The Gift 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Gift 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Sam Raimi's tenth directorial feature The Gift (2000) has received its first release in North America on both 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory. My colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov wrote about the film as part of a Blu-ray review for Via Vision Entertainment's limited edition, which includes his evaluation of that disc's a/v presentations and a nice set of supplements.

Annie has visions.

The Gift 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream's "Collector's Edition" of The Gift has arrived in a 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray combo, which comes with a slipcover and identical artwork on the case. The transfers on the 2160p and 1080p are based on a 4K restoration from the film's 35 mm interpositive. The picture appears in The Gift's native aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). According to American Cinematographer (AC), Raimi's movie was shot on two Eastman Kodak cameras: Vision 200T 5274 and Vision 500T 5279. Anderson told writer Jay Holben in a December 2000 issue of AC that he used the 5274 for most of the day exteriors as well as the day and night interiors because it renders a "smooth palette, fine grain and amazing latitude." The 4K transfer on the UHD largely replicates these attributes and the Blu-ray also does for the most part. The Gift frequently takes places in the porch of Annie Wilson's (Cate Blanchett) home where she gives psychic readings to her clients. Anderson said he lit those scenes nearly entirely through the windows, which imbues the room and characters with a "subdued warmth" that's not overly bright. The light levels look accurate on these discs. The HDR delivers nice highlights around the actors. Much of The Gift was shot in night conditions with lots of Spanish moss and cypress trees. Anderson gave the rural scenes a "slightly bluish night look." These are reflected in shots showing the misty pond where the Barksdales live. All of the transfers I watched have primarily blue and gray hues for outdoor evening shots.

In preparation for this review, I watched Paramount's 2001 DVD, which features a progressive transfer. I upscaled the native 480p to 720p on my Sony Blu-ray player. This was a decent effort for Paramount at the time. But there are are instances of periodic dirt that pop up and two stretches where I noticed video noise. But overall, a pretty good transfer for early 2000s. I have included ten screen captures comparing the R1 DVD with Imprint's Blu-ray and Scream's two transfers using identical shots. Via Vision's transfer is a 2K scan of Paramount's SD master. It's by far the darkest of the transfers. You'll also notice that the Imprint may have had some filtering and post-processing done to try to clean up the image. Colors look paler.

Scream's transfers appear the most organic and natural. Dirt has been removed. Contrast is significantly improved. While examining Scream's UHD with its BD counterpart, faces are clearer and more detailed. For instance, in an extreme long shot of Annie's boys, I could pick out facial features better on the 4K than I could on the 1080p (even when upscaling the image to 4K on my Panasonic UHD player).

The Gift on a BD-100. The video boasts a mean video bitrate of 85.0 Mbps with an overall bitrate of 95.5 Mbps for the full disc. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 carries an average video bitrate of 34993 kbps. (By comparison, Via Vision's video encode averages 32902 kbps.) The standard twelve scene selections accompany the 102-minute feature on both discs.

Screenshot #s 1-10, 14, 18, 22, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, & 40 = Scream Factory 4K Ultra HD BD-100 (downscaled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37, & 39 = Paramount Home Entertainment 2001 DVD
Screenshot #s 12, 16, 20, 24, & 28 = Via Vision Entertainment (Imprint) 2021 BD-50
Screenshot #s 13, 17, 21, 25, & 29 = Scream Factory 2024 BD-50 (from a 4K restoration)

Scream's regular twelve chapter selections are incorporated on its two discs for the 102-minute feature. (Paramount's DVD has a whopping forty-six chapters.)

The Gift 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream has supplied three audio track options to watch The Gift with on UHD and the Blu-rays (in addition to two new commentaries): a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (1972 kbps, 24-bit), a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (1559 kbps, 24-bit), and an isolated music and effects tracks, which is encoded as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo mix (1970 kbps, 24-bit). The bitrates are identical on both discs. The 5.1 surround track is based on Paramount's 2001 Dolby Digital AC-3 mix (448 kbps, 48.0 kHz). The Georgia accents spoken by the actors come through clearly and distinctly on Scream's 5.1 mix. I compared dialogue at similar listening volumes on Scream's 5.1, Via Vision's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track (4204 kbps, 24-bit), and Paramount's DD 5.1. Dialogue is mixed higher and sounds louder on the 4K and Blu-rays compared to Paramount's lossy track. Satellite speakers are utilized for insect and frog f/x. High bass levels occur when Annie dreams and experiences some of her visions. The .LFE comes to life during jump scares and when an Omega watch ticks like an amplified heartbeat.

Note: Oddly, I couldn't hear discrete f/x on my SL and SR that well when my Sony receiver was set to the Dolby Surround (DSUR) field. So, I switched to Neural-X (NEURAL-X) mode and that helped to open up the field while listening to the Blu-rays. (The DVD sounded like a true 5.1 using DSUR so no adjustment was needed.)

Each Christopher Young score sounds different than what precedes or follows and The Gift is another example of the composer's versatility. Young chose an array of Southern-sounding instruments seldom used to score films. In a new interview with Justin Beahm on Disc Two, he mentions an auto-harp, steel-string Irish harp, and dulcimer. Young sampled and strummed several instruments. His score for The Gift is bookend by melodic and tonal music representing Annie, her boys, and the memory of a loved one. The music in between is much more dissonant because it underscores literal and figurative darkness, both in atmosphere and the character of Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves).

