7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
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 | 39% |
Psychological thriller | 39% |
Mystery | 35% |
Film-Noir | 22% |
Crime | 16% |
Erotic | 14% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
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
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
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 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-A "locked".
Meow, meow. It's me.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lost Highway arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
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. Criterion's upcoming 4K Blu-ray release is sourced from the same master.
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.
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).
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.
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 provided 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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Warner Archive Collection
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