Review: The Cell 4K UHD
4K UHD Blu-ray: The Cell (2000)
Jennifer Lopez as a child psychologist Catherine Deane? Yep.
Look, it really doesn’t matter, because Tarsem Singh needed to hire someone who looks amazing in his costumes, and Jen fits the bill.
Dr Deane is hired to conduct experimental virtual reality treatments for comatose child patients with ultra rich parents – a “Neurological Cartography and Synaptic Transfer System”, this involves being hooked up to a device that allows her to enter the unconscious mind and bring that person back to life.
Carl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) is a serial killer of young women, after trapping his latest victim, he falls into a coma and the only way to find her is… for Dr Deane to enter his mind.
Now I love Tarsem Singh, I adore The Fall, and these two dream-like, twisted reality films are like a double bill of good and evil. He is a visionary and I wish he could make what HE wants and not be restrained by a studio (Mirror Mirror).
Arrow offers us two versions of the film, one being the directors cut which is a full 2 minutes longer. The Cell is at its heart a thriller, but something more because of the incredible sets and the peaks inside Carl’s perverted mind.
Films like The Cell absolutely bang on 4K and this is just breathtaking. As Deane enters dreamscape of Stargher’s twisted psyche, the colours and film sets are amazing. I wish Arrow would bring out a 4K of The Fall, I’d be first in the queue.
2-DISC 4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
- Brand new 4K restorations of both the 107-minute Theatrical Cut and the 109-minute Director’s Cut by Arrow Films, approved by director Tarsem Singh
- Includes bonus disc containing a previously unseen version of the film with alternate aspect ratio and alternate grading created by director of photography Paul Laufer
- Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Illustrated collector’s book containing new writing on the film by critics Heather Drain, Marc Edward Heuck, Josh Hurtado, and Virat Nehru
- Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Savieri
DISC 1 – FEATURE & EXTRAS (4K ULTRA HD)
- 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ (2160p) presentation of both the Theatrical and Director’s cuts of the film in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Brand new audio commentary with film scholars Josh Nelson & Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- Brand new audio commentary with screenwriter Mark Protosevich & film critic Kay Lynch
- Archive audio commentary with director Tarsem Singh
- Archive audio commentary with director of photography Paul Laufer, production designer Tom Foden, makeup supervisor Michèle Burke, costume designer April Napier, visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, and composer Howard Shore
- Projection of the Mind’s Eye, a new feature-length interview with director Tarsem Singh
- Between Two Worlds, a new in-depth interview with director of photography Paul Laufer
DISC 2 – ALTERNATE VERSION & EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
- Previously unseen version of the Theatrical Cut of the film, presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio with alternate grading, from a 2K master created by director of photography Paul Laufer
- High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
- Paul Laufer Illuminates, a new interview about the alternate master of The Cell presented on this disc
- Art is Where You Find It, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
- The Costuming Auteur, a new visual essay by film critic Abbey Bender
- Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem, an archive featurette
- Eight deleted/extended scenes with optional audio commentary by director Tarsem Singh
- Six multi-angle archive visual effects vignettes
- Theatrical trailers
- Image gallery
Review by Tina from discs kindly supplied by Arrow Films.
