Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Lost Highway 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 16, 2022

David Lynch's "Lost Highway" (1997) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on this release vintage cast and crew interviews; making of featurette; Toby Keeler's documentary "Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch"; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Fred Madison (Bill Pullman, Brokedown Palace) is a professional saxophone player who suspects that his wife, Renee (Patricia Arquette, Goodbye Lover), is having an affair. But he can't prove it, which may or may not be the reason why he is having some serious nightmares.

Someone leaves a large brown envelope with a videotape on their steps. There is footage on the tape showing the inside of their house, then Fred and Renee sleeping. More videotapes arrive, showing more. Concerned about their safety, Fred and Renee contact the police.

During a chic party, Fred meets a man (Robert Blake, In Cold Blood) who tries to convince him that they've met before. In Fred's house. Unsure what to make of the man and his strange claim, Fred walks away. Soon after, however, Renee is killed, and Fred is thrown in prison.

While waiting in his cell for a trial date to be set, Fred becomes seriously ill -- and then suddenly transforms into a different man, Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty, Where the Day Takes You). Unable to make any sense of the event, the prison authorities free Pete and he goes back home. The cops immediately begin monitoring him and his family.

On the following day, Pete gets his old job, fixing cars in a rundown garage. He is soon visited by a wild wacky gangster (Robert Loggia, Prizzi's Honor) and his toy, (Arquette again), a blonde bombshell with beautiful green eyes. Pete fixes the gangster's car and falls in love with his girl.

Pete and the girl secretly see each other, and when the gangster starts sniffing around, heads begin to roll. Then Fred's nightmares return, followed quickly by the man from the party, who calls Pete to let him know that they've also met before. Not long after that, all hell breaks loose.

David Lynch's Lost Highway is a genuine mind-bender that is more interested in moods and feelings than telling an entirely coherent story. It is a wicked game that is easy to get sucked into and next to impossible to exit. The best thing about it is not being able to figure out its secret but the effort it demands to stay in it, the process of speculating with various 'what ifs'.

The core of Lost Highway is comprised of surrealistic sequences that point to a tragedy. Some show key events from before the tragedy, and others show key events from later on after it had occurred. The rest of the film is essentially clever baiting -- various characters and relationships are introduced but not all of them are as important as they seem.

The atmosphere that permeates the film is dark and unsettling, and evil is almost certainly in the air. There is plenty of sex. Angry bits from industrial gurus Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and Rammstein are very carefully inserted to raise the intensity as well.

*Lost Highway was adapted into an opera by acclaimed Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth. In 2003, the opera premiered in her hometown of Graz. In 2007, the opera made its U.S. premiere at the Miller Theater in New York City.

Lost Highway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Lost Highway is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack.

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures 1-14: are taken from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures 16-34: are taken from the 4K Blu-ray.

I have a couple of different releases of Lost Highway in my library, but I am going to reference the last one I purchased, which is this release Kino Lorber produced in 2019. I think that it is the best one of the older releases I have. Criterion's Blu-ray release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was supervised and approved by David Lynch.

I viewed the 4K Blu-ray release last night and earlier today I viewed the Blu-ray release without any skipping. I wanted to be absolutely sure that I knew exactly how the new 4K makeover looks in native 4K and 1080p. I did quite a few direct comparisons with the 1080p presentation from Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release as well.

