Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 1, 2025

Harold Becker's "Sea of Love" (1989) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary by Harold Becker; new audio commentary by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson; archival program on the making of the film; deleted scenes; and vintage trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Killer tune

Frank Keller is the only character Al Pacino has played over the years that qualifies to be described as a legitimate relative of the classic film detective that ruled the great American film noirs. It is almost certainly why Pacino agreed to do him in Harold Becker’s Sea of Love. What about Vincent Hanna? He is a multitasking, very pragmatic, hard-hunting contemporary cop. It is a big difference. Keller could relocate to York, Pennsylvania, and his identity will remain unchanged. Hanna is a creature of modern-day LA, and the bad there makes him good. If Hanna is removed from his natural environment, he will instantly lose his identity. He may not even survive, because his work is his life.

In Sea of Love, Keller repeatedly makes it clear that he is fed up with his work and the craziness of New York City. But he is stuck with both. Someone has told Keller that it is time to retire, but there is nothing for him to retire for. His wife has left him and started a new life with one of his colleagues. He does not have kids. He does not even have a good friend to help him deal with his misery. If he retires, he will drink more and become a replica of his old man – a sad and worn-out loner waiting for his time to run out.

A complex murder case unexpectedly resets Keller’s life. It happens after Keller teams up with fellow detective Sherman (John Goodman) and the two begin hunting an elusive killer eliminating serial male daters. To get the killer, who they assume is a psychotic female, Keller and Sherman post a newspaper ad and go on blind dates, hoping to match their date’s fingerprints with those collected from the murder scene. During one of these blind dates, Keller meets Helen (Ellen Barkin), a sexy blonde, who rocks his world and makes him feel alive again. However, as the two begin a passionate romantic relationship, Keller becomes convinced that Helen is the elusive killer he and Sherman have been trying to catch.

Even though Richard Price’s screenplay produces several fine curveballs, it is very easy to tell that Sea of Love was conceived to impress as a zesty character study rather than a twisty whodunit. Becker directs it as one, too. This is why the greater emphasis on Keller’s transformation is impossible to miss and the resolution does not surprise. In Sea of Love, the superior mystery with the more intriguing what-if scenarios is built around Keller’s present and future. Is his transformation the biggest curveball and therefore doomed to be reversed as the killer’s identity is revealed, or is it permanent? It is unclear right until the very end.

With Keller being a noirish character and undergoing a sizable transformation, and Barkin playing a modern-day femme fatale, Sea of Love should have been more like Ridley Scott’s Someone to Watch Over Me. Seductive at first and then sizzling hot, seeking beauty in darkness and embracing the power of music. In a few areas, it seems like it wants to be, but plenty of meaningless humor effectively neutralizes this ambition. It is unfortunate because during the most intense material Pacino and Barkin share great chemistry, just like Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers do in Someone to Watch Over Me.

The supporting cast is quite impressive. Richard Jenkins is the man who has stolen Pacino’s wife. Samuel L. Jackson is a troublemaker who gets busted at a special event organized for low-IQ troublemakers with long rap sheets. Michael Rooker is another single cop whose wife has walked away from him. Patricia Barry is an older woman looking for a younger man to fall in love with. William Hickey is Pacino’s boozing old-timer. John Spencer is the senior cop who reluctantly greenlights the dating game that is supposed to reveal the killer.

Becker teamed up with Oscar-winning cinematographer Ronnie Taylor. However, Taylor’s work in Sea of Love is difficult to praise because New York City does not evolve into the great and very atmospheric cinematic playground it is in many other similarly themed films.

Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Sea of Love 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 #1-32 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #35-40 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

The combo pack introduces a new 4K makeover of Sea of Love, sourced from the original camera negative and completed on behalf of Universal. In native 4K, the 4K makeover can be viewed with Dolby Vison and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

Sea of Love made its Blu-ray debut with this release in 2012. I have it in my library and do not think that its presentation of the film is as disappointing as claimed in the past. I think that the original Blu-ray release is sourced from one of the better masters to emerge from Universal's vaults. But this is an irrelevant detail now because the new 4K makeover is a genuine stunner.

