7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 5.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
After a bizarre encounter at a party, a jazz saxophonist is framed for the murder of his wife and sent to prison, where he inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic and begins leading a new life.
Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Henry RollinsDrama | 100% |
Surreal | 40% |
Psychological thriller | 39% |
Mystery | 35% |
Film-Noir | 22% |
Crime | 16% |
Erotic | 14% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
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.
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).
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.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
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.
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