New Tarantino Movie 4Ks, The Nice Guys, Smile 2, Conclave and More: Viva Physical Media
Plus The Searchers comes to 4K and House finally gets a U.S. Complete Series set.
Another month, another stack of new releases from the past few weeks to catch up on, so let’s dive in! This was a pretty cool group of films to sift through, including a David Fincher classic, three of Tarantino’s most memorable films, a beloved Western, and a “why in the hell wasn’t this a huge hit?!” Shane Black great. Plus, there’s a long-running TV show hit and more.
Seven 4K UHD
Available Now
The movie that truly put David Fincher on the map as a director, after the less than stellar results — and a notably unhappy experience for Fincher himself — on Alien 3, Seven very much still holds up. It takes a basic “unlikely cop duo hunts a serial killer” set up and does something so much more intense and engrossing with it than was the norm at the time. The moody, atmospheric and nearly comic book-style aesthetic Fincher uses depicting his perpetually rainy, dreary, unnamed city, works perfectly to set the scene for a movie that exits in a dark as hell world, with only some tiny glimmers of hope to grab onto. And Fincher’s leads, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, are perfectly cast as the world weary veteran and his young, cocky partner, the latter of whom’s about to get some grim lessons in just what they’re up against.
Seven’s gone on an interesting journey since its original release, with numerous physical and digital versions that have sometimes had rather different looks to them. The film was shot and produced to be notably visually dark, but just how dark can be up for debate. I found this new 4K disc - which was made via an 8K scan of the 35mm camera negative - to look fantastic overall, capturing the original 35mm oh-so grainy, shadowy look while not becoming so shadowy that you can’t make out details.
Fincher has raised eyebrows by making some small digital “fixes” to the film of some things that bugged him for this version, such as the framing of some shots, including using some AI assists. But as someone who can be hyper wary of such things, I found its use fairly undetectable in this case unless you are truly looking for it in a side by side comparison of previous versions.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
There are four (!) commentaries, though they are now all over a quarter of a century old. In 2000, Seven received a New Line “Platinum Series” DVD release that included all of these commentaries, which have fortunately continued to be included on subsequent versions, including the new 4K. The commentaries alone and how they are centered on different aspects of the film are a masterclass in presentation and filmmaking technique from a bygone era in home releases, focused on the stars (with Fincher joined by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman), the story (Fincher again, but this time with Richard Dyer, Andrew Kevin Walker, Richard Francis-Bruce, and Michael de Luca), the picture (Darius Khondji, Arthur Max, Richard Francis-Bruce and, you guessed it, Fincher) and the sound (Fincher, naturally, joined by Ren Klyce and Howard Shore).
There are other extras, some of which even date back to the film’s 1996 Criterion Collection Laserdisc in terms of how long they’ve been available, including deleted scenes with commentary, an alternate ending with optional animated storyboard and with a commentary. There’s also the 41 minute plus of still galleries, and even those have a commentary by photographer Melodie McDaniel. The film’s incredible and influential opening titles get their own spotlight featurette too - and yep, those have optional commentary! Seeing all of this material again is a reminder of why those old laserdisc and DVD releases could truly feel like mini film school lessons - or, actually, really long film school lessons if you add up all the time you could spend with them.
It may all be archive material but it’s fantastic and really the only thing one could ask for that’s lacking when it comes to new material is a new interview or featurette with Fincher discussing the tweaks he made for the 4K, especially since there’s an old 23:00 feature about “Mastering for Home Theater” that could do with a modern update perspective.
The Searchers 4K UHD + Blu-ray
Available Now
It’s always interesting being a first time viewer of a film you know is considered a classic and seeing how you perceive it through modern eyes, and I got that experience recently via my first-ever watch of 1956’s The Searchers thanks to the new 4K release of the film. One of John Wayne’s most iconic films, the story focuses on a Civil War veteran (Wayne’s Ethan Edwards) who spends years searching for his young niece (eventually played by Natalie Wood) after she’s abducted by Comanches.
