Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf December 21, 2017

It’s interesting to watch a feature about alien activity that genuinely feels like it comes from another world. In fact, 1982’s “Liquid Sky” is made on Earth, but co-writer/director Slava Tsukerman doesn’t pay attention to such planetary limitations, masterminding a deep dive into art-world interests during the rise of the New Wave movement in New York City, coming up with a take on period tastes that merge in-the-moment filmmaking with genre touches, going the sci-fi route to explore the strange marriage of personal expression and self-harm. Tsukerman isn’t making a movie about a scene, he’s creating one with “Liquid Sky,” which revels in its abstraction, blasting the screen with style and color, defiantly remaining out of bounds as it provides viewers with a specialized viewing experience, which resides somewhere between challenging and ridiculous.

An alien lifeform has arrived in New York City, landing its flying saucer on top of an apartment building, on the hunt for heroin, which provides a singular endorphin rush that’s prized by its kind. The alien soon observes the daily mess of Margaret (Anne Carlisle), a fashion model wrestling with the pains of the business, including competition and distraction, taking to drug abuse and nightclub trips to numb herself to the horrors of the world. She enjoys an antagonistic relationship with rival Jimmy (Carlisle), a desperate junkie, and her girlfriend, Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard), a performance artist who dreams of a life in Europe. Showing interest in the alien visitation is German scientist Johann (Otto Von Wernherr), who’s determined to understand why they’ve come to Earth, keeping an observational distance as Margaret experiences strangeness with multiple sexual events, slowly grasping alien activity as the extraterrestrial reaches beyond drugs to acquire the ultimate human rush.

“Liquid Sky” is as independent a picture as can be, exploring a slice of NYC nightlife that features only a handful of participants, with the screenplay working to come up with a story that permits usage of the underground culture and remains dramatic in some distant manner. There’s no name for Margaret’s peer group, but they present themselves with tremendous pageantry, offering blinding bright clothing and make-up, spiked hair, and fluid sexuality. There’s a hangout in a local nightclub, which hosts experimental art and fashion shows. Drugs are common as well, with Jimmy particularly aggressive in his need to acquire an hourly upper or downer, with heroin playing a key role in the plot, though the characters seem more enchanted with cocaine.

Tsukerman (along with writers Carlisle and Nina V. Kerova) remain enigmatic with “Liquid Sky,” embracing the feature’s bizarre touches, including the use of low-res visual filters and manipulations to create a type of duality for Margaret and her gang of art-world misfits, and there’s an unstoppable score from Tsukerman, Clive Smith, and Brenda I. Hutchinson, which delivers a thick, crude electronic sound, not unlike a Super Nintendo game. “Liquid Sky” is visually curious and experimental (although stretches of the effort resemble a Troma production), but there’s a sliver of human agony in play to keep some of the movie grounded. Granted, ugliness is common with sexual assaults and interpersonal antagonisms, but the screenplay tries to give Margaret an arc of sorts as she manages the misconduct of her young life and begins to understand what the alien is responding to when it spies on her troubling sexual interactions. It’s not much, but in a feature this cryptic and impulsive, little bits of personality are treasured, helped along by Carlisle’s intriguing performances as Margaret and Jimmy.

Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is listed as "Newly scanned and restored in 4K from the 35mm original negative." "Liquid Sky" fans will be delighted with the treatment of the strange film, with Vinegar Syndrome masterminding an impressive refreshing for Blu-ray, managing to preserve the picture's filmic appearance. Detail is outstanding, achieving sharp textures on facial particulars and set decoration, while costuming is also flavorful and touchable. Hues are a priority, coming through with vivid period colors, securing primaries and leaps into DayGlo extremes. Urban events also retain their natural coldness. Skintones are spot-on. Delineation is never problematic. Source is in fine shape, without overt damage.

Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 1.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix for "Liquid Sky" is tricky, as the score for the film is quite aggressive, intentionally meant to unsettle the listening experience, supporting the enigmatic visuals. Instrumentation is preserved, and music never steamrolls over the dialogue exchanges, which never sound crisp, but remain easy to follow, without distortive extremes. Group activity is satisfactory, along with club and city atmospherics, securing different locations. Sound effects are louder, maintaining intended jolt.

Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Intro (1:23, HD) presents a welcome to the restored Blu-ray experience from co-writer/director Slava Tsukerman.

• Commentary features Tsukerman.

• Booklet offers an essay by Samm Deighan.

• Interview (15:46, HD) with Tsukerman covers this origin story, with his early interest in filmmaking blossoming once he left Russia, eventually looking to New York City as an oasis of personal expression, setting the scene for "Liquid Sky." The helmer discusses his creative philosophy, preservation of vision, and collaborations necessary to bring the picture to life, and offers an explanation of the title.

• Interview (9:46, HD) with Anne Carlisle briefly catches up with the "Liquid Sky" star, who recounts her early years as an art student, which led to an interest in acting, finding her calling in front of a camera. Carlisle describes the atmosphere of the club scene in the early 1980s, and her own experimental years, also detailing various careers she's enjoyed after the shoot, including a post-performing switch to art therapy.

• "'Liquid Sky' Revisited" (52:56, SD) is a 2017 making-of documentary from Tsukerman, who was inspired to start thinking about his 1982 achievement when the spaceship model from the opening of the movie fell off a bookcase in his apartment. Interviews involve a great number of cast and crew members, each recounting their experience working with Tsukerman, celebrating the sense of camaraderie that grew during the creation of the picture. Origin stories are shared, and Tsukerman explores his love of Andy Warhol, which explains everything about "Liquid Sky." Most interesting are rehearsal and casting tapes, watching the characters some to life, while creative impulses are also showcased in one brief moment where Carlisle and another actor appear to be having very real sex as they figure out a scene. Time is also spent mourning the loss of cast members, including Deborah Jacobs Welsh, who was murdered during the United Airlines Flight 93 terrorist hijacking.

• Q&A (37:19, SD) is a 2017 conversation about "Liquid Sky" at the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers, New York, featuring Tsukerman, Carlisle, and co-composer Clive Smith.

• Outtakes (13:05, SD) are an assembly of random moments from the film, presented without sound.

• Alternate Opening Sequence (9:59, SD) is presented.

• Rehearsal Footage (11:56, SD) is an edit of degraded Betamax tapes showcasing the cast working on scenes.

• Still Gallery (2:09) collects still and BTS snaps.

• And Trailers #1 (:31, SD), #2 (1:43, SD), #3 (1:45, SD), and #4 (3:00, SD) are included.

Liquid Sky Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Liquid Sky" is beloved by many, and while I don't share the same passion for the material, I certainly understand how the movie developed into a cult favorite. Tsukerman takes risks here with tone and style, and not everything works, but the majority of the picture provides a hypnotic rush of style, delivering a clear portrait of a time and place, with some alien activity mixed in to disturb predictability. It's not an outrageous picture, but "Liquid Sky" is distinct, with a defined indie film fingerprint and an endless appetite for the surreal, keeping the viewing experience lively when the story takes periodic breathers.