Arguably the best music got left out of the movie altogether. Chris Young recorded a long cue titled "Empathy" on a promotional album ("For your consideration") and Lakeshore Records' score album. The first two minutes and twenty seconds were not used in the film. Low strings and a country fiddle play The Gift's main theme. The fiddle ascends to a very high pitch to the accompaniment of rising strings; strings swell and play in counterpoint. This is used in variation in a couple places in the film but we don't hear any of the long-held notes or crescendos.

The optional English SDH for the feature are complete and accurate.

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

Arrow Video, Shout! Studios, and Reverend Entertainment teamed to produce three recent interviews with The Gift's crew members. In addition, two new commentaries have been recorded. Scream Factory has licensed all of Paramount's EPK materials and put them on the second disc. Most of those were included on Imprint's Blu-ray. Please consult Svet's review for synopses of the vintage extras.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD

• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Critic Meagan Navarro - this is primarily a scene-by-scene commentary with Navarro delivering her readings and interpretations of the onscreen action. She also makes references to Raimi's other films where she feels they're needed. The best part of Navarro's commentary is her take on The Gift's climax and its aftermath. Navarro reads from prepared notes but it became distracting when I could hear paper crackling as she flips the papers over. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson - a great commentary full of breadth and depth about The Gift and its creators. Heller-Nicholas and Nelson share their initial memories of the film, the cast, and Billy Bob Thornton's involvement in its genesis. They deliver a sociocultural critique of violence portrayed in the film and beyond (including a number of genre films). Their discussion of the historical portrayals of spiritualists/witches provides some extratextual background. Unlike Navarro's track, this one is not often screen specific. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Critic Meagan Navarro - see above for details.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Film Critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson - see above for details.

• NEW Savage Waters: Editors Arthur Coburn & Bob Murawski on The Gift (12:55, 1080p) - Co-editors Coburn and Murawski are interviewed in separate locales for this program. Murawski delves into Raimi's process for editing his films and The Gift's visual motifs, which he identified to helped the editors cut the picture. Especially interesting is Murawski explaining the temporary scores he and Coburn inserted into early cuts of The Gift. Coburn's comments are briefer. Murawski is quite detailed. Both editors speak in English, not subtitled.

• NEW Southern Gothic: Composer Christopher Young on The Gift (2024) (8:07, 1080p) - this recent interview has Young explaining how he came on board to score The Gift, his prior aspirations to work with Raimi, the discussions he had with Raimi on scoring certain scenes, and some of the unconventional instruments he chose. In English, not subtitled. Note: this is a different interview with Young than the ten-minute remote interview Daniel Griffith conducted with the composer for the Via Vision disc. The Imprint interview covers a few more topics.

• NEW Haunting Visions: Actor Chelcie Ross on The Gift (6:40, 1080p) - this recent interview with the veteran actor covers the script and a fairly detailed discussion of Kenneth King's scenes. Ross also talks about working with Katie Holmes, Cate Blanchett, and Keanu Reeves (who he's collaborated with on multiple films). In English, not subtitled.

• Original EPK Featurette (7:20, 480i)

• Sam Raimi about the Cast (5:16, 480i)

• The Cast about Sam Raimi (3:39, 480i)

• World Premiere (4:45, 480i)

• Cate Blanchett Interview (3:39, 480i)

• Keanu Reeves Interview (2:42, 480i)

• Giovanni Ribisi Interview (2:19, 480i)

• Sam Raimi Interview (5:58, 480i)

• US TV Spots (1:49, 480i) - four spots presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen and with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (224 kbps).

• UK TV Spots (1:25, 480i) - three spots presented in letterboxed 1.85:1 and with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps).

• UK Radio Spots (0:25) - two spots.

• "The Gift: A Look Inside" - Cast & Crew Interviews (10:43, 1080i)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:21, upconverted to 1080p) - an unrestored theatrical trailer for The Gift, which appears in 1.78:1 16x9 widescreen and with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps). This is sourced from Paramount's 2006 R1 DVD.

• Neko Case & Her Boyfriends: "Furnace Room Lullaby" (2:54, 480i) - a music video letterboxed with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (192 kbps).

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

Sam Raimi has worked in many genres and The Gift is illustrative of his versatility. His prior background in horror is a major asset here. Cate Blanchett is totally convincing (as she is in every role), and the supporting ensemble is uniformly excellent. Scream Factory's 4K restoration on the two discs looks night and day compared to not only Paramount's DVD, but the Via Vision Blu-ray as well. Fans of the film may want to own the latter to hear the exclusive commentary track with film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth as well as the Chris Young interview, which is different from the one in this set. One quibble is that the technical authors on the Scream discs could have been given the DTS-HD MA 5.1 a maxed-out bitrate like Via Vision did for the Imprint disc. The two recent commentaries on the Scream discs are complementary with the Heller-Nicholas/Nelson track a must listen. I would anticipate Arrow Video UK's forthcoming 4K and Blu-ray editions to have similar encodes and bitrates as Scream's. Arrow will have an exclusive booklet. The film and this two-disc set are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!