In certain key respects, The Searchers was ahead of its time, because even though on the surface it feels like it’s doing a then-basic “evil Natives vs. heroic Cowboys” story — and Edwards fought for the South in the Civil War, no less — there is more going on under the surface. The idea that Ethan is blinded by rage and hate is important to the story, and we do at least get a modicum of depictions of less antagonistic Native Americans along the way, along with some brief mentions of horrors in their own past that caused the Comanches to escalate things. Obviously, it still doesn’t center their perspective in the way we’d hope a modern film would, but I was glad to realize there were at least attempts made to contextualize what was occurring in an era where other films were happy to discard any of that. I did have some issues with the way the story is told, with some choppy jumps forward in time and a conclusion that rests on Wood’s Debbie making a massive change of heart between scenes without much to explain it. Still, it goes without saying that John Ford was one hell of a director and there is a lot that is undeniably powerful about The Searchers, including its absolutely beautiful outdoor shots, via Ford and cinematographer Winton C. Hoch, which look absolutely stunning on this new 4K.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
Yes, there is an archival commentary from the late Peter Bogdanovich where he eloquently discusses the significance of The Searchers. Though nothing new was produced for this release, there is a nice array of material on the Blu-ray disc from previous releases, including a retrospective featuring other filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Curtin Hanson discussing the movie, plus a look back at the overall process of making the film, both of which run about a half hour each. There’s also 22 minutes of vintage promo pieces for the movie. On top of that though, WB has also admirably included some cool new additions from the vault that weren’t on the last disc, including a 44-second vintage newsreel about the movie’s premiere and nearly 12 minutes of understandably grainy outtakes from the set.
The Nice Guys 4K UHD
Available Now
Last fall, I went to a Shane Black retrospective marathon, culminating in a Q&A with the writer-director, and it was a wonderful reminder of just how damn entertaining his movies are. For a long time, when naming my favorite film from Black — whether he was also the director or was only the screenwriter — I’ve usually gone with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but I have to admit, The Nice Guys has been sneaking up in recent years. Black takes your basic mismatched crime-solving duo and rather than go super dark with it, a la Seven, he shows how you can lean into the frequent comedic vibes of such a pairing and still make it feel utterly fresh and engaging by presenting it in such an appealing and genuinely funny way.
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are operating at exactly the right level for the film, with Gosling showing a knack for slapstick comedy that was quite the surprise prior to his Barbie role. Black makes great use of his 1970s-era Los Angeles setting, and the supporting cast are all terrific, including Margaret Qualley, Matt Bomer, Kieth David and a young Angourie Rice - the latter once more cementing how Black is uniquely talented when it comes to creating sassy kid characters and making them actually feel funny and endearing, rather than cloying or forced.
For me, The Nice Guys is a must own because it’s just that good. All that being said, there are some caveats here with the new WB-produced 4K disc. One is that while the movie looks great, it doesn’t look vastly better than the previous Blu-ray. And then there’s the fact that the UK-based Second Sight has already announced their own upcoming 4K Limited Edition of the film, which leads me to…
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
No, there’s just two brief featurettes, each running about 6 minutes, that were on the previous Blu-ray. And given Second Sight’s history, it’s very likely we’ll get much more substantial, brand new material on their 4K. Granted, Second Sight’s version will certainly be pricier too, so if you’re simply happy to get The Nice Guys on 4K, the WB version works, but for those looking for more, you might want to wait and see what Second Sight has in store.
Smile 2 4K UHD
Available Now
There were so many great horror movies in 2024, so it’s saying something that Smile 2 was still a standout. I thought the first film was a solid horror film, with a fun, twisted take on a curse story, but the sequel really elevates things. Returning writer/director Parker Finn makes a big leap here, showing more confidence and skill in this story of a pop star (Naomi Scott) who becomes the latest to get the curse that will lead her to kill herself in some horrific way in the next week, unless she can do something to stop it - even as she’s seeing awful hallucinations and visions with increasing frequency.
Though she does eventually learn more about what’s occurring, Scott’s Skye Riley doesn’t go on the same investigative journey as the first film’s main character, as we stay more focused on Skye’s attempts to keep things together as she attempts a comeback tour in the wake of a highly publicized fall from grace that culminated in a fatal car crash. Obviously, having a nightmare smile curse consume her psyche isn’t helping matters and Naomi Scott is so good at showing Skye unraveling in increasingly unhinged ways.
Existing in a world of a pop star’s tour prep, Smile 2’s a more colorful and vibrant film than its predecessor, as Skye practices her big song and dance numbers — in the midst of seeing delightfully gory things occur — and boasts an excellent 4K transfer and Dolby Atmos audio presentation spotlighting these aspects, including the catchy songs written for the film and performed by Scott.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
There is and it’s a good one from Finn, discussing his approach to the sequel. I do wish Scott was there too, since she’s so essential to how well Smile 2 works, but Finn does a solid job taking you through the story and the decisions he made. The rest of the bonus features are comprised mainly of a half dozen five minute-ish featurettes, including one on the film’s gripping opening sequence dealing with the first film’s survivor, Joel (Kyle Gallner). There are also a trio of extended/deleted scenes.
