Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Gods and Monsters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 26, 2019

Considering his age, Sir Ian McKellen may sadly join his British compatriots Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole as part of a group of absolutely iconic actors who never managed to bring home an “official” Academy Award for a performance (as opposed to an honorary statuette). McKellen has rather surprisingly only been nominated twice in his long and notable career, as opposed to seven nominations for Burton and eight nominations for O’Toole, in what is evidently a “record” for most nominations for one actor without a win. McKellen’s first nomination came for his moving yet tart work in Gods and Monsters, a film which posits McKellen as legendary director James Whale, the helmsman who guided such iconic horror films as Frankenstein, The Old Dark House, The Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Gods and Monsters looks back at some of Whale’s early triumphs, notably The Bride of Frankenstein, but it’s really more of an elegiac piece, one concentrating on the vagaries of old age and diminished abilities, as well as perhaps fading reputation.

There has been some significant reexamination of the perceived subtext of some of Whale’s films, notably The Bride of Frankenstein, within the context of the widely reported fact that Whale was a more or less “out” gay man back in a time when that probably didn’t have the same general acceptance levels it does today. And there is certainly a whole dialectic of “sexual preference” running through Gods and Monsters, with Whale toying with what might have been called in the 1950s (when this sequence takes place) a “flamboyant” fan named Edmund Kay (Jack Plotnik) who comes to interview him. This also offers the film an easy opportunity to exploit biographical datapoints as well as actual flashbacks as Whale relays various tidbits. But the real sexual energy here is between Whale and straight gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser), who tends to Whale’s grounds. There’s a kind of delicate, and at times indelicate, dance that develops between these two, with Whale alternately attempting to be decorous, but other times getting into too much of the “touchy feely stuff” with Boone, leading to some recriminations.

Some of the memories alluded to above include childhood traumas at the hands of uncaring parents, some war experiences that were scarring, but also more triumphant moments, as in Whale’s work on The Bride of Frankenstein. Boone’s developing friendship with Whale also presents some personal problems for him above and beyond the whole “gay thing”, including with his kinda sorta girlfriend Betty (Lolita Davidovich). Writer-director Bill Condon (who did bring home an Academy Award for his adapted screenplay) manages to weave these elements together in a largely emotionally compelling look at a Hollywood icon. Lynn Redgrave provides some comedy relief as Whale’s imperious housekeeper, Hanna, and she, like McKellen, was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

Gods and Monsters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gods and Monsters is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is another in Lionsgate's still developing series of BD-R releases. I've had at a couple of these BD-R outings from Lionsgate in my queue lately, including Under the Silver Lake and The Spanish Princess, and have been generally very pleased with the transfers and overall quality. With an understanding that both of those offerings are contemporary features culled from digital capture, while this is obviously an older outing shot on good old fashioned film, this didn't quite blow me away the way I was probably hoping, though that said, there are no huge quality issues here. Detail levels here are generally excellent, especially in the many close-ups Condon and cinematographer Stephen M. Katz employ, but the palette can look occasionally a bit wan and slightly pinkish at times. Contrast looked just a bit milky to me on a couple of occasions as well, adding a slight haze to some interior scenes. The flashback material is sometimes graded toward blue, and there are commendably no big fall offs in fine detail in most of those sequences. Slight wobble during the credits might suggest that no huge restoration work was performed on this.

Gods and Monsters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In a perhaps troubling sign for Lionsgate's still nascent BD-R line, this release sports only a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Gods and Monsters doesn't really exploit huge surround effects in any case, and so the lack of a lossless track may not be a deal killer for fans, but those who appreciate Carter Burwell's score might wonder what a lossless accounting of the music might have offered. In any event, dialogue, effects and score are rendered with decent fidelity and no problems. As always in the case of a Blu-ray presentation with only lossy audio this far into this format's history, part of my score is simply based on the fact that I personally think every Blu-ray should feature lossless audio.

Gods and Monsters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements offered on this Blu-ray disc. It's unfortunate that Lionsgate didn't port over the supplements on their previously released DVD.

Gods and Monsters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Much as some modern day commentators have looked back on The Bride of Frankenstein and revisited it with a different perspective, Gods and Monsters kind of refashions the traditional "Hollywood biopic" in its own image. McKellen is both touching and occasionally a little pervy as Whale, and Fraser does a good job detailing an "ordinary Joe" who can't quite fathom what he's gotten himself into. The film may not adequately establish its own subtext in terms of attempting to weave disparate memories into an organic psychological whole, but the film has such an arrestingly unique take on things, and is bolstered by such generally fine performances, that it manages to sustain interest even when arguably wandering a bit. Lionsgate is worrying me just a little with this BD-R release, both in terms of not even porting over pre-existing supplements from a DVD, but also in offering only lossly audio. The video element is generally very good if not consistently outstanding. This is probably going to be one of those releases where fans may be split on whether or not it's a worthwhile purchase.