Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 15, 2025

David Lynch's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (1992) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include a collection of deleted scenes assembled by director David Lynch; archival programs with Sheryl Lee and composer Angelo Badalamenti; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, the prequel to the famous TV series, is arguably the director's most vulnerable film. It is too serious, too dark, too complex, too much everything. In other words, it is absolutely overwhelming, and, frankly, quite difficult to endure.

FBI Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) sends two agents (Chris Isaak, Kiefer Sutherland, Flatliners) to Wind River, Washington to investigate the death of Teresa Banks (Pamela Gidley, Liebestraum). They begin sniffing around and quickly realize that the nearby town, Twin Peaks, has a dark secret. Eventually, both of them disappear.

Far and away from the scene, Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, Showgirls) encounters Agent Jeffries (David Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth), who is supposedly dead. Agent Jeffries has an interesting message for Agent Cooper - which introduces him to the Red Room, the Man From Another Planet, and a whole bunch of other fascinating characters and things.

Meanwhile, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee, Notes from Underground), who lives in Twin Peaks, begins to lose her mind - perhaps because of the hard drugs she regularly takes, perhaps because of the constant sexual abuse courtesy of her father's (Ray Wise, Closing the Deal) alter ego, Bob (Frank Silva), which she is forced to endure. Her best friend, Donna (Moira Kelly, Little Odessa), tries to help her but fails.

Things get really bizarre when Laura's father accidentally discovers that she has been having sex with strangers to support her drug habit. Consumed by anger and a great dose of lust, he permanently becomes Bob, and all hell breaks loose.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a dark and exceptionally disturbing film, populated with some of the most vicious characters Lynch's mind has produced during the years. It is true that some of the violence in it is borderline cartoonish, hence there are a few genuinely hilarious scenes, but the rest is downright ugly.

Unlike the TV series, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me feels rather chaotic -- there isn't enough time to get to know all of the key characters, and the all-important symbolic scenes that reveal so much about them are not as effective; they look and feel awkward, creating more confusion rather than bringing clarity.

The TV series had a strong cyclic structure - the various scattered pieces in it were put together in well-conceived large cycles, which, among other things, gave meaning to the strong sex and violence. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is too short to sustain a similar cyclic structure, which is why it resembles an intense set of hallucinations that have common characters but not a common message.

Still, there is no other director who knows how to mix the beautiful with the ugly and present it to us with style as well as Lynch does. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a genuinely unsettling but fascinating film to behold, and a litmus test of sorts for those who like their films raw and uncompromising.

*In 1992, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are 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.

In 2014, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was fully restored in 4K under the supervision of David Lynch. A few years later, the 4K restoration was then made available on Blu-ray by Criterion. This combo pack release offers a native 4K presentation of the same 4K restoration. The 4K presentation is not graded with Dolby Vision or HDR.

If you are a fan of Lynch's work, you already have in your library the Blu-ray release linked above, and you know that the 4K restoration of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is outstanding. So, now, you are wondering how it looks in native 4K, and whether you should consider an upgrade.

Your decision whether to upgrade or consider the previous Blu-ray release the definitive home video release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me should be determined by a single factor, which is the size of your screen. If your screen is not very big, meaning over 80" and up, the native 4K presentation is very unlikely to impress you as an upgrade. To be clear, it will produce beautiful visuals that will look great on your screen, but they will look very similar and, in many places, virtually identical to the visuals that your Blu-ray release produces. The higher resolution and stronger encoding help some darker areas, like the footage from the club, look tighter, but this is not going to be enough to impress you. What happens if you have a very large screen or project? I am fairly certain you will begin noticing that there is a greater consistency in the strength of the visuals, both during daylight outdoor footage and darker indoor and nighttime footage. Many close-ups can look outstanding, too. Then again, different systems are calibrated (or not) differently, so some of them will display the same areas differently. The bottom line is, the 4K restoration is done right and presented very well on Blu-ray, so there is not a lot that the 4K Blu-ray can improve in areas that make a native 4K presentation more convincing and attractive.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Like the previous Blu-ray release, the 4K Blu-ray release does not have chapters, so keep this in mind when viewing Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me in native 4K.

I have viewed Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me with both tracks, and they are excellent. However, sound has a tremendous role in David Lynch's work, and the 7.1 track was created under his supervision, likely to capture his final preference(s) on how the film should be experienced. The 7.1 track is very effective, boasting a wider range of outstanding nuanced dynamics that enhance the desired atmosphere wonderfully. It is the track that I prefer now, but I do not see a problem if purists stay with the 2.0 track.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Special Features - there are no special features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailers - in English, not subtitled.
  
  1. U.S. Theatrical Trailer. (2 min.).
  2. International Theatrical Trailer (2 min.).
  3. The Missing Pieces Trailer (3 min.).

• The Missing Pieces - presented here is a large collection of deleted scenes and alternate takes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, which were assembled by director David Lynch. In English, (92 min.).

• Interviews -
  
  Sheryl Lee - in this archival program, actress Sheryl Lee recalls her initial encounter with David Lynch and first impressions of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and discusses the director's working methods before and during the shooting process, her work with various cast members, the shooting of the famous bar sequences, the important role of music and how it shaped up the ambience of the film, the different rules of the Red Room, the signs and messages from Laura's story that remain relevant today, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Los Angeles in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (23 min.).
  
  Angelo Badalamenti - in this archival, composer Angelo Badalamenti explains how the music of Twin Peaks was conceived and how David Lynch reacted to the emerging themes, the different moods and colors that the director was looking for, their discussions and the fact that he never had to see a script, the important role of organic sounds (wind), etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in New Jersey in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (21 min.).
  
  Actors' Discussion - in this filmed video conversation, David Lynch, Sheryl Lee, Grace Zabriskie, and Ray Wise remember what it was like to work on Twin Peaks. The conversation was filmed in Los Angeles in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (29 min.).

• Booklet - 50-page booklet featuring interview excerpts from filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley's book Lynch on Lynch and technical credits.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

More than a decade ago, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me was fully restored in 4K under the supervision of David Lynch. This combo pack release brings a native 4K presentation of the same 4K restoration, which entered the Criterion Collection in 2017. You should consider an upgrade only if you have a very large screen or project because, even by current standards, the original Blu-ray still produces breathtakingly gorgeous visuals. The combo pack does not have any exclusive new bonus features. RECOMMENDED.