House M.D.: The Complete Series Blu-ray
Available Now
There was an obvious not-so-secret to the success of House M.D. and why it ran for 8 seasons and 177 episodes and that’s Hugh Laurie. Not nearly as well known in the US as he was in the UK — where he’d been a successful comedic actor for years — when the show began, Laurie made quite the impact as Dr. Gregory House, quickly transcending the character’s loose Sherlock Holmes inspiration. House is an absolutely brilliant man and simultaneously an absolute asshole, and Laurie’s comedy background served him well at infusing just the right acerbic wit to the character, who usually said truly awful things in the midst of his brutal approach, yet was always engaging and entertaining thanks to Laurie.
That being said, House was a network procedural through and through with a rather rigid formula, as House would eventually be the only one who could figure out the unusual or outright bizarre ailment of a new patient. House and his ever-dependable medical team and colleagues — played by the likes of Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps, Jesse Spencer and Olivia Wilde — were given plenty of dramatic subplots, though those were a very mixed bag with some strong storylines intermixed with ones best forgotten. Procedurals are comfort food, to be sure, but House felt pretty long in the tooth by the time it hit episode 177, but at its best, it offered plenty to keep audiences invested.
A House Complete Series Blu-ray set is long overdue - at least if you’re in America, since, for some reason, there were only international versions of this set produced years ago. So for fans, it’s just great to finally have this set at all, and Blu-rays of the early seasons at least, given those seasons only ever had DVDs released in the U.S. But there’s also a notable annoyance — or an outright deal-breaker for a few — which is that no, the original Massive Attack theme song has not been restored to Season 1-5 and remains the same swapped out version (with the closing credit music also used at the start) that’s been on streaming and previous disc releases.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
There are 13 commentaries spread out across the seasons - though, unfortunately, both the first and final seasons are the only ones without any commentary. It feels like the pilot and series finale would be good candidates, right? (though perhaps you avoid having the pilot’s director, Bryan Singer, participate). Those commentaries, along with a nice group of additional featurettes, are all ported over from previous releases and provide decent info overall, as far as focusing on different parts of the production.
I should also mention the packaging here, as I continue to appreciate Universal giving each season of a Complete Series set for their shows their own separate case and art within. It may take up more shelf space, but it’s a far better — and less prone to scratching — way to present this many discs than how, say, Paramount stacks their discs on top of each other. However, what’s up with the art on the outside box for this set, which just includes different images of Gregory House over and over again across each side of the set, bathed in yellow? You had a whole ensemble of cast photos you could have included too to make this more interesting visually, Universal!
Kill Bill Vol. 1 4K UHD + Blu-ray
Kill Bill Vol. 2 4K UHD + Blu-ray
Both Available Now
A trio of Tarantino movies recently got 4K upgrades, but I’m going to group the two Kill Bill films together here, though they are not sold together (some gripes about that below). While I do prefer the absolutely nonstop kinetic energy of Kill Bill Vol. 1, these both remain a thrill to watch, telling a very satisfying revenge story for Uma Thurman’s Bride start to finish. Tarantino’s always included big moments of violence amongst his dialogue-heavy films, but Kill Bill let him show off what he could do in a true action movie realm and the results were absolutely thrilling.
Intermixing stylistic flourishes and even animation in a way he hadn’t before, both Kill Bill movies look and sound great in this new 4K presentation, with a sequence like the Bride fighting the onslaught of the Crazy 88 — and slaughtering them for their trouble — getting just the dynamic presentation it deserves. However, it remains vexing that we’re now multiple generations into Kill Bill in physical media and yet we still haven’t gotten a release of the originally planned version, where both film were joined together as one long epic, before Tarantino agreed to split them up.
It’s been many years since I got to see a screening of what was titled Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair at the Tarantino-owned New Beverly theater in LA, yet that one-off has not led to an actual wide release of this version of Kill Bill (don’t be fooled by the fan edits circulating online). Long cemented as the official release versions of these movies, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 should never be outright replaced, but it is surprising to still not have an option for the alternate version as well and this 4K transfer felt like a great opportunity to remedy that. We’ll see if we ever get it, but it’s probably up to Tarantino at this point.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
No, which is not surprising but still vexing. For someone who loves movies as much as he does and loves talking about movies as much as he does, Tarantino has been surprisingly remiss to do much talking for his own films. He’s never recorded an audio commentary for a movie he directed — making exceptions for True Romance and From Dusk Till Dawn, which were his screenplays, but made by other director — which is a shame.
