Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Out of Sight Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 3, 2022

Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage audio commentary recorded by Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank; archival documentary with cast and crew interviews; deleted and extended scenes; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

You can place me in the camp of those who are convinced that Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight tried too hard to imitate what made Quentin Tarantino an international sensation and, in the process, failed too convincingly. Despite Elmore Leonard’s public support, Out of Sight isn’t a good cinematic adaptation of his novel either. It is a pretty decent promotional piece for its two big stars, George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. But did they need the support? Nope. Their careers would have been perfectly fine without it.

Clooney is notorious bank robber Jack Foley who has been recently captured and transferred to a prison in Florida. While surrounded by unfriendly characters, Foley has stayed out of trouble and figured out how to bust out, and even started thinking about the next big job that would make him rich and help him retire in style.

But on the night when Foley successfully gets out of prison and meets his partner Buddy Bragg (Ving Rhames) at the spot where he is supposed to pick him up, something strange happens -- Foley ends up staring at a shotgun held by U.S. marshal Karen Sisco (Lopez). Then something even stranger happens -- Foley lays behind Sisco in the not-so-cozy trunk of Bragg’s beat-up car, and as they head down to Miami, begins to fall in love with her.

Fastforward. While Foley and Bragg iron out the details of a plan to steal a nice stash of uncut diamonds with ex-convict Maurice Miller (Don Cheadle), Sisco joins a team of federal investigators that have started tracking them down. In Detroit, Foley has a romantic encounter with Sisco, but despite finding him irresistible she warns that he is still a fugitive and her job is to catch him.

Leonard’s book has a very different version of Bragg’s crucial character, but this isn’t why Out of Sight looks like a big collection of overstylized sequences and not a conventional film. (Though somewhat annoying, the repeated pausing of frames isn’t a serious problem either). Indeed, virtually all of the troubles in Out of Sight can be traced back to Clooney and Lopez’s character arcs and how they are expected to shape its identity. Arguably the biggest of these troubles is the very obvious awareness of the camera’s presence that is channeled through Clooney and Lopez’s words and actions, which creates the impression that both are simply participating in contrasting cycles of commercials, some coming from Miami, some from Detroit, and some from Universal’s studio lots.

Soderbergh’s decision to use numerous flashbacks in unique ways also backfires pretty spectacularly because it makes the bulk of the contributions from the supporting cast look like filler material. This is a pretty ironic development because just about all of the bits from Out of Sight that work well feature very solid contributions from the supporting cast, with Cheadle in particular effectively saving it from being a complete flop. (Steve Zahn is very much in his element too, so he is right behind Cheadle).

The tone of the comedy isn’t convincing either. In certain areas it has a very familiar Tarantino-esque flavor while elsewhere it is just bland, causing entire sequences to appear either underdeveloped or unpolished. One such sequence features a completely random contribution by Michael Keaton, who is supposed to be an FBI agent and Lopez’s boyfriend, and a slightly more coherent contribution by the late Dennis Farina, playing her curious father. Even though the sequence is extremely short, Keaton is misused. He is supposed to look awkward and funny but is visibly struggling, so when Lopez cuts him off and then forces him out of the sequence his entire contribution instantly registers as a strange error.

Out of Sight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Out of Sight arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an exclusive new 4K master that was apparently supervised and approved by cinematographer Elliot Davis, but I found the makeover very frustrating. Here's why:

The new 4K master is very healthy and virtually spotless. However, it features a brand new color grade that makes various parts of the film look quite awkward. For example, the outdoor footage from the prison -- which is supposed to have a prominent yellowish tint -- blends yellow with cyan that alters the dynamic range of the visuals and even flattens them quite dramatically. As a result, it almost looks like someone was experimenting with daylight-to-nighttime or nighttime-to-daylight flashing that did not turn out right. (You can see examples in screencaptures #4, 15, 22, and 23). Residuals from this flashing can even be spotted during indoor footage where facial tones become very suspicious. (See screencapture #20). When the action moves to Detroit, where according to Steven Soderbergh the color temperature must become significantly colder, emphasizing nicely saturated blues, the cyan still lingers, and as a result some visuals continue to display dynamic range anomalies. While here the fluctuations are much smaller, the shifts that occur are still easily noticeable and are not quite in sync with the intended stylization Soderbergh describes. (If you view the archival documentary that is included on this release, you will find out exactly how Out of Sight should look). The end result is a new stylization on top of the original stylization, which means that the new makeover of the film does not replicate the original theatrical look of the film. I personally found it the overlapping very inconsistent, and in some areas clearly problematic. Delineation is typically very good. Depth fluctuates because of the anomalies in the dynamic range of the visuals. Image stability is excellent. There are absolutely no traces of problematic digital corrections. My score is 3.25/5.00. (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).

Out of Sight 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 DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I started viewing the film with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but in certain areas did some very quick tests with the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. The former is very clearly superior because the film has plenty of action sequences where the 5.1 track noticeably expands the audio field. Dynamic intensity is very good as well. The dialog is clear, clean, and remains stable throughout the entire film.

Out of Sight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Inside "Out of Sight" - in this archival documentary, Steven Soderbergh discusses in great detail the conception, production and stylistic appearance of Out of Sight as well as some unique changes that were made in the original material from Elmore Leonard's novel. Clips from archival interviews with George Cooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, and Leondard, amongst others, are included as well. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• Deleted Scenes - a collection of deleted and extended scenes. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Frank.

• Trailers - two newly remastered trailers for Out of Sight. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

Out of Sight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I found the new 4K makeover of Out of Sight quite frustrating. The film finally looks appropriately healthy, but sadly it has been regraded in a way that essentially gives it a brand new stylistic appearance. As a result, some parts of the film now look very different, and in some parts I recognize fluctuations that simply do not look right to me. The new 4K makeover was apparently supervised and approved by cinematographer Elliot Davis, which is unfortunate because this most likely means that going forward the new stylistic appearance will be viewed and described as the correct one.