BLU-RAY DISC

I had a very difficult time deciding which presentation I prefer because there were different things that I liked and disliked. For example, the new 4K makeover offers the all-around healthiest presentation of the film. I was not bothered by the few white nicks that pop up on the previous Blu-ray release, but now the entire film looks simply immaculate. The new 4K makeover boasts excellent clarity, delineation, and depth, but the previous release produces gorgeous visuals as well. In fact, in plenty of different areas the quality of the visuals is extremely similar, possibly even identical. Various ranges of highlights are handled similarly as well, so the background nuances during well-lit and darker footage are again extremely similar. Image stability is excellent. The one area of the new 4K makeover that made it extremely difficult for me to decide which presentation I prefer is the color grading. On this release, numerous primaries appear colder or shifted toward a more neutral color temperature. As a result, there are obvious differences in the overall temperature of virtually all visuals. Some of these differences are rather small, but some big and unmissable. A few I found unconvincing. For example, in the second half reds begin to resemble browns and I took a couple of spcreencaptures to demonstrate what I saw -- see the lipstick in screencapture #37 and the "red" Ford in screencapture #38. Some ranges of yellows and whites are also cooled off. I think that a few of the blues are pushed toward light cyan as well, though this is a change that is handled mostly well. So, my preference is for the overall color temperature of the older master, though I must make it clear that there is a bit of room for rebalancing adjustment on it as well. However, while imperfect, I think that its color temperature and saturation levels better reflect the theatrical presentation of Lost Highway I remember. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

4K BLU-RAY DISC

I viewed the native 4K presentation of the new 4K makeover with HDR. I paid very close attention to the areas where I thought that some of the cooler primaries had made an obvious difference in 1080p.

Predictably, delineation, clarity, and depth were excellent. The visuals had a very appealing tight appearance which was exceptionally easy to appreciate. However, while some of the supporting nuances were clearly expanded, my overall impression was that saturation was still slightly underwhelming. How underwhelming exactly? There are certain areas that I thought clearly looked cooler enough for me to wonder whether the overall color balance was correct. Sometimes it was bit of blue leaning toward cyan. Sometimes it was red leaning toward brown. Sometimes it was yellow that had a bit too much white. The expanded color gamut of 4K and HDR make some of the color variations more subtle, but not everywhere, and if you know the film very well, as I do, you will notice that some of the color changes are a bit too prominent. On the other hand, the entire film looks immaculate and in native 4K and the healthy visuals instantly become even more attractive. Ultimately, I think that there will be plenty of people that will be thrilled with the new 4K makeover, but I felt that it could have been graded better. (Note: This is a Region-Free release).

Lost Highway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I used primarily the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I tested the LPCM 2.0 track on a couple of different stretches while moving from the Blu-ray release to the 4K Blu-ray release and back to the Blu-ray release. I thought that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track sounded outstanding. I liked the lossless 5.1 track on the previous Blu-ray release a lot as well, but this track sounded incredibly healthy and potent. The dialog is exceptionally easy to follow. I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review.

Lost Highway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - presented here is a theatrical trailer for the recent 4K restoration of Lost Highway. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• David Lynch, 1997 - in this archival program, David Lynch recalls how Lost Highway came to exist and discusses the film's noirish qualities as well as his obsession with O.J. Simpson's case and how it impacted his work on it. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• The Making of Lost Highway - in this archival program, David Lynch recalls how he fell in love with cinema and discusses the production of Lost Highway. Also included in the program are clips from interviews with cast members discussing their characters and the atmosphere of the film. In English, not subtitled. (14 min).

• "Next Door to Dark" - in this archival audio recording, David Lynch and his coauthor, Kristine McKenna, reading from the chapter "Next Door to Dark", from their book Room to Dream, which was published in 2018. In English, not subtitled. (44 min).

• Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch - presented here is Toby Keeler's documentary "Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch", which was produced in 1997. In addition to footage from the set of Lost Highway, it includes interviews with David Lynch, Patricia Arquette, Angelo Badalamenti, Robert Blake, Jack Nance, and Dean Stockwell, amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (81 min).

• Outtakes - presented here are outtakes from Toby Keeler's documentary "Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch". In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Leaflet - excerpts from an interview with Lynch from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley's book Lynch on Lynch, as well as technical credits.

Lost Highway 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had a very difficult time evaluating the new 4K makeover of Lost Highway. The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases unquestionably offer the healthiest presentations of the film that I have seen to date. The new 4K makeover was supervised and approved by director David Lynch, which means that it is how he wants his film to look now, but I found its color grade a bit too cool (and in some areas too neutral). So, you will have to take a look at the comparisons we have highlighted in this article to decide how you feel about the 4K makeover, but to form a final opinion the ideal scenario would be to find a way to test the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release at home. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.