7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Beautiful, hip, and young, poor Lola has but 20 minutes to locate a missing bag containing 100,000 Deutsche marks or come up with the money some other way — if she can't, gangsters are going to kill her boyfriend. A pulse-raising race against time, the film employs a startling array of innovative techniques to present three separate scenarios, all departing from a single split-second decision Lola makes.
Starring: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Armin Rohde, Joachim KrólDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 49% |
Crime | 33% |
Romance | 22% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
4K Ultra HD
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 0.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Previously exclusive to the eleven-film Sony Pictures Classics: 30th Anniversary Collection box set, Sony is finally making director Tom Tykwer's cult favorite Run Lola Run available as an individual 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release. Lightning-paced, frenetic and oozing MTV-generation energy, the film remains gripping some twenty-five years after its German theatrical debut, deliriously trembling within its barebones, dramatically economic premise. It also introduced (to most of us anyway) actress Franka Potente, who would become a more recognizable talent after The Bourne Identity arrived in 2002. There are a few somewhat dated elements -- the rapidfire use of different mediums, from animation to low-fi standard definition footage, isn't as cutting edge as it was, hitting the style-over-substance nerve a bit too often. But there's still something indescribably intoxicating about Tykwer's anxiety-inducing three-reality race against time that allows Run Lola Run to defy the decades and stand apart as one of the more memorable looming-turn-of-the-century films to shake audiences awake in '98 and '99. And that's saying a lot, considering how packed-with-classics a year 1999 still stands.
Sony nails Run Lola Run's race to 4K with a striking, wholly filmic 2160p native video transfer that brings Tykwer's at-times erratic and explosive race against time to crisp, grainy life. The color palette boasts a warm, orange-twinged hue that's true to the film's original photography and color grading, allowing various stylistic choices -- animation, black and white shots, photograph inserts, bursts of standard definition footage and more -- to stand out as intended. Primaries pack punch, particularly Lola's blazing mane, while skin tones are as lifelike in the world of Lola's run as they're meant to be. Black levels are deep and satisfying, and connective cherry-red interludes between Lola and Manni are gorgeous, without anything in the way of unsightly red or black crush. Detail is exceptional as well (minus the lofi 480p sequences between Lola's father and his mistress, which are meant to evoke voyeurism and secrecy), with sharply defined edges free of halos, wonderfully refined fine textures and a consistent and consistently pleasing veneer of grain that doesn't spike in unruly fashion or impede the quality and clarity of the image. Add to that a lack of banding, blocking and other such nonsense and you have Run Lola Run as it was designed and shot, not to mention the inarguably definitive way to experience the film and its frantic finesse.
From Martin Liebman's 2022 box set review: "Rather than re-release Run Lola Run with the original Blu-ray's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack, Sony has re-encoded the tracks (original German and English and Spanish dubs) into the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless encode. I cannot vouch for how the two compare, but this new 5.1 encode is very dynamic and intense. It's crystal-clear, offering heart-pounding musical cues, intense surround content and action aplenty, and clear and centered dialogue. The techno-pulse musical rhythm is very dynamic, and the film seems to slow down when it suddenly disappears (listen around the 10-minute mark). Voices swirl around the stage moments later, the music kicks back up, and the energy amps into overdrive. Even without the added channels that would have been included in an Atmos track -- which would have really pounded this one home -- there's very little sense of lack at the 5.1 channel output. This one is dynamo just for the sheer complimentary thrill of it. Score, songs, and sound effects are as much a backbone for this movie as is the kinetic energy playing out on the screen, and Sony's track commands this audio content with all the richness and definition and immersion one could ever want."
I went back and forth between a 4.0 and a 4.5, trying to determine where I landed with Run Lola Run twenty-five years after its debut. Ultimately, it remains an excellent, stylistically engaging affair, although it hasn't aged quite as perfectly as I hoped. (Its MTV visual flourishes are retro as hell and fun as they could be, sure, but certainly date things.) Thankfully, Sony's 4K Blu-ray release looks straight out of 2024, with a to-die-for video presentation, a gripping DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and a solid complement of new and previously released special features (among them two audio commentaries). Recommended.
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