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Freshly remastered and finally available on 4K UHD, Milos Forman’s film of Peter Shaffer’s play AMADEUS (154 mins., 1984, PG; Warner) restores, at long last, the movie’s theatrical version after years of being circulated only in an inferior “Director’s Cut” that made some detrimental alterations to the celebrated Best Picture winner.
Version 1.0.0
If it weren’t for Laurence Olivier famously fumbling his announcement of the Best Picture category, Oscar night for “Amadeus” back in 1985 couldn’t have possibly been more perfect: the opulent adaptation of Shaffer’s play copped eight Oscars in a terrific year for movies, winning in all of its nominated categories except Cinematography and Editing, where it lost to another great movie, Roland Joffe’s “The Killing Fields.”
Long one of my favorite films, “Amadeus” is mostly regarded as a speculative fiction (or a total fiction in certain respects) on the part of Shaffer, chronicling the relationship between brash musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Austrian court composer Antonio Salieri (Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham), who watches as his younger and seemingly less hard-working contemporary effortlessly creates timeless works of art while Salieri consistently fails to earn the distinction that Mozart does — even when he’s not even trying. It’s a lavish spectacle filled with gorgeous locales, sets, costumes and, naturally, music as adapted by Sir Neville Mariner, but it’s also a timeless story with a central subject matter relevant to the human condition regardless of its time frame.
“Amadeus” didn’t need “tweaking,” but back during the heyday of “Bonus Footage”-dominated “Director’s Cuts” that were often driven less by filmmakers and more by the demand of a booming DVD marketplace, Milos Forman’s movie had some 20 minutes reinserted to a picture that seemed pretty much perfect in the first place. In addition to creating a flabbier viewing experience (and a new, adults-only R rating), the material explained things that didn’t need to be clarified, changed some of the character relationships in negative way (most notably the dynamic between Mozart’s wife, Constanze, and Salieri), and took away from the overall impact of Forman’s theatrical cut.
While Forman signed off on the changes, he also admitted the superior version was his theatrical cut, and it’s this version that won Oscars and became a fan favorite – one which the Saul Zaentz Company and Warner Home Video have premiered here on 4K UHD (2.35) in a spectacular new presentation that was worth the wait.
Their extensive 4K restoration was long in coming and reportedly quite difficult as the movie’s negative had been trimmed to conform to the longer version. After years of painstaking work, the movie has been brought back to life here in a magnificent HDR10-enhanced (2.35) transfer that does a spectacular job capturing the imagery of Forman and cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek. Details, colors, the framing – all of it is just divine and brings back memories of seeing the movie theatrically. It’s a bravura presentation, capped with clear, crisp 5.1 DTS MA sound that seems to upmix the movie’s original Dolby Stereo sound design.
Extras are a little light: there’s a raggedly-edited, 20-minute retrospective comprised of “remotely conducted” interviews with Abraham, Hulce, Simon Callow, and historian Jon Burlingame among others, plus the previous “Making of Amadeus” from the Director’s Cut DVD. It might’ve been nice to have the deleted scenes included, and we also miss the Shaffer/Forman commentary from that release, but perhaps substantive goodies are being saved for some type of Criterion-level Special Edition.
Either way, “Amadeus”’ first (and best) cut has been restored to all its cinematic glory, and there’s not a wrong note to be found in it – cinematically, technically, or otherwise.
 Kino Lorber New Releases
A John Candy double-feature kicks off Kino Lorber’s latest releases for February, including the comedian’s first leading role – the genial Paramount ‘85 comedy SUMMER RENTAL – as well as one of Candy’s biggest box-office hits, the 1989 John Hughes production UNCLE BUCK, the latter debuting on 4K UHD.
Though a reliable performer on home video and cable TV frequent flier, only now has SUMMER RENTAL (88 mins., 1985, PG) become available on Blu-Ray, and in a new, 4K-sourced remaster to boot.
This Carl-Reiner helmed comedy was a quickly-shot piece of summer escapist fluff, with beleaguered air traffic controller Candy taking his wife and kids on a much-needed Florida vacation. While fighting off a bad sunburn and the hordes of beach-goers near the shore, Candy manages to get himself crossed up with stuffy sailing snob Richard Crenna, which results in a climactic boat race that goes right down to the literal wire.
