Into the Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Into the Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson October 27, 2017

In his genre hybrid Into the Night (1985), John Landis proved that he was adept at doing a thriller in addition to his masterful brushstrokes of comedy. He also mixes in some horror in large part to his experience making An American Werewolf in London four years earlier. Aside from his filmmaking gifts and the nostalgic, retro-feel he brings, Landis was also blessed to have a clever and witty script by Ron Koslow (Lifeguard, Firstborn). Things got off to a rocky start in pre-production, however. As he explains in a new interview on this disc, Landis did not get his two top choices for the leads. There were also three other actors he and Frank Price (head of Universal Pictures at the time) considered but they had other commitments. Landis recalled how funny he thought Jeff Goldblum was in Lawrence Kasdan's The Big Chill (1983) and believed he was well-suited for the role of Ed Okin, a bored and drained aerospace engineer but yearning for new adventures. After his first choice for female lead opted to do another film, Landis decided to go with Michelle Pfeiffer to star opposite Goldblum. Landis had remembered seeing her in the short-lived TV series Delta House (apropos since it's a rip-off of Animal House) but somehow forgot her in Scarface. Pfeiffer brought the right combination of glamor and feistiness to portray the blonde femme fatale Diana, whose also an antiheroine.

From the start of Into the Night, it's apparent that Ed Okin still loves his wife Ellen (Stacey Pickren) but the two are beginning to drift apart. They're no longer getting up together and when he wants to engage her with intimate small talk, she's harried and needs to get out the door. The mundaneness of work at the aerospace plant proves to be no escape for Ed as he buries his head in a draughtsman's drawing on his desk. Ed's insomnia worsens when he comes home one afternoon to hear Ellen making love with another man. Determined to flee his inner anxieties and perhaps meet someone else, Ed leaves the house before midnight for LAX. As he sits idly in the parking garage, he hears a woman scream and then jump in front of his car. The lady (Diana) says she's being pursued by a small group of men and asks Ed to drive her away from the airport. Ed calmly obliges as the pair begin to embark on a series of misadventures.

Diana and Ed Olkin are on the run from SAVAK pursuers.

For those who haven't seen Into The Night, I don't want to spoil too much about the plot. I will say that while Goldblum and Pfeiffer carry it, this is largely an ensemble picture with many recognizable faces including Dan Aykroyd, David Bowie, Richard Farnsworth, Bruce McGill, and Vera Miles. Landis also crowds the film with many of his industry buddies and collaborators, which was a source of consternation for a number of critics and something that hurt Into the Night's box office prospects. For example, Variety predicted that Into The Night "will probably be into the ether in a hurry unless there is an extensive trivia interest beyond Hollywood in how many of his filmmaker friends director John Landis can fit into one wandering romp." New York Times film critic Vincent Canby noted the presence of at least a dozen directors, including David Cronenberg giving a nice Scanners in-joke as Okin's group supervisor. The cameos didn't distract or bother me from enjoying the film even if its tone fluctuates often. At least a couple of the directors' parts (e.g., those by Paul Bartel and Roger Vadim) are important to the story and their placement shouldn't be viewed as arbitrary. Landis incorporates his trademark sights gags with aplomb but also shows his chops as an action director. Into the Night contains its share of contrivances but there wasn't a moment in which I thought Landis was unsure what he wanted to do with the material.

Into the Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Into the Night officially makes its North American debut courtesy of Shout Select (#35 in the sub-label's series) on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. It appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Readers will be anxious to know whether this "new restored master" is sourced from the recent Universal restoration that screened at the Berlinale for the Classics program and La Biennale di Venezia last month. I'm uncertain whether it is or not but can state that it's sourced from a remaster. However, in my eyes, this remaster was not prepared after a new 2K/4K scan of the original negative. While the print looks relatively clean in the sense that it contains hardly any damage marks, some obvious limitations pop out that make me surmise it originates from a DVD era master. Robert Paynter's Technicolor has a generally drab and dark look in both day and night scenes. For example, the semi close-up of Ackroyd in Screenshot #18 shares those characteristics and has sub-par contrast. Skin tones are on the pink/redish side (see #s 9-11). A considerable amount of grain has been removed in the aerial shot (#20) of the airport runway during the main titles. You can also notice some noise in #1. There is also black crush in places and detail is not pronounced as it should stand out more. The red hues on Pfeiffer's Napa calf jacket are strong but none of the other colors exude any vibrancy. The transfer does maintain the soft neon appearance that at least one reviewer noted in a release print. In sum, the palette is very inconsistent. My Video score is 3.25.

On the plus side, authoring and compression are superior to Elephant Films' region-free French BD-25 released last year. Shout's video bitrate averages 31995 kbps while the FR clocks in at 19.99 Mbps. It's possible that both transfers are taken from the same old remaster. Consumers who owned Region 2/4 DVDs of Into the Night will be pleased with the Shout transfer as the SD discs suffered from combing after the NTSC to PAL conversion.

Shout has provided sixteen scene selections.

Into the Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Into the Night's original monaural mix is rendered on Shout's disc as DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Dual Mono (1572 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue is clear enough in the center channel. Background hiss is a non-issue. The three songs by B.B. King as well as the other ballads on the sound track come through with sparkling clarity. They're spread well on the the fronts but a 2.0 or 4.0 stereo remix would have been an added bonus.

English SDH (feature only) are available to turn on through the menu or via remote.

Into the Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW John Landis: "Back into the Night" (25:48, 1080p) - in this recent interview, the always affable Landis reflects on casting decisions, musical score/songs, and more. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Jeff Goldblum: "Requiem for an Insomniac" (22:32, 1080p) - recorded last summer, this interview features the veteran actor musing about working with Michelle Pfeiffer on Into the Night and other projects. Goldblum also talks about the social role Ed Okin occupied in '80s America. In English, not subtitled.

• Award-Winning Documentary B.B. King into the Night (26:05, upconverted to 1080p) - this nearly half-hour piece includes concert-like performances from Into the Night along with some interviews. It appeared on the DVDs and has been upscaled presumably from an interlaced source.

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1:39, upscaled to 1080p) - a full-frame, unrestored trailer of Into the Night from Universal's vault.

Into the Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Into the Night came out a time when Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer were still blossoming into stars. Their work in Landis's film is a testament to the talent they possess and have continued to showcase in many other films. Landis's film was targeted at multiple but albeit niche audiences that didn't fully connect. It has stood the test of time and has the stuff of a cinephile's dream. Shout Select's transfer is struck from an older remaster that is by no means poor but can look better in several areas. Kudos to Shout for recording new (and substantial) interviews with Landis and Goldblum. At the moment, this is the best overall version and warrants a RECOMMENDATION but with caveats in mind.