Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 14, 2023

David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" (1983) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include two audio commentaries, "Camera", a short film; roundtable discussion; several featurettes; promotional materials; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

James Woods is Max Renn, a cocky, fast-talking man in charge with a small Toronto-based television station looking for unique content to boost its ratings. One day, he stumbles across Videodrome, a brutal pornographic broadcast, which Harlan (Peter Dvorsky, Mesmer), one of Max’s best men, has recorded while playing around with the station’s pirate satellite dish. Impressed with the raw visuals, Max decides to find out more about Videodrome.

While researching Videodrome, Max meets Nicki Brand (Deborah Harry, Hairspray), a beautiful psychiatrist who likes sex as much as she likes pain. Before Max beds Nikki, he shows her footage from Videodrome, which proves to be exactly the type of show she has been dreaming about. Nikki decides to go to Pittsburgh, where Videodrome apparently is based at, while Max decides to see Professor Brian O'Blivion (Jack Creley, All in Good Taste), a mysterious character who apparently knows everything there is to know about the show.

Max meets Bianca (Sonja Smits, That's My Baby!), Professor O'Blivion’s daughter and personal assistant, who gives him a videotape containing an important message. After he views it, Max begins hallucinating - first his body gets a giant vagina in which one could insert various objects, including videotapes, then he starts seeing dead people, and finally he enters Videodrome where Nikki has been patiently waiting for him. While trying to figure out what is real and what is not, Max loses his mind.

Most critics who have written about David Cronenberg’s Videodrome argue that it is a horror film with a prophetic message about the destructive power of television. To a certain extent, I agree with them. A lot of what Cronenberg predicted in Videodrome has come true - by merging with the Internet, television is increasingly affecting the way we live our lives; television is easily transforming lies into truths, which is why each year billions of dollars are spent on political advertising; television is brainwashing our minds, which is why various religious groups pay big money for prime-time slots.

What critics rarely mention in their articles, however, is the fact that Videodrome is above all a film about the power of philosophy - the ideas that give meaning to the torture and pornography seen in it, the environment that has nurtured them, the culture that breeds their consumers. What terrifies in Videodrome are not the various graphic scenes, or Max’s colorful hallucinations, but the logic that supports their existence.

There is a common theme amongst great horror films - they all balance well the reasonable with the unreasonable. When we watch a great horror film, we are terrified because there is a possibility that everything that happens in it could be real. Videodrome is one such film - a lot of the images in it are incredibly disturbing and unsettling but far from unrealistic; even Max’s hallucinations are not completely devoid of objectivity.

The cast is excellent. Woods is very convincing as the cocky businessman who slowly but surely evolves into a violent, paranoid loner. Harry, the famous voice of new wave and punk legends Blondie, looks incredibly seductive. Creley has a small but very important role. Smits is the only one who occasionally looks a bit stiff in front of the camera.

*In 1984, Videodrome won Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction (David Cronenberg). During the same year, the film also won Best Cinematography in Theatrical Feature Award (Mark Irwin) granted by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Videodrome is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The following text appears inside the booklet that is provided with this release:

"Undertaken by Arrow Films at Silver Salt Restoration in London and approved by director David Cronenberg, this master was created from the 35mm original camera negative, which was scanned in 4K resolution at Company 3 in Burbank, California. Additional intermediate film elements were sourced for the unrated-director's cut sections. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic tracks.

Mastering supervisors: James White, James Pearcey."

Please note that all screencaptures that appear 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, including the actual color values of this content.

The release introduces a new 4K restoration of Videodrome that was approved by David Cronenberg. In native 4K, the restoration can be viewed with HDR and Dolby Vision. I viewed it with Dolby Vision.

Videodrome made its high-definition debut with this Blu-ray release, which was also produced by Criterion. It is the only other release that I have in my library, so it is the one I used to do various comparisons. I think that the restoration offers a pretty significant upgrade in quality. On my system, it was immediately obvious that density levels are a lot better now and various darker nuances significantly improved. In virtually all darker areas, but elsewhere as well, there is more to see. Also, on the previous release definition was good but occasionally underwhelming, while now the same areas look sharper but not sharpened. On a big screen, the difference in quality is quite obvious. Color balance is very convincing. A few primaries are better saturated and the supporting nuances are rebalanced. You will notice that with the superior color balance various highlights look more convincing, too. The Dolby Vision grade handles darker areas very well and plenty of the brighter footage looks significantly richer. In other words, the dynamic range of the visuals is improved. Image stability is excellent. The film looks immaculate. All in all, I think that in native 4K Videodrome looks outstanding now, so this release should close its cycle on the home video market.

