Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - 4K Ultra HD + Blu-Ray - Arrow
Release Date: Apr 12, 2022
Format: 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Company: Arrow
Synopsis:
Be Warned… It’s Alive!
Kenneth Branagh leads an all-star cast including Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce, Ian Holm, John Cleese and Aidan Quinn in his definitive cinematic version of Mary Shelley’s classic tale of gothic terror.
At the turn of the 19th century, visionary scientist Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) embarks on an obsessive quest to conquer the mysteries of human mortality. But his hubristic bid to create life out of death goes hideously wrong, and succeeds only in begetting a deformed monster (Robert De Niro).
Horrified by what he has wrought, the scientist attempts to destroy his creation, but fails. Rejected by his creator and shunned by the world of man, the tormented creature swears vengeance against Frankenstein and his family. As the monster begins to enact his murderous revenge, Victor must face a terrible reckoning with the tragic consequences of attempting to play God.
Mary Shelley's seminal novel is one of the most adapted books of all time, and this retelling faithfully goes back to the original source, lushly transforming the story's twin themes of love and death into a darkly operatic gothic romance.
Unlike many versions of Shelley's novel, Branagh's adaptation understands that Frankenstein's misbegotten creation is as pitiable as he is monstrous, and never loses sight of the human tragedy lying at the core of its horrific tale. Filled with sweeping, atmospheric visuals and powerfully emotional performances from an award-winning ensemble of acting talent, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein stands as a landmark interpretation of this enduring masterpiece.
Review:
So we’re in an interesting time of the boutique, blu-ray renaissance. The, always slow on the uptake, studios are gradually getting in the game and using some of their partners - Arrow, Scorpion Releasing, Kino Lorber and more - to release more standard studio fair among the horror, sci-fi, arthouse, cult and low budget releases that we’ve been getting predominantly over the last 15 years. They’re also leaning heavily on 4K UHD to encourage movie fans to purchase the same film again and again on the promise of better and better quality.
Some of these releases just seem bizarre to me and can be filed into:
Stuff I am not sure anyone was clamouring for but we’re getting anyway
and
Stuff people are desperate to turn into a cult film when, again, you can’t really force that and it either happens organically or it doesn’t.
It’s not that, despite its less than stella reputation, Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, doesn’t deserve some kind of release, it just seems to be very odd that when we still haven’t got some key cult titles on DVD let alone Blu-Ray or 4K, that Frankenstein would be so high up the list but here we are. I’m sure that whoever gets to make these decisions doesn’t even have a list but probably a mandate and a deadline. Such is the way of things now.
Also a word for a second on 4k UHD. In order to play it and make it worth while you need a 4K TV and a 4K player. I have both those things. What I have learnt watching a variety of formats over the last few months is - if you have a good TV and a good player - I defy you to really tell the difference between blu-ray and 4K. You can’t and don’t pretend you can. Even DVD looks GREAT on my TV. I don’t know that I ever need upgrade anything again. I may buy a 4K disc if I don’t already own that movie but if I already own it on DVD and/or Blu - from now on - that’s fine for me.
So Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is everything you’ve heard it is. A Kenneth Branagh ego fuelled mess which has a problem with casting, pacing, editing and storytelling that Francis Ford Coppola (despite making all the same mistakes on his own, awful Bram Stoker’s Dracula) wanted to distance himself from and which broke up “Ken and Em” (Branagh and, then wife, Emma Thompson) presumably because Branagh spent so much time shirtless and slathered with baby oil that Helena Bonham Carter slept with him just to try and shut him up.
The film has wonderful sets, a delightfully epic score and the odd decent performance - John Cleese, in a serious turn, is a genuine delight and he should’ve done character work like this for the rest of his career.
The beginning half of the film though is a noisy, schizophrenic, rushed, badly edited ham fest with all the charm of an ADD afflicted “theatre kid” demanding everyone shut up and watch him perform a cringeworthy and tone deaf performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. You want to reach into the screen and slap Branagh about the head and neck and tell him calmly to just STOP IT.
Something happens though when the film starts to focus more on De Niro’s monster and less on Kenny’s flailing about and his insistence on using a large South American country’s worth of chest lubricant, it doesn’t get better exactly but it slows down enough for you to finally get comfortable in your seat and reassess what you’re being bombarded with. This slower, more deliberate and focussed storytelling in the second half allows for some genuinely affecting scenes with De Niro and though the film decides very early on to dispense with anything coming close to tension or suspense, we do get some really shocking and effective moments of horror - the hanging of Justine right in front of her mother is devastating and the monster’s attack of Elizabeth on her wedding night and ripping out her still beating heart is the first Grand Guignol or operatic sequence in the film that isn’t followed by guffaws of unintentional laughter from the audience.