I liked everything that I saw on my system last night. From start to finish, Sea of Love sparkles and boasts the type of strong and consistent organic appearance that I always expect to see. I am not exaggerating when I write that certain parts of the film produce 'reference quality' material. (The foreplay in the grocery store is a terrific example. The dating footage from the restaurant has the same impressive quality as well). Delineation, clarity, and depth are outstanding. Yes, there are some areas with obvious density fluctuations, like the one at the very end where Al Pacino and John Goodman reunite in the bar, but they are not a byproduct of digital fumbles. Also, the new 4K makeover is beautifully graded. On my system, all primaries and supporting nuances looked fantastic. Unsurprisingly, the dynamic range of visuals -- in native 4K and 1080p -- is vastly superior to those of the previous presentation. In some areas with bring neon lighting, the difference is not just big, it is staggering. Darker areas look very good, too. The HDR grade does not produce any flatness or crushing, so even in very dark backgrounds, there is plenty to see. Fluidity is outstanding. There are no stability issues. Lastly, the entire film is spotless.

How does the new 4K makeover look in 1080p on the Blu-ray? Fantastic. I went to several daylight and indoor/nighttime sequences to do direct comparisons with the native 4K presentation, and everything looked great. I would say that in native 4K, select areas only benefit a bit from the superior encoding. So, if you like the film, do not hesitate to upgrade the original Blu-ray release even if you only play Blu-ray discs. I guarantee you will be enormously impressed with how the 4K makeover looks on the new Blu-ray included with this combo pack.

Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Most of the film I viewed with the lossless 2.0 track because the previous release had only a lossy 2.0 track. However, in some areas, I deliberately switched to the 5.1 track. I did not encounter any issues to report. Clarity, sharpness, depth, and balance were excellent. Even though there isn't any action-heavy material, dynamic intensity is very good, too.

Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director Harold Becker. As you can imagine, it produces plenty of information about the production of Sea of Love, various locations that were chosen for key sequences, the knowledgeable technical advisors that worked with Becker to ensure that all police activities were authentic, the great supporting cast that was assembled, Al Pacino's performance and its importance for the identity of the film, etc.

• Commentary Two - this new audio commentary was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. This commentary also produces a lot of information about the production of Sea of Love and its stylistic identity, the leads and their performances, the evolution of their careers, the film's reception, etc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director Harold Becker. As you can imagine, it produces plenty of information about the production of Sea of Love, various locations that were chosen for key sequences, the knowledgeable technical advisors that worked with Becker to ensure that all police activities were authentic, the great supporting cast that was assembled, Al Pacino's performance and its importance for the identity of the film, etc.

• Commentary Two - this new audio commentary was recorded by critics Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell, and Nathaniel Thompson. This commentary also produces a lot of information about the production of Sea of Love and its stylistic identity, the leads and their performances, the evolution of their careers, the film's reception, etc.

• The Creation of Sea of Love - this archival program focuses on the production of Sea of Love. It has clips from archival interviews with producer Martin Bregman and director Harold Becker discussing what they tried to accomplish with it, as well as some interesting observations about the construction of its narrative. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Deleted Scenes - presented here are several deleted scenes. A couple of them are hilarious. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is a remastered U.S. trailer for Sea of Love. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for Sea of Love. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

Sea of Love 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Harold Becker states that New York City is "very much a character" in Sea of Love. This is only partially true. It is very easy to tell where Frank Keller and his new partner are hunting for the killer, but The Big Apple is not the prominent character Becker describes. This is one of several key reasons Sea of Love does not match the visual and stylistic brilliance of Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me, which was released a couple of years earlier and carries the same neo-noirish genes. But Al Pacino's detective undergoes an interesting transformation, and Ellen Barkin gets into his head in much the same way the great femme fatales of the 1940s and 1950s would have, so Sea of Love is a nice film to see on a cold winter night. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces an outstanding new 4K makeover prepared on behalf of Universal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.