The Cure Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Cure Blu-ray Movie Review

Take a different journey...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 5, 2023

Oh man, oh man. I get to review The Cure, the divisive 1997 Japanese horror cult classic that anyone who enjoys a serious creep-out should watch post haste. Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa has a real eye for genre-twisting scares and unsettling suspense that... what? Wait. Seriously? Sigh. Ok. The Cure, a saccharine 1995 semi-coming-of-age, AIDS prejudice melodrama from Thirtysomething actor Peter Horton (directing his first feature film), arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of stick-it-on-a-disc-and-release-it Mill Creek Entertainment. To the rabid delight of all The Cure fans out there. You are out there, aren't you? Perhaps those steeped in '90s schlock, who love a good ol' dated tearjerker with a heart of gold, will find something to tap their nostalgia here. But this is a film that should have been left in 1995. It's an admitted bit of fun seeing a familiar face or two -- it's Timmy from Jurassic Park! -- but there's little else to The Cure that has much dramatic power outside of its fading era, long past.

One summer, two boys went in search of a dream and found the friendship of a lifetime. Joseph Mazzello and Brad Renfro star in this heartwarming adventure story filled with laughter, compassion and the enduring power of hope. New to a quaint, riverside community, eleven-year- old Dexter (Mazzello) and his single mom (Mommy Dearest's Diana Scarwid) are quickly shunned when the townsfolk discover the boy has AIDS. Next door lives Erik (Renfro), a lonely latchkey bully who surprisingly initiates a friendship. But trouble soon finds the two-some after they read a tabloid that suggests a New Orleans doctor has a cure. Determined to find him, the boys set off along the mighty Mississippi, by raft, boat, bus and foot, giving Dexter a chance to experience life as it should be lived, changing both boys’ lives forever.

The Cure wears its super-loose 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Huck Finn' adaptation badge proudly, leaning further and further into the Tom-and-Huck schtick as the boys travel parallel to the Mississippi. It's short lived and largely unsuccessful, though, and the adventure falls flat and any laughs rarely land. Still, there is something to Mazzello and Renfro's performances. The boys have palpable budding best-friend energy and screen chemistry that lifts the film above its subpar screenplay. The dialogue fails the young actors, even though they do their best with some chewy mouthfuls. And the episodic encounters don't help, particularly the baddies who give chase. Thankfully, the heart of the film remains true throughout, even when things get ultra-weepy, and you can feel the genuine desire of the filmmakers to craft a moving story that has something to say about one of the challenges of the day: embracing, rather than rejecting, those suffering with AIDS. As an unintended metaphor for LGBTQ persecution, it almost works today. Despite the struggles being too different to draw too much of a comparison. Alas, people are people, and humans love to shun anything that poses a threat to their comfort. As a cautionary tale about tribalism, The Cure almost works. Even if it gets bogged down in tonal shifts that prevent the film from coming together by story's end. This is preachy melodrama, even if you agree with the sermon, and it doesn't earn its emotional payouts and payoffs. If any remain.

The Cure Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of The Cure features an issue-riddled 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that doesn't just resemble an upscaled DVD, it sometimes looks exactly like an upscaled DVD. Any one problem wouldn't necessarily warrant much of a complaint but, taken together as a whole, it amounts to a haphazard presentation. Artifacting, banding, blocking, pixelation, clarity inconsistencies, artificial sharpening halos circa the early days of Blu-ray, and other unsightly anomalies are apparent throughout, particularly at night or in scenes with lower lighting. Mill Creek, utilizing a dated Universal master, hasn't put a lot of work -- if any -- into updating or remastering the image, meaning the Blu-ray bests its DVD predecessor only by high definition default, and doesn't accomplish much more. Crush is also an issue, hindering delineation and shadow detail, making for a widespread range of ugly little beasties that don't belong in a modern catalog release. Colors are decent on the whole, primaries occasionally punch (especially in sunlit exteriors where greens and other earthy hues have room to dominate), contrast is merely ok, and black levels often hover closer to dark charcoal. Skintones are all over the place; sometimes lifelike, sometimes pinkish and red, sometimes too warm, sometimes too cold. Detail is solid I suppose, delivering a small upgrade from previous releases (mainly in close-ups). Textures are reasonably resolved and there's enough here to warrant some faint praise. On the whole, though, The Cure's high definition debut is a mess. Approach with caution.

The Cure Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Despite the fact that the Blu-ray release of The Cure only offers a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, the experience is actually quite pleasant. Even without rear speaker or LFE support, the two-channel mix has a lot to offer, including clean, nicely prioritized voices, convincing environmental soundscape elements (wind, rusting leaves and babbling water are a relaxing treat), and music never under or overwhelms. Dated? Yes. But as a track that's faithful to the original sound design, it does its job and does it well. Weirdly, or perhaps fittingly, The Cure's stereo track is the highlight of the disc.

The Cure Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release of The Cure doesn't include any special features. Great retro cover design, though, with the illusion of a VHS tape sliding out of its case. More of these please!

The Cure Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Is there room in this cold, culturally divided world for a tearjerking '90s melodrama with a message for people living in 1995? Sure, why not. But The Cure is for a very select group of people who discovered in 1995, probably at a young age, and have loved it ever since. There's not a lot here for the first-time modern filmfan, other than that sweet air of nostalgia that some breathe in and out, over and over again, with real throwback pleasure. The message at its core is sound -- stop judging, start loving, stop fearing what's different than you -- but this is an early incarnation of a powerful anthem that appears in dozens, if not hundreds, of better films that are more effective. And without its central message, there isn't more to The Cure other than a semi-cute failure of the loosest of loose Mark Twain adaptations. Mill Creek's Blu-ray doesn't fare much better, no thanks to an extremely problematic video transfer minted from an outdated master and a lack of special features. The disc's lossless stereo track does its best to make up for the various issues but can only do so much. Skip the Blu-ray release of The Cure unless you have such love for the film you can forgive any oversight.