Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Strange Days Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 14, 2011

Kathryn Bigelow's "Strange Days" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German distributors Kinowelt Home Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include trailers; cast and crew interviews; featurettes; deleted scenes; production notes; and more. In English, with optional German and German SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The issue isn't whether you are paranoid, Lenny. The issue is whether you are paranoid enough.

The main protagonist (Ralph Fiennes, The Constant Gardener, The English Patient) in Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days is an ex-cop who has become a drug dealer - only the "drugs" he deals are actually discs containing the recorded memories and sensations of different people. With a small device that was designed strictly for the FBI but has made its way to the black market, Lenny’s customers can download the content of the discs they purchase straight into their brains and for a short period of time literally become the person whose memories and sensations were recorded. Lenny’s hottest discs are from robbers and prostitutes.

Things get complicated when Lenny is handed a disc with highly controversial footage that could ignite civil war. The girl who gives him the disc is a good friend of Lenny’s ex, Faith (Juliette Lewis, Kalifornia, Natural Born Killers), a singer who is spending most of her time with an abusive producer (Michael Wincott, Dead Man, The Doors) who has become obsessed with shooting memories. Shortly after Lenny previews the disc and realizes how dangerous it is, the girl is killed.

Concerned about her safety, Lenny approaches Faith and earns himself a serious beating from the producer’s right-hand man, a former football player. His best friend, Max (Tom Sizemore, Heat, The Relic), who has started working for the producer, suggests that he forgets about Faith because she has moved on with her life and he is likely to get hurt again if he tries to get closer to her. Disillusioned but determined to protect Faith, Lenny turns for an advice to another friend, Mace (Angela Bassett, Boyz n the Hood, What's Love Got to Do with It), who makes ends meet as a limo driver.

Strange Days is one of a few 90s films that truly deserves its cult status. It tells a fascinating story and tackles a number of serious subjects with surprising for a big budget Hollywood film lack of political correctness.

Strange Days essentially recreates and blends the chic apocalyptic visuals from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner with the unsettling chaos and violence from Jean-Francois Richet’s Ma 6-T va crack-er. The result is a film with a truly unique atmosphere that is about as realistic and serious as a film about the future and virtual reality can be.

Most similarly themed films made during the late 80s and early 90s (Steve Barron’s Electric Dreams, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Iain Softley’s Hackers, Robert Longo’s Johnny Mnemonic) still look rather charming today but also notably dated. Strange Days is an exception. In fact, considering where we are today - in the midst of a global economic meltdown and used to reports about massive riots such as the one seen in the film - the majority of the predictions made in Strange Days appear to have been well researched. In other words, the film does not look odd and out of fashion at all.

Based on a screenplay by James Cameron, the film is a visual tour de force. Even by modern standards, the camerawork during the memory sequences is very impressive. (According to reports, before production began Lightstorm Entertainment designed a specific mini-35mm camera with interchangeable lenses to shoot the complicated sequences).

The film also features a top-notch soundtrack regarded by many as one of the very best done for a 90s film. The soundtrack features songs performed by Skunk Anansie, Lords of Acid, Tricky, Deep Forest, Prong, and Juliette Lewis amongst others. Trash metal legends Testament also have a short cameo in the film.

Note: In 1996, Strange Days won Saturn Awards for Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow) and Best Actress (Angela Bassett).

Strange Days Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German distributors Kinowelt Home Entertainment.

This Blu-ray release of Strange Days represents a massive upgrade in quality over the old R1 SDVD release of the film, which 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment produced in 2004 - which should not be surprising because the SDVD release was non-anamorphic and one of the most problematic in the major's catalog. Detail ranges from good to very good, with practically all of the close-ups conveying details and textures that are impossible to spot on the SDVD. Clarity is also notably better, particularly when Lenny and Mace enter the shady clubs and later on expensive hotels. The footage with the street riots/celebrations also conveys pleasing fluidity. With the exception of the "wire trips", colors are vibrant and rich.

Some mild noise corrections have been applied, but the integrity of the image is intact. In fact, because of the hand-held camera movement and restricted light (practically the entire film takes place at night), in motion the effects from the corrections are virtually impossible to spot unless one knows exactly where and when to look for them. On the other hand, there are no traces of serious secondary sharpening. Finally, the high-definition transfer is free of large specks, scratches, debris, and cuts. All in all, anyone who has seen the R1 SDVD release of Strange Days will be enormously pleased with the film's transition to Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Strange Days Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Kinowelt Home Entertainment have provided optional German and German SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

Note: Apparently, there were some issues with early copies of Strange Days, where the left and right channels were reversed. However, the German distributors have addressed the issue, and I am happy to report that my disc is perfect.

As far as I am concerned, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a good enough reason to strongly recommend purchasing the Blu-ray. There are a number of sequences in the film that simply have to be experienced - such as the one where Skunk Anansie are seen performing live - in order to grasp how massive the gap in quality between the lossy track from the SDVD and the loseless track from the Blu-ray is. Balance is also a lot more convincing, especially during the outdoor sequences. For the record, there are no problematic pops, cracks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Strange Days Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a German trailer for Strange Days. In German, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Trailer - the original English-language trailer for Strange Days. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, PAL).

• Making of - a look at the production history of Strange Days. Unfortunately, the cast and crew comments are dubbed in German. Not subtitled. (24 min, PAL).

• Featurette - a very informative featurette focusing on the visual and audio effects, camerawork, and choreography in Strange Days. With commentary by Kathryn Bigelow and producer Steven-Charles Jaffe (Near Dark). In English and German, with optional German subtitled. Not subtitled. (60 min, PAL).

• Featurette - another informative featurette focusing on the visual effects in Strange Days. With commentary by visual effects digital artists Jim Hillin and Allen Cappuccilli. In English, with optional German subtitles. (11 min, PAL).

• Deleted Scenes - two deleted/extended scenes. In English, with optional German subtitles.
  
  -- "Boosting the Gain" (5 min, PAL).
  -- "Into the Bonaventure" (2 min, PAL).

• Music Video - Skunk Anansie's "Selling Jesus". (4 min, PAL).

• Interviews - a gallery of short interviews with:
  
  -- Ralph Fiennes (3 min, PAL).
  -- Angela Bassett (2 min, PAL).
  -- Juliette Lewis (1 min, PAL).
  -- Tom Sizemore (1 min, PAL).
  -- Kathryn Bigelow (4 min, PAL).
  -- James Cameron (2 min, PAL).
  -- Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe (3 min, PAL).
  -- Production designer Lilly Kilvert (7 min, PAL).
  -- Text-format interview with Kathryn Bigelow (1080p).
  
  All interviews, with the exception of the archival text-format interview with Kathryn Bigelow, are in English with optional German subtitles.

• Photo Gallery - a gallery of stills from the film. (1080p).

• Production Notes - text-format production notes in German. (1080p).

• Squid - text-format production notes, in German, about the mini device Lenny and his customers use. (1080p).

• BD Live Functionality -

• Trailers - trailers for other Kinowelt Home Entertainment releases.

Strange Days Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days is a truly original and visionary film, one of the very best to be produced during the early 90s. Unfortunately, it was not treated with much respect when it arrived on SDVD in North America (it remained one of the few early 20th Century Fox films that never received anamorphic treatment) and currently it is only available on Blu-ray in Germany. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Kinowelt Home Entertainment, represents massive upgrade in quality over the old R1 SDVD release. It also contains plenty of interesting supplemental features. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.