Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Long Kiss Goodnight 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 19, 2025

For such a repeatedly pilloried filmmaker, Renny Harlin has been at least relatively well served by the 4K UHD era, maybe especially recently. Lionsgate released one of its exclusive SteelBooks of Cutthroat Island 4K through Walmart last year, and the studio also perhaps somewhat less felicitously also released The Strangers: Chapter 1 4K in 2024. This year has already seen another Arrow 4K release of a Harlin film, namely Deep Blue Sea 4K (which Arrow also released in a standalone 1080 version), but reaching back further into the vestiges of time (in more ways than one with regard to at least the first of the following titles), The Legend of Hercules 4K + 3D and Cliffhanger 4K have also had 4K UHD releases. As they often tend to do with perceived "cult items", Arrow is delivering a solid package for fans of this particular Harlin title, with a new 4K scan from the original camera negative, Dolby Atmos audio, and a glut of extras, all handsomely packaged.

The Long Kiss Goodnight had a long ago 1080 release on Blu-ray disc by home studio Warner Brothers, and Ken Brown's The Long Kiss Goodnight Blu-ray review of that edition provides a great plot summary, a list of supplements (or supplement, as the case may be) and Ken's reaction to that disc's technical presentation.

The Long Kiss Goodnight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray of the main feature (the included 1080 disc is bonus features only), so these screenshots are taken from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc of the main feature, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

The Long Kiss Goodnight is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentation:

The Long Kiss Goodnight has been restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 with 5.1, 2.0 stereo and a new Dolby Atmos audio mix.

The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K / 16 bit resolution at Warner Bros. / Motion Picture Imaging. The film was restored in 4K resolution and colour graded at Duplitech.

The new restored master of The Long Kiss Goodnight has been approved by director Renny Harlin.

All materials sourced for this new mater were made available by Warner Bros.

The Atmos mix was produced by Aroow Films and completed at Deluxe Audio, London. Filmmaker Atmos review with the filmmaker was completed at Deluxe, Madrid. The stereo and 5.1 mixes were sourced from Warner Bros.

AC review was completed by Pixelogic.

Warner's original 1080 was sold old it was encoded via VC-1, and Ken wasn't especially enthused about the overall presentation. The good news is I spotted absolutely none of the issues Ken details in his analysis of the 1080 version, with nary a sign of banding, ringing, crush or other artifacting. Ken also mentioned an "oversaturated palette" in that old release, and I'd simply say in that regard that this disc's HDR / Dolby Vision grades may be offering whatever the suffusion equivalent of "hold my beer" might be, as the palette is one of the undeniable strengths of this generally very impressive looking 4K presentation. As Ken mentions, the production design offers some really bright, bold primaries, and reds and blues are spectacularly vivid throughout this presentation. I will say that some might have wanted jail suits to be a bit less red than they appear here, but so many standout moments offer significant pop that it's really hard to complain too much. Detail levels are also consistently excellent virtually the entire way through, and fine detail on "little" things like Samuel L. Jackson's tweedy cap tends to be fantastic. Some of the opticals as in the "dream sequence" early on can definitely show a downgrade in detail and an uptick in grain. I was actually very pleasantly surprised by how tightly the grain resolved throughout this presentation.

The Long Kiss Goodnight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Long Kiss Goodnight features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. Ken was maybe a bit better disposed toward the old 1080 disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, but I have to say I found both the 5.1 and especially the Atmos options on this disc to be rather nicely immersive and with at times extremely forceful punches of LFE. The Atmos track introduces verticality in a number of expected ways, including the big bombastic climax with all its explosions, but there are also some rather subtle uses, as in the early jailhouse scene where a prisoner catches sight of Samantha on television, where the clanging sound of prison bars closing wafts overhead. Outdoor scenes can offer a whirlwind of ambient environmental sounds. I tend to toggle between the audio codecs as I watch, and found all three tracks to offer their own pleasures. I noticed nothing like the weird anomaly on the Atmos track in Arrow's recent Deep Blue Sea 4K release, where the last minute or so of the soundtrack is MIA on that track, though hopefully my toggling didn't cause me to miss anything. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Long Kiss Goodnight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K UHD Disc (Feature & Extras)

• Commentaries

  Commentary by Walter Chaw

  
  

  Commentary by Joshua Conkil and Drusilla Adeline

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:33)


• Image Gallery

1080 Disc (Bonus Features)

• Girl Interrupted (HD; 16:02) is a new interview with actress Yvonne Zima.


• Symphony of Destruction (HD; 9:06) is a new interview with stunt coordinator Steve Davidson.


• Long Live the New Flesh (HD; 11:53) is a new interview with make up artist Gordon J. Smith.


• Amnesia Chick (HD; 19:32) is a new visual essay by Josh Nelson focusing on dueling identities.


• The Mirror Crack'd (HD; 38:36) is a new visual essay by Kevin Marr, Howard S. Berger and Angela McEntree centered on "domesticity and liberation".


• A Woman's World (HD; 14:20) is a new visual essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas that talks about roles for "older" women actresses.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:32) are advertised as being previously unseen in prior UK and US editions of the film.


• Promotional Interviews are archival pieces from the film's original electronic press kit.

  Renny Harlin (HD; 2:16)

  
  

  Geena Davis (HD; 1:28)

  
  

  Samuel L. Jackson (HD; 1:24)

  
  

  Craig Bierko (HD; 00:42)

• Making Of (HD; 5:53) is another archival piece.


• Behind the Scenes (HD; 8:14) offers archival candid footage.

This limited edition also features a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley, an illustrated collector's booklet featuring some interesting essays, a patently hilarious "seasonal postcard" with Samuel L. Jackson's favorite expletive, and a "thin ice" sticker in the IYKYK category. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Long Kiss Goodnight 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Once again Arrow is offering fans of a cult film (and/or cult director) a veritable smörgåsbord of solid technical merits and really appealing supplements. While Ken alluded to The Bourne Identity in his review of Warner's 1080 release, I'll joking add that Overboard also provides some curious plot similarities. Recommended.