While not a classic comedy, this first star vehicle for Candy is pleasant enough, coasting along at 86 minutes with occasional laughs mixed in with the formulaic script. The late comedian is extremely likable here, and is backed by a solid supporting cast (including Rip Torn and a wasted John Larroquette, who must’ve been left on the cutting room floor), along with an engaging Alan Silvestri score which I had the pleasure to recap for Quartet’s soundtrack CD years back. The music he composed for the ending sailboat race is tuneful and quite terrific, mixing some orchestra with sprightly synths.
Speaking of that, Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray includes a new featurette, “Ear Candy: The Music of Summer Rental,” but is really just an ad for the more recent LP release, wherein the releasing label more or less makes it sound like theirs was the first release of the album anywhere (it wasn’t) and that they were responsible for the content on it (they weren’t, Quartet put the album together). There’s also a commentary from Youtuber Joe Ramoni which has some good anecdotes but is a bit hampered by his overly deliberate speaking delivery.
 While “Summer Rental” debuts on Blu-Ray, UNCLE BUCK (100 mins., 1989, PG; Kino Lorber) premieres on 4K UHD in a new 4K scan of its 35mm original camera negative.
This late summer ‘89 Universal release proved to be one of Candy’s biggest (and certainly best) lead vehicles, finding the comedian fitting comfortably into the role of an unmarried Chicago bachelor pressed into family duty when his sister-in-law’s father becomes ill. Soon “Uncle Buck” is placed in charge of his nieces and nephew – and while moppets Macaulay Culkin and Gaby Hoffman are quick to warm to their uncle, mopey teen Jean Louisa Kelly doesn’t, and it’s her interplay with Buck that provides the dramatic juice to Hughes’ original script.
Hughes helmed what would be his penultimate directorial feature with “Uncle Buck,” which mixes laughs and emotion effectively throughout its running time. Candy has good chemistry with all three kids being perfectly cast, and the familiar confines of suburban Chicago make for one of Hughes’ most appealing productions from its era, one that serves as a bridge between the teen/adult pictures he produced beforehand with the younger, family comedies he’d go onto shepherd afterwards.
“Uncle Buck” has been released on Blu-Ray several times but this 4K UHD debuts a much-needed remaster (1.85, 5.1/2.0) that improves immeasurably upon Universal’s ancient HD transfer. Details are crisper, colors better handled, and the image is much more satisfying while the sound is clearly and effectively rendered in its 5.1 remix. In terms of extras, what’s new to this BD/UHD package are commentaries (historian tracks by Joe Ramoni plus Alexandra Heller-Nicholas/Josh Nelson) and a new interview with Jean Louisa Kelly along with the trailer.
GRAVEYARD SHIFT 4K UHD (86 mins., 1990, R; Kino Lorber): After “Pet Sematary” hit it big, every producer in the world scrambled for anything and everything that had author Stephen King’s name in it — hence junk like “The Lawnmower Man,” Tobe Hooper’s awful “The Mangler,” and “Graveyard Shift,” an independent flick that one of King’s Maine friends held the rights to, and that line producer (and Fall River, Mass. native) Ralph S. Singleton opted to write and direct himself for the big screen.
 Acquired by Paramount in the U.S., “Graveyard Shift” is a bad movie, all right, but at least it’s a good one. Bland leading man David Andrews plays an “educated fellow” who rambles into Gates Falls, Maine and tries to find a job at the town’s textile mill. Owner Stephen Macht tells Andrews he has room on the “graveyard shift,” while conveniently not telling him that mysterious deaths have begun to spring up in the mill, even while exterminator Brad Dourif (as delirious as ever) tries to flush out rat-infested areas believed to be the cause of the trouble. Turns out that the rodents may not be the real culprit after all, but rather a strange, gooey bat-like rat that lives in the tunnels under the building.
Under 90 minutes and with no pretension whatsoever, “Graveyard Shift” provides lean B-thrills and plenty of laughs thanks to the performances of Dourif and Macht, who attempts a Maine accent (I didn’t say he succeeds, however!) and goes almost as over-the-top as Dourif does in the plum role of the Exterminator. They’re so goofy that you can’t help but be bored by everyone else in the movie, while the film’s low budget results in some pretty amusing special effects work, as well directed by Singleton as can be expected under the circumstances.
