Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie Review

Shout! Factory acquired the video distribution rights to David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) and has released a Collector's Edition as part of its Shout Select series. For writing on the film, you can refer to reviews by two of my colleagues: Dr. Svet Atanasov took a look at the 2010 Universal UK BD-50 and Jeff Kauffman examined the out-of-print 2014 Twilight Time Limited Edition (both region-free discs).

Lovers hit the road.

Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout Select makes Wild at Heart #46 in the boutique label's catalog. On May 22 of this year, Shout was scheduled to release the disc but it was withdrawn when they "discovered an error had occurred in the manufacturing process that affected early product." A Shout publicist told me it was "a very minor audio issue in a scene." Additionally, Blu-ray.com users who originally pre-ordered and received their copy expected to hear an excerpt from Angelo Badalamenti's score (or a ballad from the soundtrack album) on the main menu but reported no audio at all. Shout introduced a Wild At Heart (Collector's Edition) Replacement Program on its website for consumers who initially received the faulty disc. The first pressing carries UPC # 826663179378 while the corrected disc has new UPC # 826663191332. The reissued package rectifies the audio technicality present on the movie's sound track but no menu music plays on my copy.

The foundation for this HD transfer is very similar (if not identical) to the ones that Svet and Jeff have covered. All originate from a 2004 transfer supervised by David Lynch that appeared on MGM's Special Edition DVD. You can view a comparison between the two transfers under the Screenshots tab for capture #s 16-23. So the good news is that the color timing on the Blu-rays is consistent with what Lynch intended. But because its struck from a fairly dated source, it has some age-related minor defects and visible artifacts. For instance, the grain structure, while plainly present, is a little scattered and more prominent in certain shots depending on the lighting conditions. There are at least occasional white speckles that crop up throughout the presentation. On the plus side, the garish colors lensed by ace cinematographer Frederick Elmes look bright and shiny in day settings. By contrast, in interior shots and evening scenes outdoors, there is a soft focus to the picture which I take as deliberate. The MPEG-4 AVC-encoded transfer sports an average video bitrate of 29997 kbps. The entire disc boasts a total bitrate of 36.60 Mbps. My video score is 3.75.

The scene selection is Shout's usual twelve chapter markers (the same as Twilight Time). (My MGM disc has thirty-two.)

Shout Factory 2018 Blu-ray = Screenshot #s 1-14, 17, 19, 21 & 23
MGM 2004 DVD = Screenshot #s 16, 18, 20 & 22

Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied Wild at Heart's original Dolby Spectral Recording as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (1645 kbps, 24-bit) and also boosted a remix, rendered on the other track as a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2857 kbps, 24-bit). It is a nice option to have the theatrical's stereo mix as all the other BDs carry only the uncompressed 5.1 (not to mention several dubs on the Universal). I primarily listened to the 5.1 recording and it frequently packs a wallop, with clear and distinct separation between the fronts and rears. Dialogue was presented with lucidity. Shout sacrificed bitrate range on the 5.1 in order to accommodate the original mix but my ears didn't notice any loss in quality.

Optional English SDH are available on the menu and via remote activation as you play the 124-minute feature.

Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout has rounded up all the special features that were first available on MGM's SE and filmed an exclusive new interview:

• NEW Interview with Novelist Barry Gifford (30:06, 1080p) - Gifford delivers a very good overview of his literary career in discussing how Jack London and Joseph Conrad (among others) influenced his writing. He reminisces about how he corresponded with David Lynch as the screenplay was being developed. He delivers many thoughts and insights on the evolution and arc of the Sailor and Lula characters that have appeared in seven of his novels. In English, not subtitled.

• Extended and Deleted Scenes (76:10, 480i)

• Uncensored Bobby Peru Scene (0:44, 480i)

• Love, Death, Elvis and Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart (29:52, 480i)

• Dell's Lunch Counter: Extended Interviews (21:06, 480i)

• Specific Spontaneity: Focus on David Lynch (7:16, 480i)

• Lynch on the DVD Process (2:46, 480i)

• Original 1990 Making of EPK (6:55, 480i)

• Image Gallery (2:11, 480i)

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1:52, 1080p)

• TV Spots (1:08, 480i)

Wild at Heart Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wild at Heart is a great film that depicts the idiosyncratic and irreverent sides of characters in Lynch's morally compromised world. It is also a fine illustrative template that shows off the auteur's stylish inventiveness with the camera. Shout Select has reassembled all the previously released bonus materials and added a most informative interview with prolific writer Barry Gifford. I'm disappointed that it did not license TT's isolated sound track but feel compensated to have the original Dolby Stereo. While a true HD transfer, this doesn't resemble the "freshly minted" new masters we've become accustomed to with 4K scans.While likely not the last release of this controversial Cannes winner, it's a solid package and comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.