Patterns Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Patterns Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 6, 2025

People belonging to whatever the Blu-ray label version of "discerning cineaste" is may have noticed a lot of similarities between the erstwhile Film Detective and Film Masters, and if the all knowing internets (not to mention those who like to private message me) are to be believed, there are some ownership and/or partnership tethers between the two. That is probably just one reason why a number of former releases by Film Detective have been turning up under the Film Masters masthead, including Patterns, which Film Detective put out in 2016 on BD-R. While advertised as a "new 2K restoration", this release is also on a BD-R, and in doing some (admittedly nonscientific) screenshot comparisons between this release and the old Film Detective one, I'm personally not seeing a whale of a lot of difference between them.

Michael Reuben covered the old Film Detective release in 2016, and his Patterns Blu-ray review offers a plot summary and reaction to the technical presentation. I'll only add that this mid-fifties Rod Serling effort depicts a corporate environment that makes the slightly later placed Mad Men: The Complete Collection play like a veritable feminist utopia.

Patterns Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Patterns is presented on Blu-ray (BD-R) by Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. As Michael mentions, a lot of this transfer is at least acceptable by public domain standards, though I may be a bit more of curmudgeon overall than Michael, even if I'm scoring this the same as he did. At its best moments, this offers secure contrast and decent if not fantastic detailing. As Michael mentions, there's quite a bit of damage on display, and I'd probably argue that some if it is relatively bad (pay attention during Staples' arrival in New York, for just one example). The grain is also quite mottled and unnatural looking at times, and grain can definitely ebb and flow. Michael also mentions how some scenes are noticeably softer than others, and I'd also add that the final few minutes of this presentation seem like they were sourced from an inferior print, or at least one that shows more damage in this section than the rest of the film. My adjusted score is 3.25.

Patterns Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the video side of things, the DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track on this disc seems to be the same as the one Michael discusses. As he mentions, everything is baseline fine if never outstanding until the final few moments, where things tend to deteriorate along with the image quality. Optional English subtitles are available.

Patterns Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements of any kind are included.

Patterns Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Patterns is a bit clunky by today's standards, but it shows some of Rod Serling's patented snark and heart. It's worth seeing for Serling completists at least, and for that demographic this disc offers decent if definitely improvable technical merits.