Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 29, 2019

Lionsgate continues its efforts to drive home media reviews just a little crazy by offering 4K UHD releases that require said reviewers to figure out whether or not the release is simply (as I've repeatedly joked vis a vis other Lionsgate 4K UHD releases) Lionsgate getting rid of 1080p Blu-ray remainders some unfortunate worker stumbled over in some largely abandoned warehouse, or is in fact offering consumers new transfers in both 1080p and 2160p. Red Heat seems to be one of the latter variety, as evidenced by the telltale language selection pre-menu that has adorned a number of Lionsgate 4K UHD releases, many of which are tied to StudioCanal offerings and/or restorations in other regions (and this release does in fact sport the StudioCanal logo as well as the Lionsgate logo). The fact that there's a different Main Menu on the 1080p Blu-ray as well as the presentation being in 1.85:1 rather than 1.78:1, as on the now ancient first 1080p Blu-ray release, also point toward a new transfer. OK, now that we've gotten 1080p out of the way, shall we also include 2160p?

As alluded to above, Red Heat received an early Blu-ray release in 2009, and for those wanting a plot overview, I refer you to Dustin Somner's Red Heat Blu-ray review. Dustin's review is also a good source to look over screenshots of that version, as well as to read his summaries of some of the supplements that are also incuded here. I would only add that in yet another example of "different reviewers, different opinions", I actually was kind of pleasantly surprised by how well Red Heat has held up in what is admittedly not the most ambitious "action buddy film" ever made, and so my score for the film is slightly higher than Dustin gave it.

Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Red Heat is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films (evidently with a little help from StudioCanal) with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Since this release is evidently offering a new 1080p version as well, I'll mention a few things about that while also drawing comparisons to the 4K UHD iteration. Dustin gave pretty middling marks to the old Lionsgate Blu-ray, but one of the things that stuck out to me simply in perusing the screenshots included in Dustin's review is what looks like pretty aggressive filtering. As you can see in the screenshots accompanying this review, there's a very healthy grain field in evidence in both the 1080p and 2160p presentations. I've had occasional issues with so-called "grain management" on some Lionsgate 4K UHD releases, but I have to say for the most part I was very pleasantly surprised at the "tightness" of the grain and its resolution throughout sometimes rather wide variances in lighting conditions. There are some occasional anomalies which are evident in both the 1080p and 2160p presentations, and which in fact may be more evident on the 4K UHD disc. To cite just one example, pay attention to the sequence that begins at circa 32:00 where all of the police station material looks fairly splotchy, while brief interstitial cuts outside look significantly clearer with better resolved grain, and with at least a bit more fine detail. These passing fluctations can also afflict some expected problem areas like scenes with steam, mist or fog, where a number of transitory issues including near pixellation and macroblocking can occur. On the plus side, the 4K UHD presentation offers upticks in shadow definition from the get go, with the first shot of the weird furnace in the bathhouse and some later dimly lit interior material. Dolby Vision offers a number of interesting highlights, again from the get go in terms of the saturation of the pinks during the credits. Both the 1080p and 4K UHD presentations look slightly washed out during the credits, with flesh tones looking slightly pinker in the 4K UHD presentation. One recurrent hue that really acquires significant pop in the 4K UHD presentation is yellow -- pay attention to how many times Hill frames Arnold against yellow backgrounds, and the vividness of those moments is quite noticeable. Greens were also nicely rendered with more variation in the 4K UHD presentation, noticeable in a number of sequences like as a scene in a bar. A scene in a kind of dilapidated apartment house provides great pop in both yellows and greens courtesy of some wall colors. Fine detail definitely enjoys an improvement in the 4K UHD presentation, with things like textures on fabrics nicely precise looking. My bottom line here is that things could arguably have been massaged a bit more here to improve some variability and make things more consistent looking, but this is still by and large a very pleasing looking presentation in both its new 1080p and 2160p iterations.

Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dustin wasn't overly excited about the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix on the original Blu-ray, but at least some of what he wasn't enthused about seems to actually be the sound design, which is indeed fairly dated sounding at times. That said, I found the surround activity quite engaging, and it includes everything from James Horner's pounding score to well placed ambient environmental effects. I'm not sure this release enjoyed a full scale audio restoration and/or remix, but judging by Dustin's comments on the first release, my sense is some rejiggering may have taken place, since I found nothing really jarring in terms of directional placement of dialogue, as Dustin mentions in his review. Fidelity is fine, with no issues regarding distortion, dropouts or damage.

Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 1080p and 2160p discs contain the same supplements, several of which appeared (in standard definition) on the old Lionsgate Blu-ray from 2009. For supplements without a description below, please refer to Dustin Somner's Red Heat Blu-ray review, though also note that the timings are slightly different in most cases, with the Making Of featurette running longer on this release. I've marked what I believe to be the new supplements with an asterisk (*) below:

• Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Man Who Raised Hollywood* (1080p; 15:36) is an enjoyable overview of Ahnold's career.


• Political Context of Red Heat* (1080p; 9:54) gets into some of the supposed subtext, though anyone who has actually seen this film may beg to differ about how much actual subtext the film offers.


• East Meets West (1080p; 9:38)


• A Stunt Man for All Seasons (1080p; 12:24)


• I'm Not a Russian, But I Play One on TV (1080p; 5:11)


• Making Of (1080p; 18:36)


• Original Trailer (1080p; 2:13)

Red Heat 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Red Heat is probably yet another film some fans never expected to see on a 4K UHD disc. As I mentioned above, I was actually pleasantly surprised by how entertaining I found the film after revisiting it again for the first time in decades. There's certainly nothing new or innovative here, but the film is well staged and the interplay between Arnold and Belushi is genial and occasionally laugh provoking. There are some variabilities in things like grain resolution and general compression on display in both of these presentations, but I found the overall look and sound of both the 1080p and 2160p versions generally solid. Recommended.