Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 27, 2025

John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games" (2000) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include two archival audio commentaries recorded by John Frankenheimer; archival program on the making of the film; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

John Frankenheimer’s final feature film, Reindeer Games, is an indisputable misfire. It has a decent story to tell, but it tries hard to impress in all the wrong ways. Frankenheimer should have made it several decades earlier, with a proper cast, and possibly even in black-and-white.

After losing his cellmate and best pal, Nick Cassidy (James Frain), in a random brawl, Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck), a small-time thief, gets out of prison, assumes his identity, and steals his beautiful girlfriend, Ashley (Charlize Theron). The impostor easily pulls off the trick because the girl has no idea what her ‘boyfriend’ looks like. She has been writing and sending her letters to his cell, virtually all of which the dead man has shared with the impostor. It is how the impostor has learned everything there is to know about Ashley.

After getting to know each other in a lousy diner and making love in a cheap motel room, the impostor and Ashley share their plans for the future. Ashley’s plan is an instant winner. Then, while feeling terrible for abusing the trust of his late best pal, and itching to reveal to Ashley that the real man of her dreams is dead, the impostor has his head bashed into a wall by her brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise), and several of his equally impolite friends. Having been presented with the perfect incentive to confess his immoral trick, the impostor attempts to reveal his true identity and ask for forgiveness, but his efforts are quickly rejected as unconvincing, and instead, much to his dismay, he is forced to participate in a robbery. The impostor’s contribution to it is crucial. While using only his memories, he must provide a reliable blueprint of the biggest Indian casino in the Wolverine State, which Gabriel and his friends have discovered was the last place where he worked for a paycheck.

Reindeer Games tries hard to be a 1970s genre film disguised as a late 1990s film and in less than fifteen minutes effectively proves that it has the wrong cast for the job. This is its biggest and most consequential problem.

In the 1970s, the best genre films that effectively blended high-octane action and biting humor and produced intelligent curveballs all had great leads. In heist films, in particular, the great lead was routinely considered more important than the screenplay, which was frequently improved to work best for it. This was done because all heist films utilize extremely similar material. One part of it is about planning. One part of it is about execution. And one part of it is about the inevitable slip that always complicates the desired outcome. The great lead makes this material unique because its personality overshadows the familiar mechanics of the heist.

In Reindeer Games, Affleck is supposed to be this great and transformative lead, but his performance convincingly collapses it. This happens because Affleck’s performance is inappropriate for the story, which demands that the heist and all of its participants and their transformations are believable, not caricatures participating in a game. To be clear, the sporadic splashes of humor and Affleck’s contributions to them are not what damage the integrity of Reindeer Games. Rather, it is the personality of the impostor and his influence on everyone around him, both of which are shaped by the quality of Affleck’s performance.

When Reindeer Games premiered in 2000, some of its most outspoken defenders insisted that it was not meant to be taken seriously. They argued that it was a campy film that behaved exactly like a campy film should. Earlier in his career, Frankenheimer made several such films, but they too had proper leads that knew exactly what was expected of them, so they worked as intended. (52 Pick-Up is a very good example). In Reindeer Games, Affleck and Sinise are not on the same page, while the talents of Clarence Williams III, Dennis Farina, and Danny Trejo are simply wasted.

Kino Lorber’s two-disc set presents two versions of Reindeer Games: Director’s Cut and Theatrical Version. Only the latter has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative.

Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Reindeer Games is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-13 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #15-38 are from the Blu-ray.

The release presents two versions of Reindeer Games: Director's Cut and Theatrical Version. Only the latter has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative. This new 4Kmakeover can be viewed with HDR and Dolby Vision grades. I chose to view it with Dolby Vision.

If you immediately compare the Director's Cut and Theatrical Version, you will enthusiastically declare that the latter looks dramatically better. It is true. However, the former looks so poor in 1080p that the discrepancy is not as significant as it may appear. On my system, the 4K makeover of the Theatrical Version looked inconsistent, and in several areas even underwhelming, and this is something that surprised me quite a bit. For example, there isn't a shortage of material producing visuals that look quite soft and at times borderline smeary. The first act, and especially footage from the prison and all the way to the melee in the hotel room, does not look convincing at all. (You can see an example here. Then again, the same area looks awful in 1080p). A wide range of darker nuances, in indoor and outdoor footage, tend to struggle as well. I thought that the Dolby Vision grade made some areas look even worse. On a positive side, delineation and clarity are so much better now that often times there is still a lot more to see. Also, and perhaps most importantly, despite the inconsistencies that I highlighted, the Theatrical Version retains a pleasing filmic appearance. The Director's Cut does not have it. It looks flat, smeary, overwhelmed by edge-enhancement, and frequently just ugly. Also, on the new 4K makeover density levels are noticeably better, so on a larger screen you will still see tighter, very even visuals. The entire 4K makeover is healthier as well. Color reproduction is good. All primaries and supporting nuance are healthy and nicely balanced. To sum it all up, the Theatrical Version, which can be viewed only in native 4K, is the clear winner. However, it does not have the all-around solid convincing organic appearance I thought it would.

Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this 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. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the entire film with the 5.1 track. During the big action footage, dynamic intensity is predictably excellent, so it is practically guaranteed that you will hear something that will leave an impression. However, in several areas, I thought that select exchanges were rather unusual because of how different lines were delivered. If this is exactly how these exchanges were mixed, it is surprising. The prison footage has several such areas. I did not encounter any audio dropouts or distortions to report.

Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC - THEATRICAL VERSION

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by John Frankeheimer and has previously appeared on other Blu-ray and DVD release of Reindeer Games. Frankenheimer spends a lot of time discussing the evolution of Ben Affleck's character, how certain sequences were shot and edited to prepare for desired outcomes and future developments, the quality and tone of the action, the humor that is an essential element of the film's identity, etc.

BLU-RAY DISC - DIRECTOR'S CUT

• Commentary - in this archival audio commentary, John Frankeheimer explains why he had to recut the Theatrical Version of Reindeer Games, which turned out a lot softer than intended. Frankenheimer comments on specific scenes that were altered, crucial details about Ben Affleck's character, the supporting cast, the different casting choices for supporting actors that were made, etc.

• Behind the Scenes Featurette - this archival program takes a closer look at the production of Reindeer Games. It features raw footage from the shooting of the film, as well as clips from archival interviews. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Reindeer Games. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Reindeer Games 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Good heist films need great leads to make the familiar material they will work with appear special. It is why some of the best of them emerged during the 1960s and 1970s, which is when many of the all-time greatest character actors were at their peak. John Frankenheimer's final feature film is an unfortunate misfire, but not because its Theatrical Version was cut badly, as the late director believed. This film does not work because it does not have the right lead. Everything that happens in it is in some way related to Ben Affleck's performance, which is completely out of sync with its story. Kino Lorber's two-disc set presents two versions of the film, Theatrical Version and Director's Cut, and only the former is newly remastered in 4K. If you are not a Frankenheimer completist, it would be wise to consider acquiring the other films from his oeuvre first, several of which have wonderful 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases.