The Stuff 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Stuff 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 7, 2025

Arrow released its 1080 version of The Stuff way back in 2016, which may subliminally suggest that rampant consumerism continues unabated and apace, since almost a decade later, Larry Cohen's acerbic takedown of so-called "consumer culture" is being revisited in this new 4K edition. Arrow has ported over almost all of the supplements from their older release, and have added some new ones into the mix. Making this new release even more "must have" for ardent spendaholics is the fact that Arrow has included a second (1080) disc with a really interesting pre-release cut of the film that has quite a bit of new/different footage and a completely different score.

As mentioned above, Arrow released The Stuff in 1080 almost a decade ago. Those interested can read my The Stuff Blu-ray review for a bit of plot information, a list of supplements on that disc, and my reaction to the technical presentation.

The Stuff 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray of the release version of the film, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate, and I recommend those interested to look at some of the screenshots in our old The Stuff Blu-ray review , despite its slight misframing (see below) for a probably better representation of the palette. The 1080 score above refers to the video quality of the pre- release version offered on the 1080 disc in this set.

The Stuff is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentations:

The Stuff has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and original mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16 bit at Fotokem. The film was restored in 4K and graded in SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision at Dragon Post.

The materials sourced for this new master were made available by Lakeshore Entertainment.

A 35mm print of the pre-release version of The Stuff was made available by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive.

In the admitted minutiae department, I'll just point out that this release corrects the very slight misframing of Arrows US and UK 1080 releases, which were in 1.83:1. It's kind of interesting to contrast and compare the comments in Arrow's 1080 and 4K UHD booklets about the relative transfers, since there's no mention in this booklet of what might be termed "grain management" (see my original 1080 review for more information). And this is often a very grainy looking presentation, though as with the previous 1080 version, grain structure, densities and color temperature are all at least a bit variable at times, with my brief addendum that I'd probably put varying grain thicknesses and resolution at the head of that list. While detail levels see at least marginal improvements when compared to the older 1080 release, once again to my eyes at least it was the added punch that the HDR / Dolby Vision grades gave to things that set this apart from the previous version. The palette here is almost pastel a lot of the time, but both the fluorescent pinks and purples of The Stuff's packaging as well as other tones like the bright yellow uniforms the factory workers wear can reveal better highlights in this version. My 4K score is 4.25.

The Stuff 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This new 4K disc sports an LPCM 2.0 Mono track in place of the old 1080 discs standard LPCM Mono track, though I frankly would be hard pressed to document any real difference between the two. The track is surprisingly forceful at times, offering some great "gloopy" (that's a word, right?) effects when the titular material starts wreaking havoc. Dialogue is also rendered very cleanly, and is well prioritized even in some more chaotic quasi-horror moments. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there's no damage of any kind to report. Optional English subtitles are available.

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

Note: Supplements not previously included on Arrow's old 1080 release are indicated by an asterisk (*).

4K UHD Disc

• Commentaries

Audio Commentary by writers and critics David Flint and Adrian Smith*




Archival Commentary by writer / director Larry Cohen*




Can't Get Enough of the Stuff: Making Larry Cohen's Classic Creature Feature (HD; 52:10) is a great retrospective, featuring good interviews with Cohen and others involved in the production.




Enough is Never Enough* (HD; 16:44) is "newly edited" and features previously unseen interviews with Larry Cohen and producer Paul Kurta, originally shot for the 2017 documentary King Cohen.




42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street* (HD; 1:21:45) is a fascinating time capsule of what midtown Manhattan used to be like, and includes interviews with Cohen and a number of others.




Original Trailer (HD; 1:34)




Alternate Trailer (HD; 1:10)




TV Spot (HD; 00:31)




Arrow Trailer (HD; 1:33)




King Cohen Trailer (HD; 2:39)




Image Gallery (HD)

1080 Disc

• Pre-release Version (HD; 1:58:49) offers an early cut of the film featuring 30 minutes of additional footage and a different music score. Audio is LPCM Mono.

This Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and a nicely appointed insert booklet with two fun essays. Packaging features a slipcover.

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

Hey, you probably wouldn't be on this site if you didn't at least occasionally buy discs, so vis a vis "consumer culture", what are you waiting for? Joking aside, this new 4K edition sports generally solid technical merits and a really outstanding array of supplements. Recommended.