Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Oliver Stone's nineteenth feature Savages (2012) was reviewed by my colleagues Brian Orndorf and Jeff Kauffman over thirteen years ago. Brian published a theatrical review while Jeff wrote about Universal Studios' 2012 BD-50. To read their opinions of the film, please refer to the linked reviews.

Best of friends.

Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select's "Collector's Edition" of Savages comes with a slipcover that houses a three-disc set, including a 4K Ultra HD BD-100 of the 141-minute unrated version, a BD-50 comprising that extended cut and the 131-minute theatrical cut, as well as a separate BD-50 consisting of bonus materials. Director/co-writer Oliver Stone supervised and approved a 4K restoration from the original elements used for the two cuts. Director of photography Dan Mindel shot the picture in anamorphic 35 mm in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1.

Writer Iain Stasukevich profiled Mindel's work on Savages for the July 2012 issue of American Cinematographer. Stasukevich's piece contains a lot of details about the cameras and locations, which I will describe in relation to how they appear on the Universal and Shout discs. Principal photography for Savages was done entirely on location during the 60-day shoot. Mindel used a variety of film stocks, optics, and in-camera effects, which he discussed with AC. Mindel and his camera crew shot in and around Los Angeles, Malibu, the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, Simi Valley, and Santa Clarita. Matthew J. Lloyd (CSC) completed second-unit work in Mexico and Indonesia. Mindel shot interiors and evening scenes on Kodak Vision3 500T 5219. He photographed day exteriors on Vision3 200T 5213 and Vision2 100T 5212. A couple scenes were filmed on Eastman black-and-white Double-X 5222. For instance, one B&W shot shows O (Black Lively) sauntering along a beach (see frame grab #24). Mindel also employed Ektachrome 100D 5285 color-reversal stock, which was cross-processed to lend a few scenes an "extreme look." FotoKem processed the production's negative. ASC associate Mark Van Horne supervised the digital and film dailies. According to AC, Stone presided over the final color timing with colorist and ASC associate member Stefan Sonnenfeld at Company 3, which created the 2K DI. Mindel was unable to participate due to a prior commitment. He supplied Stone with a booklet of stills he had taken on set with his iPhone and tweaked in iPhoto. These included "pieces of art direction" as Mindel described them.

Mindel had a few distinct color and lighting schemes that he wanted to reflect the characters and their worlds. For example, the Malibu beach home occupied by O, Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) is warm, sunny, and paradisaical. AC describes the ocean as "blue and crystal clear" and the surrounding foliage as "emerald green." The new color-grading on the Shout transfers make some subtle but noteworthy improvements over the Universal transfer for these scenes. For instance, notice how the Pacific Ocean's blue has better definition in Screenshot #s 39 and 40 (Shout) compared to the Universal in #38. In addition, the paint on O's bedroom wall has more of a pure light blue in screen capture #s 33 and 34 (Shout) whereas on the Universal, the tone is paler (see #32). The California scenes look spectacular on the 4K disc.

For the characters affiliated with the Mexican Baja Cartel, Mindel employed less color saturation and darker tones. For example, look at how cartel queenpin Elena (Salma Hayek) is lit while laying on her bed in frame grab #2. In a similar vein, Elena's enforcer, Lado (Benicio Del Toro), is lit harshly with minimal lighting cues for several evening scenes, including when he speaks on the phone while attending his son's baseball game. (Screenshot #9 is lit darkly of he and his wife watching the game.) I am very pleased with the black levels for these evening scenes.

The UHD features a standout highlight for a dinner scene with Chon, O, and Ben. When I watched the 4K, I immediately noticed the hot toplight that illuminates them (especially O) and their table. Screenshot #37 is from the 4K and downsampled here to 1080p. The toplight looks wonderful when projected at full 2160p resolution.

Both the Universal and Shout editions include both cuts on a single BD-50. Universal's authoring and compression are superior, though. The user can easily switch between menus to view either cut on Universal's disc, which averages 10000 kbps more in the video encodes than the Shout Blu-ray. Indeed, the mean video bitrates on the Shout Blu-ray are 15498 kbps for the unrated version and 15494 kbps for the TC. The standard video bitrates on Universal's Blu-ray are 25052 kbps for the unrated version and 25055 kbps for the TC. I upscaled the unrated version of the Shout Blu-ray to 4K on my Panasonic player and didn't spot any glaring compression artifacts or banding.

Screenshot #s 1-25, 28, 31, 34, 37, & 40 = Shout Select 2025 4K Ultra HD BD-100 (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 26, 29, 32, 35, & 38 = Universal Studios 2012 BD-50
Screenshot #s 27, 30, 33, 36, & 39 = Shout Select 2025 BD-50 (from a 4K restoration)

A dozen chapter stops accompany both cuts on the Shout disc. (The Universal disc boasts twenty scene selections.)

Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied three audio track options to watch Savages with on UHD (in addition to two archival commentaries): a new Dolby Atmos mix (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) encoded at an average bitrate of 3503 kbps and a maximum bitrate of 5769 kbps; a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (3586 kbps, 24-bit); and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (2002 kbps, 24-bit). The Blu-ray has the 5.1 and 2.0 options only. I listened to both the Atmos and 5.1 mixes. It sometimes felt that the Atmos filled the entire space of my home theater. It creates more of a sonic presence in the center and the middle than the 5.1. If you have a large speaker setup, I think you will be very pleased with how the height channels are used in the fronts and the rears. When I listened to the 5.1, I was particularly impressed with the speakers outputted sounds of a leaf blower for an interior scene because the noises are coming from outside the house!