Update: I have a market copy of this release now and was able to test the Blu-ray release as well. I think that the technical presentation of the 4K makeover is excellent. All visuals look noticeably healthier and more vibrant, plus well-lit and darker areas reveal superior detail and depth. It is easy to declare that the Blu-ray offers an all-around convincing upgrade in quality as well.

Videodrome 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I assume that this is the same track that was included on the previous Blu-ray release of Videodrome because I did not notice anything different to report in our review. The dialog is very clear and easy to follow. I feel that there are a few areas where dynamic intensity should be a tad better, but this is most likely how the soundtrack was finalized.

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

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - David Cronenberg and Mark Irwin - recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2004, this is an outstanding audio commentary, on par with the fantastic commentary by Michael Cimino found on The Deer Hunter Blu-ray release. David Cronenberg offers a terrific analysis of Videodrome, discusses its production history, and addresses the various obstacles his team had to overcome before, during and after the shooting of the film.

• Commentary Two - James Woods and Deborah Harry - this audio commentary was also recorded for Criterion in 2004.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - David Cronenberg and Mark Irwin - recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2004, this is an outstanding audio commentary, on par with the fantastic commentary by Michael Cimino found on The Deer Hunter Blu-ray release. David Cronenberg offers a terrific analysis of Videodrome, discusses its production history, and addresses the various obstacles his team had to overcome before, during and after the shooting of the film.

• Commentary Two - James Woods and Deborah Harry - this audio commentary was also recorded for Criterion in 2004.

• Camera - a short film which David Cronenberg directed in 2000. The film, photographed on digital video, was commissioned by the Toronto International Film Festival. The focus of attention in Camera is on the relationship between aging, death and acting. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Forging the Flesh - in this documentary film, special effects supervisor Michael Lennick discusses the production history and different makeup and video effects seen throughout Videodrome. The film contains various commentaries by makeup effects crew member Bill Sturgeon, makeup effects supervisor Rick Baker, James Woods, etc. In English, not subtitled. (28 min).

• Effects Men - in this audio piece, Rick Baker, creator of Videodrome's special makeup effects, and Michael Lennick, special effects supervisor, recall their collaboration with director David Cronenberg, their first impressions of the script for Videodrome, the technical challenges they had to overcome, etc. (20 min).
  
  -- The golden age
  -- James Woods
  -- Collaboration
  -- David's stories

• Bootleg Video - three short video sequences, shot by David Cronenberg, portions of which could be seen in Videodrome.
  
  -- Samurai Dreams - with optional commentaries by David Cronenberg, and Mark Irwin and Michael Lennick. (5 min).
  -- Transmissions from "Videodrome" - with optional commentary by Mark Irwin and Michael Lennick. (8 min).
  -- Helmet-cam Test - with commentary by Michael Lennick

• Effects Visual Essay - a collection of stills, taken between 1981 and 1982 by Donna Lucas and Robert Uth from Cinefatastique magazine, from the production of Videodrome. (20 min).

• Fear on Film - a roundtable discussion with David Cronenberg, John Landis, and John Carpenter, produced and hosted by Mick Garris (director of TV miniseries The Stand and The Shining). In English, not subtitled. (26 min).

• Marketing -
  
  -- Trailer 1 - in English, not subtitled. (2 min).
  -- Trailer 2 - in English, not subtitled. (3 min).
  -- Trailer 3 - in English, not subtitled. (2 min).
  -- The Making of Videodrome - produced by Mick Garris in 1982, this featurette includes excerpts of interviews with James Woods, David Cronenberg, Deborah Harry, and Rick Baker. In English, not subtitled. (8 min).

• Gallery - a collection of promotional materials and cast and crew photographs.

• Booklet - 38-page illustrated booklet containing Carrie Rickey's essay "Make Mine Cronenberg"; Tim Lucas' essay "Medium Cruel: Reflections on Videodrome"; and Gary Indiana's essay "That Slithery Sense of Unreality".

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

Fans of David Cronenberg's shocker Videodrome will be thrilled with its transition to 4K Blu-ray. I revisited the film last night and thought that it looked marvelous in native 4K. In various areas, the improvements in quality are so significant that the presentation of it from the original Blu-ray release, which Criterion produced in 2010, begins to look more dated than it is. I was very, very impressed with the 4K upgrade. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.