The only special features on the Kill Bill discs are now 20 years old, comprised of longer featurettes on the making of both films (running 22 minutes for Vol. 1 and 26 minutes for Vol. 2), an extended musical performance from each movie, and a single deleted scene from Vol. 2. I can only assume he has a “let the movie speak for itself” perspective on his own work, but also, Quentin, come on… We know you love to talk about this stuff!!
Jackie Brown 4K UHD + Blu-ray
Available Now
As for the other new-to-4K Tarantino film, I’ll admit it, I was like so many others when it came to Jackie Brown. Which is to say, I didn’t get how great it was when I first saw it. In the wake of Pulp Fiction, the response to Jackie Brown felt subdued by comparison, with the film’s slower, more thoughtful approach not delivering the same kind of energy Pulp Fiction had pulsing through it and which audiences went in craving more of at the time. But now, with proper time and perspective added, Jackie Brown has rightfully been reevaluated, with many now seeing it as one of Tarantino’s best - something I wholeheartedly agree with.
Yes, there’s still plenty of cursing and shooting going on, but Jackie Brown feels like Tarantino’s most intimate character study, with its empathetic look at its title character — played by the legendary Pam Grier — and the love story that develops as this flight attendant/part time criminal money-smuggler forges a connection with a world weary bail bondsman (Robert Forster). In what were comeback roles for them both, 1970s stars Grier and Forster are absolutely wonderful and effortlessly ground the story, letting you empathize with their characters.
The Kill Bill movies look great on 4K but Jackie Brown is arguably the even more impressive leap in image quality compared to its previous releases - just look at the color and detail in Jackie’s trademark blue coat whenever it’s onscreen.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
Of course not!
Though all the material here is also archival, Jackie Brown actually has always had way more bonus features than most other Tarantino films, so that at least is retained. This includes a nearly 40-minute vintage making-of video, which does include Tarantino, along with the main cast and the late Elmore Leonard, who wrote the book upon which the film was based.
There also is a separate 55-minute interview with just Tarantino, that least provides a lot of the kind of discussion and explanation about his decisions a commentary might. A 44-minute critics roundtable offers a lively chat about the film and what makes it work so well.
These substantial extras are supplemented by the full 5-minute version of the amusing “Chicks With Guns” video seen playing on TV in the film, plus vintage clips of Siskel and Ebert reviewing Jackie Brown and a couple of MTV segments from when the film was released. Plus, there are still galleries, a trivia track and 15 minutes of deleted or alternate scenes, the latter of which include Tarantino introduction.
On top of that, besides a bunch of trailers and commercials for Jackie Brown, there are tons of vintage trailers for Robert Forster and Pam Grier movies included — plus radio spots for some of Grier’s work — which is a pretty spectacular way to represent the cinematic history these two already represented when Tarantino cast them.
Conclave 4K UHD + Blu-ray
Available Now
We’re in a particularly messy Academy Award season and though Anora now seems to be gaining steam — and is my personal favorite amongst the Best Picture nominees — I wonder if there’s a chance Conclave could sneak in there as somewhat of a safe choice. Which I guess sounds like an insult, though I did actually quite enjoy Conclave, though I wouldn’t call it one of the year’s best films. It does a notably impressive job of taking the selection process of choosing the next pope and turning it into an exciting political thriller. And what a cast! Ralph Fiennes is excellent as the dean of the College of Cardinals, who is overseeing the selection process for the new pop, and he’s surrounded by a ridiculous group of fellow acting heavy hitters, including John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini.
Director Edward Berger keeps the story exciting and intriguing, as we see just all of the different elements and power plays are going into this selection process - with Fiennes’ Cardinal Thomas Lawrence and Tucci’s Cardinal Aldo Bellini attempting to keep the church leaning more liberal and forward thinking, even as others conspire against them. Based on Robert Harris’ book, Conclave, in some ways, feels like elevated airplane novel material — accentuated by its “twist” ending — but it’s certainly a solid piece of filmmaking.
IS THERE A COMMENTARY?
There is, with Berger going solo to talk about the film. Sure, a second commentary with the amazing cast would have been great, but Berger does an impressive job of keeping things engaging on his own, including discussing collaborating with those aforementioned actors. There’s only one additional bonus feature — a basic 16-minute Making Of.