Stone sometimes deploys an image/sound didactic counterpoint juxtaposition. For example, in one extended scene, he contrasts the continuous brutality of violence with a peppy ballad on the non-diegetic sound track that differs significantly in tone and timbre. The film's soundtrack and score (by Adam Peters) offer a very diverse selection of musical cues. They sound warm and dynamic on the Atmos and 5.1 tracks.

Much of the dialogue in Savages is spoken in English. There are several lines delivered in Spanish, which are accompanied by hard-coded Spanish subtitles from the DCP (see Screenshot #25).

Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout has brought the two commentary tracks, multi-part making-of doc, and deleted scenes over to its release. The boutique label has recorded five recent in-depth interviews. For details about the commentaries and featurettes, please see Jeff's review.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD — Unrated Version (2:21:22, 2160p)

• Audio Commentary with Director & Co-Writer Oliver Stone (2012)

• Audio Commentary with Producers Eric Kopeloff and Moritz Borman, Co-Writer Don Winslow, Co-Writer Shane Salerno, and Production Designer Tomas Voth (2012)

• Audio Commentary with Director & Co-Writer Oliver Stone (2012)

• Audio Commentary with Producers Eric Kopeloff and Moritz Borman, Co-Writer Don Winslow, Co-Writer Shane Salerno, and Production Designer Tomas Voth (2012)

• NEW Oliver Stone on SAVAGES (20:25, 1080p) - Stone explains how he wanted to depart from fact-based docudramas for a return to films in the mold of NBK (1994) and U-Turn (1997). He also describes his desire to make a sun-drenched film akin to a King Vidor western. He talks some about adapting Don Winslow's eponymous novel and making changes to it along with co-writers Winslow and Shane Salerno. Stone reveals who he originally sought to play the character of O and what happened to the casting of that central role. He also divulges another actor who showed strong interest in the project. In addition, Stone dissects the characters and his interpretations of their choices within the narrative. He shares other details about Savages that doesn't necessarily overlap with his commentary track. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Living Like Savages with Producer Moritz Borman (18:22, 1080p) - Borman articulates how he got the job on Savages and describes the various shooting locales. He recounts when he first met Oliver Stone and details their subsequent friendship. He also speaks about working with fellow producer Eric Kopeloff. More, Borman briefly talks about developing Don Winslow's novel, the casting process, DP Dan Mindel as a collaborator, and the biggest challenge he faced on the film. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Interview with Co-Editor Stuart Levy (21:12, 1080p) - Levy lays out how Stone communicates what he wants his films to feel like for him. He also explains why Stone uses multiple editors on his films. Levy remembers the point when he first joined Savages. He recollects how he incorporated Adam Peters's score in post-production. Levy reveals his favorite part of the editing process. Finally, he discusses the actors' performances in Savages. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Living Like Savages with Co-Editor Alex Márquez (20:41, 1080p) - Márquez discusses his editorial role on Any Given Sunday (1999) and working many years later with Stone on his Untold History mini-series. He recollects working first with Joe Hutshing and later Stuart Levy on Savages. Márquez describes the way Stone likes to cut his pictures together. When specifically discussing Savages, Márquez presents how he evaluated dailies and a wealth of footage from different cameras, chose the music (along with Stone), and implemented temp tracks. He gives his thoughts on the film's ending. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Living Like Savages with Producer Eric Kopeloff (28:34, 1080p) - In the disc's longest interview, Kopeloff remembers that Bryan Lourd, the CEO and co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), gave him the galleys of Winslow's Savages manuscript. Kopeloff explains his role as a producer, his working partnership with Stone, and shopping Savages to studios. He goes into length about how the crew scouted and used the locations. Kopeloff covers a lot of topics in considerable depth in less than a half hour. In English, not subtitled.

• Deleted Scenes (16:01 altogether, 1080p) - a compilation of nine excised scenes: "Chon's Childhood", "Alex & Lado chat with Elena", "Saying goodbye to Spin", "Hayes isn't picking up", "Stake out", "Elena coming north", "Elena & Magda argue" "Daria story", and "This one's for Frankie Hayes". They appear in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen and and come with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). The scenes play in succession. None of the scenes are included in the unrated version. All are interesting to see but I can see why Stone and his editors omitted them. They link thematically with the material used in both cuts but were probably deemed redundant. One scene includes a shot that, had it been used, would have diminished the suspense and surprise that was to follow. Most scenes are in English. There's some Spanish dialogue, which is accompanied by hard-coded English subs.

• Stone Cold Savages: The Making of the Film (33:53 altogether) - presented in five separate parts. Shout includes a "PLAY ALL" option.
  
  1. Origins (2:52)
  2. The Savages (6:48)
  3. Real Savagery (8:38)
  4. A Savage Set (11:26)
  5. Savage Cuts (4:07)
  

Savages 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I rate Savages higher than my colleagues do on this site. I believe it is very well shot and scored. It also features several stellar performances, including a most menacing turn by Benicio Del Toro. I take issue, though, with how Blake Lively's character is written. O is underdeveloped in certain respects, which is surprising since she's the narrator and one of the three leads. Scenes are generally constructed well but their arrangement and order in the narrative don't always work. I don't have any problems with the final section. Stone is commenting on and deconstructing cinematic tropes of the crime drama/drug cartel/modern gangster genres and playing with viewers' expectations of them.

The film looks and sounds magnificent on the 4K. It is presented pretty well on the standard Blu-ray which unfortunately lacks the Atmos due to space constrictions with having two versions. The five recent interviews with the filmmakers are all informative. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to fans of the movie.