Gremlins Edition [4K Ultra HD + Blu-Ray]

Product Information

Also available is a Photo Gallery, two Theatrical Trailers (2:08/1:04) and another Trailer (1:30) for Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Starring: Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Corey Fleldman, Zach Galligan, Harry Carey Jr., Kate Beringer, Polly Holiday Joe Dante's cult classic wreaks havoc on Ultra HD with an exceptionally beautiful HEVC H.265 encode, delivering a marked improvement over previous Blu-ray predecessors and making this the best the movie has ever looked on any home video format. Every couple of years we hear about a revival or remake of Joe Dante’s Explorers, the wonderful fantasy about junior high schoolers that fly an amusement park capsule into outer space. I hope something happens, just to get Paramount off its duff for a Blu-ray of the original show. So many genre favorites have hit Blu-ray this year, that anything seems possible. Stephen King nailed John Carpenter’s Halloween as an expression of the traditional ‘campfire horror tale.’ The narrative launch pad for Gremlins is the cautionary scare fable, like The Monkey’s Paw. A person is put to an ethical test, and when he fails, all Hell breaks loose. The twist here is that Columbus and Dante don’t sweat the moral mechanics, and instead exploit the idea’s abundant potential for absurdity. We’re eager for the Mogwai to get wet and be fed after midnight, to see chaos loosed on the movie screen. It’s a horror picture, yet Delightful.

Bonus materials are primarily found on the Blu-ray Disc and are ALL presented in SD (standard definition) video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. These include: Gremlins” was a 1984 comedy/fantasy film with a nice touch of horror, executive produced (and presented) by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg is a filmmaker who really needs no introduction. This movie was directed by Joe Dante, best known for also directing films like “Piranha” (1978), “The Howling” (1981), “The Burbs” (1989), “Matinee” (1993), and [this film’s] sequel “Gremlins 2: The New Batch” (1990). The screenplay was written by Chris Columbus. Most know Columbus for directing films such as “Adventures in Babysitting” (1987), “Home Alone” (1990), “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993), “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (2001), and its first sequel “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (2002). Yes! Here’s an excellent candidate for the leap upward to 4K Ultra HD! As anarchic as ever, Chris Columbus & Joe Dante’s Gremlins is a classic film masquerading as just another ’80s teen comedy. By now everyone is familiar with the tale of the furry Chinese Mogwai, a creature that comes with a strict set of rules we know were made to be broken. Faster than you can say Pandora’s Box, an idealized Christmas holiday is invaded by an onslaught of reptilian demons — the mischievous-murderous Gremlins of legend. Lastly, the practical special effects hold up really well here for a film celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. It’s a very solid 4K presentation in terms of video quality, the cropping and incorrect aspect ratio are forgivable, and it in comparison to the Blu-ray can be impressive. Still, it’s not quite as amazing visually as some of you might have expected it to be. I personally find it to be impressive and a nice improvement. Sorry. even if the scan were down-rezzed to 1080p. But in true, native 4K, the result is by far the finestLastly, you get the same old bonus materials from a decade ago included on the Blu-ray as well as the two audio commentaries conveniently found on the 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc. It’s not a whole lot but it is enough to leave any fan of the film with something to learn about how it came to be and enjoy. Still, it would have really been nice to have seen some new extras produced for this, considering it is celebrating its 35th anniversary.

In terms of video quality on this 4K UHD Blu-ray release, it is a presentation that does come across solid and pretty impressive with the amount of newfound detail. However, the fact the aspect ratio is incorrectly in 1.78:1 when claiming to be in the original 1.85:1 is a bit of a bummer. It’s also a bit confusing as to why the actual film seems to have been cropped at the top and slightly on the sides. The cropping and aspect ratio issues are forgivable (to me), but will surely upset some purists. I personally really don’t mind it. evaluated the 1080p disc's video, nor can I say whether I would have given it the same score as Dustin, had I been the reviewer Plot: What’s it about? Video: How’s it look? Audio: How’s it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? The Bottom Line Plot: What’s it about? The 5.1 lossless audio mix that is found here comes in a new format (DTS-HD Master Audio) but it really doesn’t seem all that much different than the mix (in Dolby TrueHD) found on the Blu-ray counterpart. I am a bit disappointed they didn’t opt for giving this movie a Dolby Atmos mix, especially considering the original score composed by the late legendary Jerry Goldsmith. The Take 2 Access screenings have our house lights up, volume turned down and freedom of movement for families attending.The Glasgow Film Theatre have announced their Christmas line up to get the city in the festive spirit next month. The movie was shot on 35mm film using the Arriflex 35 lic and Panavision Psr R-200 cameras with spherical lenses, according to IMDb. Making-of Featurette (6:21) is a short promotional featurette from 1984 with behind-the-scenes footage. Note: The screen captures were taken from the Blu-ray disc and do not represent the 4K Ultra HD transfer. Filmmakers’ Audio Commentary with Director Joe Dante, Producer Michael Finnell, and Special Effects Artist Chris Walas

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. Regardless, this film still sounds good here in the new DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless mix. Dialogue is delivered distinctly through the center channel with no volume adjustments needed. The sound effects come across as pretty realistic and are effective here. Still, with that being said, I found this mix to be pretty much identical to the original Blu-ray’s audio presentation – but if it’s not broken, there is really no reason to fix it. Right? It is enough to certainly do the film the justice that it deserves and should leave most of the fans pleased. It is a solid mix with a handful of somewhat impressive moments along the way, namely near the end of the film during some of the action scenes. That being said, it’s perfectly entertaining and the technical, special effects work was pretty top-notch and of course Gizmo himself is a cute furry creature, its near-undetectable speaking voiced by Howie Mandel. The human cast led by Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates were fine, of course, but the Gremlins (a.k.a. Mogwai) are the stars of this Joe Dante ( Innerspace) helmed film. Inventor/Salesman Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) stumbles across a mysterious fluffy creature called a Mogwai in an old Chinese artifact shop, and ends up slipping it out under the owner’s nose (against his recommendation) as a Christmas present for his son Billy (Zach Galligan). Billy is ecstatic about his gift, and even accepting of the strict rules that the shop owner’s son gave Randall. Don’t subject them to bright lights, don’t get them wet, and DO NOT feed them after midnight. However, as these things go, the new pet (dubbed Gizmo) is soon subjected to a little bit of water, prompting a form of mitosis wherein Gizmo spawns dozens of fluffy little clones. These clones are not exactly nearly as nice as Gizmo is though, and after Billy sends off one of the clones to a lab where it is subjected to the before mentioned feeding after midnight, things get out of control.

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re-released the 2009 disc in 2014 as part of its short-lived effort to create a premium line called Audio Commentary with Eric Reich, Troy Benjamin, Chris Stewart, Ashley Victoria Robinson, and Sean Bishop Additional Footage (10:26) for a few scenes that were cut down and includes an optional commentary with Joe Dante. Randall tells his wife and son “Billy Peltzer” ( Zach Galligan) there are three strict rules he must follow to take care of the Mogwai. The rules include not getting it near bright light, not getting it wet with water, and lastly to never feed it after midnight. Let’s just say one of those rules will be broken and as a result, some not-so-cute or friendly creatures are spawned – referred to as gremlins. These pesky little creatures decide to cause all kinds of mischief all throughout the small town where the Peltzers reside. Along the way, Billy will get some help from his co-worker and obvious crush “Kate” ( Phoebe Cates). The local law enforcement does not prove to be much help and it’s essentially up to these two young adults to save the day. I won’t get into any further detail to avoid any real spoilers, for those who have never seen this film.