heavy grain, something that tends to be more noticeable in the increased resolution of the 4K presentation. All said, I personally found grain to resolve mostly organically in both versions, but there are some passingly odd looking moments, as in just slightly past the 21 minute mark where grain combined with what I'm assuming is a splotchy kitchen sink in the background has a kind of muddy brown crawl creeping up that part of the frame. If that's the one conceivable minus of the 4K presentation, improvement in the palette is a huge plus in both the 4K and 1080 presentations being offered in this release. The old 1080 release from Lionsgate has a somewhat harsh digital appearance and what to my eyes looks like a skew toward reds with perhaps tweaked/pushed brightness, all of which have been nicely adjusted for this release. The Dolby Vision / HDR grades add some subtle but noticeable highlights, as in some of the blues in the opening police interrogation scene, but then especially in a lot of the flashback material, where both blues and reds pop very impressively. The evocative backlit blues of the "showdown" scene between McConaughey and Boothe are also very powerful in the 4K version. Some of the background greens in the interior home scenes of the flashback scenes also have a slightly more emerald to jade look in the 4K version. I wouldn't say the HDR grades add significantly to shadow detail in at least some of the darkest material, as in what I'll simply refer to as a "prisoner" scene with one of the kids fairly late in the proceedings.

Frailty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Frailty has been granted a new Atmos mix, and while what Ken referred to in his review as a lack of actual sound design layering and nuance, there is regular engagement of the surround channels throughout in this mix, especially with regard to admittedly intermittent ambient environmental effects and scoring choices. This isn't the "showiest" Atmos mix, but there seems to have been an attempt to deliver some overhead activity in the axe scenes in particular. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

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

Both the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package sport the same slate of supplements. More information on the "legacy supplements" can be found in Ken's review, linked to above.

• Father Figure (HD; 34:02) is an interesting overview that focuses on Paxton, and which includes both archival and newly shot interviews.


• Establishing Shot (HD; 7:10) is a perhaps misleading title for a look at the 4K restoration and Atmos mix crafted for this version.


• More Stories from the Frailty Set (HD; 18:36) look like they're culled from the same 2025 interviews as are excerpted in the Father Figure supplement, above. There are several fun anecdotes imparted.


• Teaser Trailer (UHD/HD; 1:03)


• Theatrical Trailer (UHD/HD; 2:07)


• Legacy Special Features

Audio Commentary with Director Bill Paxton




Production Audio Commentary with Arnold Glassman, David Kirschner and Brian Tyler




Audio Commentary with Writer Brent Hanley




Anatomy of a Scene Courtesy of Sundance Channel (HD; 25:58)




The Making of Frailty (HD; 19:29)




Deleted Scenes (HD; 8:28) feature optional commentary by Bill Paxton.




Storyboard Gallery (HD; 3:02)




Photo Gallery (HD; 1:35)




TV Spots (HD; 00:48)

Lionsgate Limited has offered a pretty widely variant array of packaging designs with its releases. This is a nicely designed DigiPack that offers what might be thought of as a take on American Gothic for the cover image on both the DigiPack and the slipbox enclosing it and a perfect bound reproduction of the shooting script. A digital copy is also included.

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

Frailty certainly deserves more recognition. I will admit that in my seemingly inescapable role as "twist guesser" I had figured out at least the general outlines of the "one two punch" the film delivers at its climax, but in that regard, it's really interesting to hear one of the 2025 interviews included as a supplement mention how James Cameron saw a pre-release version and suggested one change to an important "reveal", which actually had evidently been doled out much earlier in the original edit. This release offers secure technical merits and outstanding supplements, along with handsome packaging. Highly recommended.