Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 8, 2022

Visual effects supervisor Michael Lennick is on hand in some of the archival supplements featured on this new(ish) release from Arrow, and in one especially amusing supplement, he mentions how the "prophetic" abilities of the production team failed spectacularly in one way, by featuring Betamax rather than VHS throughout the film. That decision may have not turned out to be the "correct" one given 20/20 hindsight, but in so many other ways Videodrome is one of the most prescient films of its era, and one whose disturbing aspects may in fact be even more relevant in today's "over stimulated" (to use a term featured in the film itself) world than it was back in the veritable "Dark Ages" of 1983 when the film first debuted.

Videodrome received a Region A 1080 release from Criterion in 2010 and a Region B 1080 release from Arrow itself in 2015. Those interested in a plot recap are encouraged to read Svet Atanasov's Videodrome Blu-ray review of the Criterion release. Svet's review is also a good resource to do side by side screenshot comparisons as well as seeing how the supplements between the releases stack up.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: I'm very pleased and appreciative to state that Arrow has provided screencaps directly from their 4K (SDR) master of the film for this review, which, while downscaled to 1080, hopefully give a better idea of how this looks compared to older 1080 versions. Because this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been left blank.

Videodrome is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with a 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow confirmed that both their release and the Criterion release were culled from the same master based on an interpositive, while this release has gone back to the original camera negative. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

Videodrome is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono sound. The film is presented in both its unrated director's cut and original theatrical cut versions and has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16-bit resolution at Company 3, Burbank. Additional intermediate film elements were sourced for the Director's Cut sections. The film was restored in 4K and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London. ,br.
The audio mix was remastered by NBC Universal.

The restoration of Videodrome has been approved by director David Cronenberg.

With an understanding that the very title of this film hints at lower resolution sources which are prevalent throughout the story in one way or the other, this is a noticeable upgrade from the previous 1080 version (I only had the Criterion version, just to be completely transparent). Detail levels enjoy substantial improvement when lighting conditions allow, but even the many dark scenes enjoy at least marginal new detail levels now courtesy of HDR and/or Dolby Vision. The palette still has some variances, with some scenes looking a bit on the cool, even slightly desaturated, side, but when things pop, as in the great early scene with Deborah Harry in the shockingly bright red dress, they really pop. Fine detail is typically excellent throughout the presentation. The repeated use of "broadcast" level imagery may not be helped with the increased resolution of this version, but in a way that actually may make the smarmier aspects of the story even more visceral. This transfer struck me as not just better suffused than the Criterion, but with a somewhat more burnished look that preserves an organic appearance while minimizing what almost looks like minor sharpening and even brightening in the Criterion version. Grain resolves tightly for the most part, though it can have a slightly mottled, yellowish quality in some of the lowest light scenes. That said, as I've mentioned in many of my 4K UHD reviews, I don't always like the look of grain resolution in this format, but in this case, I think it actually looks considerably better than the Criterion 1080 version.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Videodrome features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that for all intents and purposes I found interchangeable with the LPCM Mono track on the Criterion disc. As Svet mentioned in his review, there's not a ton of dynamic range here, but fidelity is excellent throughout, and both Howard Shore's score and a glut of sound effects all are full bodied. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Cut (UHD; 1:28:38)


• U.S. Theatrical Cut (UHD; 1:27:21)


• Commentary with Tim Lucas (Director's Cut)


• Documentaries and Featurettes

  Cinema of the Extreme (HD; 21:04) is a 1997 BBC documentary by Nick Freand exploring the film and related issues of censorship and horror.

  
  

  Forging the New Flesh (HD; 27:44) looks at some of the film's special effects with Michael Lennick.

  
  

  Fear on Film (HD; 25:38) is a 1982 roundtable with David Cronenberg, John Carpenter and John Landis.

  
  

  Samurai Dreams (HD; 4:47) features the unedited sequence with commentary by special visual effects supervisor Michael Lennick.

  
  

  Helmet Camera Test (HD; 4:45) also features commentary by Michael Lennick.

  
  

  Why Betamax? (HD; 1:11) features Lennick again in a kind of funny "explanation" as to why Betamax was used in the film.

  
  

  Promotional Featurette (HD; 7:52)

• Interviews

  Mark Irwin (HD; 26:27) features the cinematographer, from 2015.

  
  

  Pierre David (HD; 10:20) features the producer, from 2015.

  
  

  Dennis Etchison (HD; 16:45) features the author, from 2015.

• Pirated Signal: The Lost Broadcast (HD; 25:46) aggregates deleted scenes found in television versions that were not in the release version, assembled from the "best available elements".


• Trailers (HD; 4:33)


• Camera (2000) (HD; 6:40) is a short made to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival.


• Image Galleries are authored without timecodes, but are also authored to progress automatically, so have the Pause button on your remote handy if you want to linger on any given image:

  Behind the Scenes Stills (HD)

  
  

  Lobby Cards (HD)

  
  

  Production Stills (HD)

Additionally this Limited Edition comes with Arrow's typical assortment of nicely packaged non-disc swag, including a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gille Vrandckx, an illustrated 60 page booklet featuring writing by Justin Humphreys, Brad Stevens and Tim Lucas, along with extracts from Cronenberg on Cronenberg, and a new roundtable retrospective with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Cerise Howard, Josh Nelson and Emmas Westood. A folded double sided poster also features original and newly commissioned artwork, and the keepcase houses six double sided post card sized lobby card reproduction artcards. All of this is housed in a handsome slipbox.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While this release didn't manage to license the excellent commentary with David Cronenberg and Mark Irwin that was on the Criterion release, Tim Lucas serves as a more than capable replacement here, and the rest of Arrow's supplemental material (some of which was on the Criterion release) is typically excellent and thorough. The biggest upgrade here, though, is no doubt in the technical merits, with a solid 4K presentation. Recommended.