It’s a testament to both Shelley’s writing and the fact that the Frank Darabont and Steph Lady script remains fairly faithful to the source material that all the themes of obsession, arrogance, hubris, dangerous uses of science, the nature of existence, what makes a soul etc. shine through despite some of Branagh’s excesses. I suppose at least Ken’s personality and behaviour making the movie is mirrored in Frankenstein’s selfish and blindly obsessive pursuit of making his creature. How apt then that the moment he makes the creature, not only does it look an absolute state but that he immediately wants to disown it. Art imitating life imitating art only drenched from head to toe in spermicidal jelly.
So I’ll give it its due, it swings wildly for the fences, its pectorals dripping with gelatinous ooze and barely achieves a handful of decent plays in its 2 hour running time but at least it was allowed to do that. At least there was a point in Hollywood past where experimentation and broad, sweeping gestures were green lit and handed over to Shakespeare spouting Irish dwarves with all the self awareness of a drunk toddler.
4K UltraHD/Blu-Ray review:
So having recently upgraded my home theatre set up and watching a lot of different formats, I am sorry to say that this 4K disc is one of the worst I’ve seen recently. I honestly could’ve been watching a DVD. Considering the content of the film, the great sets and art direction, the booming classical score and the wide vistas, I was, at least, expecting the viewing experience to be a treat, even if the content isn’t always palatable and, very often, dangerously silly - sadly I can’t say that there was anything here to warrant the 4K upgrade. The film looks fine and I would hope so, it’s a huge Hollywood studio movie from the 90s, it should look fine but I’ve seen remastered Italian exploitation films made in 1973 for 3 cheese sandwiches and a carton of orange juice on standard Blu-Ray that look better than this. So that’s a disappointment.
The extras, as well, tell the sad story that a certain auteur of the film with the initials K and B wanted nothing to do with this release. We get some interviews with the composer, costumer and make up artist that are perfectly serviceable, with a few interesting nuggets that hint at what a bananas set it must’ve been but I, personally, would’ve tracked down an extra with nothing to lose and demand the full, unvarnished, truth. Scratch that, I bet John Cleese would’ve had a story or two and what about Tom Hulce? I’m sure he’d spill some beans.
I also can’t believe there is no EPK from back then or behind the scenes footage, the disc has a notable absence of any 1994 content at all. The only way to make a disc of a compromised, troubled production worth the purchase (because the film on its own isn’t really) is to try and scrape together as much of a back story and give us much information as possible. I didn’t listen to the commentary so maybe there’s stuff contained there but the lack of any prominent people from in front of or behind the camera feels either like an oversight, or everyone refused to do it, or no one felt the film was worth a comprehensive disc and it wouldn’t make its money back. I don’t know.
I don’t really understand the purpose of the featurettes with the “gothic specialists” and how does one become a “gothic specialist” anyway and where do you hang your shingle so Blu-Ray producers know how to track you down? I am going to put myself out in the world as a beard specialist and be employed on every blu-ray of films in which beards prominently appear. Is that a thing?
The comparison with the novel feature has some value but beyond that, we’re learning nothing new from any of these chaps - although one has a cool Tom Waits T-Shirt on, so there’s that I suppose.
The best extra on the whole disc is the inclusion of the Edison Studios 1910 adaptation of Frankenstein which manages to be more enjoyable, more surprising, more dazzling and even contain more depth and metaphor than the 1994 version.
EXTRAS:
Brand new audio commentary by film historians Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains
Brand new interview with composer Patrick Doyle
Brand new interview with costumer designer James Acheson
Brand new interview with make-up designer Daniel Parker
Mary Shelley and The Creation of a Monster, a brand new documentary featurette on the origins and evolution of the Frankenstein story, featuring Gothic specialists David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk
Dissecting Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a brand new featurette with David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk on the differences between the novel and Kenneth Branagh’s screen adaptation
Frankenstein: A Liberal Adaptation from Mrs. Shelley’s Famous Story for Edison Production (1910): The first screen adaptation of Shelley’s story in a 2K restoration by the Library of Congress, with music by Donald Sosin
Original trailers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Laz Marquez
First Pressing Only:
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Jon Towlson and Amy C. Chambers
OTHER DETAILS:
All regions
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray
1994
Run Time: 123 min
New 4K restoration from the original camera negatives by Sony Pictures Entertainment
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original uncompressed stereo audio and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
