8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor - leaving few survivors.
Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin SpaceyCrime | 100% |
Drama | 62% |
Thriller | 45% |
Psychological thriller | 33% |
Heist | 32% |
Film-Noir | 23% |
Mystery | 23% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects" (1995) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new program with Newton Thomas Sigel; archival cast and crew interviews; deleted scenes; gag reel; vintage promotional materials for the fim; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Kino Lorber's release of The Usual Suspects 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 some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.
Screencaptures #1-29 are from the Director's Cut of The Usual Suspects Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #30-40 are from the Theatrical Cut of The Usual Suspects 4K Blu-ray.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
I viewed the entire film with Dolby Vision. On the following night, I viewed virtually the entire film again on Blu-ray, while taking notes and preparing this article. So, I know exactly how various sections of the film look in native 4K and 1080p, and what type of discrepancies exist between the two presentations.
The release is sourced from an exclusive new master that was color-graded and approved by cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. Unfortunately, I have to say that the 4K makeover is as underwhelming as the one that was prepared for Out of Sight. Why? Because the 4K scan was clearly done right and the ungraded files are terrific, but the color balance on the 4K master is very unconvincing. To be perfectly honest, I do not know why Mr. Sigel would have approved what is on the master and I suspect that he was seeing something else, but I want to carefully describe what I see and think is quite problematic. Blue as a primary color is destabilized and essentially replaced with variations of cyan in numerous areas throughout the film. In some of these areas, the variations of cyan that emerge are so garish that they give the visuals a digital video quality. The first obvious example is in the sequence where Kevin Pollak's character is picked up (see screencapture #9). After that, there are numerous smaller and bigger examples where blue as a primary color, as a supporting color, and even other primaries are off balance as well. The most striking example is during the meeting in the building in downtown LA (see screencapture #3). I found this development very distracting because in certain areas the color temperature of the visuals quite simply isn't right. Delineation, clarity, sharpness, and depth can appear outstanding, but the most striking visuals are typically the ones where the new color temperature is very close to the old color temperature of the film. I think that in some darker areas the Dolby Vision grade helps quite a bit to rebalance some of the color anomalies, but the overall appearance of these visuals remains unconvincing. Fluidity is exceptional, so on a larger screen all visuals look pretty incredible. Image stability is terrific as well. There are no digital anomalies to report. All in all, I think that the new 4K makeover is a missed opportunity to deliver a definitive home video release of The Usual Suspects. (Note: This is a Region-Free release).
BLU-RAY DISC
In the areas that I examined very closely, I thought that the basic qualities of the 1080p presentation were very similar to those of the native 4K presentation. Darker areas, in particular, looked very strong. Fluidity was just as impressive and on a larger screen the difference in quality is minimal at best. Unfortunately, in 1080p the garish cyan produces much more distracting spikes in the color temperature of the visuals. (The Dolby Vision grade tones them down a bit). In some areas, it begins to look like other primaries have inconsistent saturation levels, though I suspect that these are all fluctuations that are in one way or another related to the destabilizing of the blue(s). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I viewed the entire film with the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and thought the lossless track was outstanding. To be honest, I cannot identify any areas where meaningful improvements could have been made with a new mix/track. Clarity, sharpness, depth, and overall balance were outstanding. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
I cannot write that I was impressed with the 4K makeover of The Usual Suspects. In this film, color and light interact in some very particular ways to create a unique ambience, so they have to be reproduced perfectly, but after the 4K makeover color balance is very clearly off. For example, there is a lot of contemporary garish cyan that either destabilizes or replaces ranges of native blues and hurts the film's noirish personality. This is unfortunate because the raw 4K files are of exceptionally high quality. Kino Lorber's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo release features a nice exclusive new program with cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, who apparently approved the 4K makeover.
1995
DVD Packaging
1995
Limited Edition | Photo Book
1995
MGM 90th Anniversary Edition
1995
VUDU Offer
1995
20th Anniversary Edition
1995
20th Anniversary Edition
1995
1995
1995
1995
2014
2006
Se7en
1995
2006
2002
2007
10th Anniversary Special Edition
2000
1997
2008
2007
Director's Definitive Edition | Ultimate Collector's Edition
1995
2011
2007
1990
1990
2011
2006
Unrated Director's Cut
1992
2010
2009