Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The Doom Generation 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 17, 2024

Gregg Araki's "The Doom Generation" (1995) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival audio commentary recorded by Gregg Araki, Rose McGowan, James Duval, and Johnathon Schaech; comic book program; and trailers. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Hellbound

What would be your reaction if you visited a gas station, a fast food joint, and a thrift store, purchased something, and each time were asked to pay $6.66? It’s a coincidence, so it’s not a big deal? Fine. What if the same thing happened several more times? What are you thinking now? You are asleep and moving through a most bizarre dream. You are not in a dream and your tired mind is playing tricks on you. You are fully awake, and your mind is not playing tricks on you, but you have entered a place you need to exit as soon as possible because you can recognize red flags and 666 is an unmissable one. Or, are you thinking at all?

If you are not, you are probably moving through life a lot like the three protagonists of Gregg Araki’s film The Doom Generation. You are part of reality, you interact with reality, but you do not register all the bad in it that can take you out of it. Permanently, too. No, your mind does not have to be a superstitious radar that never takes a break, but it must be tuned in the right frequency so that you can make smart choices. If your mind is always tuned in some odd frequency, it is very likely that you will end up in a very odd place, too.

After teen lovers Jordan White (James Duval) and Amy Blue (Rose McGowan) pick up the slightly older drifter Xavier Red (Johnathon Schaech) at a party, they floor their stolen car and get on Highway 666. They stay in the fast lane, too. Their final destination is a familiar one, but they recognize it only after several neo-Nazis corner them in a hangar hundreds of miles away from the nearest city. It is here that their minds finally begin tuning in the right frequency.

The Doom Generation is a good old-fashioned exploitation film that works with the same blueprint cult gems like The Honeymoon Killers and The Boys Next Door do. Obviously, it goes much further because it comes from a different decade, but virtually everything that shapes its identity is ornamentation work, not original material altering the blueprint. For this exact reason, it is a very close relative of the other such film that emerged a year before it, Natural Born Killerst.

So, if these films are so similar and predictable, why do they keep getting made? Is there something of value in them?

They keep getting made for the same reason other genre films are remade. However, the good exploitation films of this kind usually channel energy that tends to be unique to their era, plus they incorporate interesting footage that can make them effective time capsules. The more recent ones have a special appreciation of different types of music.

The Doom Generation, like Natural Born Killers, has unmissable MTV genes, so it is a fine time capsule. However, unlike conventional time capsules, it has preserved a slice of the artificial glam reality MTV sold to American teenagers during the 1990s. Because this reality was very susceptive to manipulation, Araki’s version of it is heavily manipulated as well. This is what makes it a different film.

Even though The Doom Generation was Araki’s fifth feature film, it was his first proper big film shot in 35mm. It was lensed by Jim Fealy, who had done only a couple of music videos.

The soundtrack is yet another hugely impressive collection of tunes from various industrial rock and electronica legends such as Front 242 (“Religion”), Nine Inch Nails (“Heresy”), Meat Beat Manifesto (“Paradise Now”), Aphex Twin (“On”), and Coil (“First Dark Ride”). Before White, Blue, and Red get hit the road, the guys from Skinny Puppy step in front of Araki’s camera, too.

The Doom Generation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of The Doom Generation is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray disc is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray disc is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this release were 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.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this release:

"These new restorations of the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy were supervised and approved by director Gregg Araki. The 4K restoration of The Doom Generation was created from the 35mm interpositive, with a 35mm answer print used for some scenes. The original 5.1 surround soundtracks were remastered from the original magnetic tracks.

Colorist: Gregg Garwin, Roundabout Entertainment, Burbank, CA.
Image restoration: Roundabout Entertainment.
Restoration postproduction supervisor: Beau J. Genot.
Audio restoration: Trip Brock/Monkeyland Audio, Los Angeles."

I viewed the entire film in native 4K and later spent time with the 1080p presentation. In native 4K, the new 4K makeover cannot be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades.

The overall quality of the visuals is very good. However, it is a notch below that of Nowhere, which freqeuntly becomes a visual stunner. For example, several darker areas reveal obvious fluctuations that affect the density, delineation, and depth of the visuals. Some background information with different ranges of darker nuances can appear a bit uneven as well. Elsewhere, it is easy to tell that different subtle nuance can be better. Despite some minor fluctuations, highlights are managed well. There are no traces of problematic degrading corrections. Grain exposure is very good, though I would not describe as optimally even, which is to be expected given the nature of the 4K makeover. Color balance is stable. However, in a couple of areas, blues could have been set better. Finally, I noticed several tiny black marks and nicks.

On my system, the 1080p presentation made some transitions where it is pretty easy to tell that material comes from the 35mm answer print a bit more obvious. In native 4K, the same areas look tighter and transitions are more even. However, the impact on delineation, clarity, and depth is minimal.

The Doom Generation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I did not encounter any anomalies to report in our review. All exchanges are clear, stable, and easy to follow. However, there is some unevenness, usually during some of the wilder action footage. Dynamic intensity is decent. However, the diverse music does not create truly great dynamic contrasts. In Nowhere, there is plenty more to like.

The Doom Generation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Gregg Araki, Rose McGowan, James Duval, and Johnathon Schaech. It is one giant trip down memory lane, with seemingly endless recollections about the filming of different sequence at interesting locations and the reasons they were chosen. There are plenty of jokes targeting the silly, the ridiculous, and the disturbing. The commentary was recorded in 2011. McGowan also recalls how The Doom Generation was greeted at the Sundance Film Festival and somewhere in Spain.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Gregg Araki, Rose McGowan, James Duval, and Johnathon Schaech. It is one giant trip down memory lane, with seemingly endless recollections about the filming of different sequence at interesting locations and the reasons they were chosen. There are plenty of jokes targeting the silly, the ridiculous, and the disturbing. The commentary was recorded in 2011. McGowan also recalls how The Doom Generation was greeted at the Sundance Film Festival and somewhere in Spain.

• The Doom Generation Comic Book - presented here is a side-by-side comparison between the video comic book and segments from the film. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Trailers - presented here are three remastered trailers for Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Booklet - 34-page illustrated booklet featuring writings on the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy and technical credits. In English, not subtitled. (31 min).

The Doom Generation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All films like The Doom Generation are conceived with the same blueprint, which ensures that they are cinematic kamikazes. The best of them channel special, often dangerous kinetic energy and become memorable but usually unconventional time capsules. The Doom Generation was Gregg Araki's first big film. It is a bit rough but has good style and the proper attitude to be a fine cinematic kamikaze. It is included in this three-disc 4K Blu-ray box set. An identical three-disc Blu-ray box set is available here as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.