Say whatever you’d like about the utter lack of artistry on display here, but any movie that ends with a nondescript ’90s groove set to dialogue clips from this particular story can’t be all bad. If you’re looking for some no-brain horror silliness to enjoy with friends, “Graveyard Shift” would perfectly fit the bill.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD debuts a new 4K scan of the original OCN (1.85, 5.1/2.0) with Dolby Vision HDR and extras brought over from the Scream Factory disc. These include interviews with Singleton, Macht, Kelly Wolf and co-star Robert Alan Beuth. There’s also the trailer, a Blu-Ray, and a new commentary with Howard S. Berger and Marc Edward Heuck.
BODY PARTS (88 mins., 1991, R) is a moody, nifty little chiller that’s more a “suspense mystery-thriller” than a horror movie, even with “Hitcher” writer Eric Red co-writing and directing. Jeff Fahey plays a shrink injured in a car wreck, losing his arm in the process. (Un)fortunately for Fahey, a mad doctor is able to transplant an arm – from a serial killer! – causing major trouble for him and his family in an adaptation of Boileau-Narcejac’s book.
 Horror fans found “Body Parts” too slow moving and thriller fans didn’t care for the movie’s few gore scenes, resulting in a movie that was neither here nor there in terms of tone. If you can go with it, though, “Body Parts” is an A-grade studio product with strong production values, Theo Van de Sande’s scope lensing and Loek Dikker’s terrific orchestral score leading the way.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD (2.35, 5.1/2.0) premieres a much-needed 4K remaster of the movie with Dolby Vision HDR that outclasses the previous, old Paramount HD master seen in several Blu-Ray releases. Extras are culled from the prior Scream Factory release, including a long interview with Eric Red, conversations with editor Anthony Redman and actors Paul Ben-Victor and Peter Murnik, plus trailers, a commentary with Red, the Blu-Ray, and two deleted scenes pulled from the workprint.
TWO SPAGHETTI WESTERN CLASSICS 4K UHD (Kino Lorber): A pair of Studio Canal restorations are presented in a double-feature package from Kino Lorber on 4K UHD for the first time. Both movies are presented in standard dynamic range and offer ample grain and detail, preserving the scope dimensions of both of these cult-fave genre exercises.
The Italian/Spanish production KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE (100 mins., 1968), is the stronger of the duo, starring Chuck Connors as a mercenary working for shady Confederates looking to steal gold from the Union Army. His crack team of crazed mercenaries results in loads of betrayals – and ample violence, considering it’s 1968 – where nobody can be trusted; it’s one of Enzo G. Castellari’s higher-regarded westerns and offers some crackerjack action scenes sprinkled throughout.
 The movie is paired with THE HELLBENDERS (88 mins., 1967), whose American star is Joseph Cotten, playing a deranged Confederate with designs of reversing the outcome of the Civil War. Things don’t go quite as planned as the “Hellbenders” attempt to smuggle the funds for such an operation and all things go appropriately to hell. Sergio Corbucci (“Django”) helmed with Ennio Morricone providing the score.
Both movies offer solid 4K (2.35) transfers (again minus HDR) and sport a few extras: commentaries from Alex Cox on both movies, along with both the English language and Italian cuts of “Kill Them All…” (the differences of which appear to be related to the credits). Trailers are also included.
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM Blu-Ray (86 mins., 1972, PG; Kino Lorber): Super adaptation of Woody Allen’s play, scripted by the author for producer Arthur P. “Planet of the Apes” Jacobs and director Herbert Ross, features Woody as “Allan,” a Bay Area movie fan who begins to covet the wife (Diane Keaton) of his workaholic best friend (Tony Roberts). In between bouts of anxiety, Allan receives advice from an apparition of Humphrey Bogart (Jerry Lacy), who attempts to guide him through his lack of dating confidence – to predictably funny (and at times uproarious) results.
 Short and sweet, “Play It Again, Sam” doesn’t always get mentioned in a discussion of Allen’s filmography, probably because he didn’t direct it, but this is an underrated comic concoction with some highly amusing lines and moments. Allen starts his cinematic relationship with Keaton here and also has terrific comedic chemistry with Roberts (who recently passed at age 85) as well – it all goes down nice and easy with a very satisfying ending.
Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray boasts a new 4K scan (1.85, mono) of the original 35mm OCN. This is a highly detailed, satisfying presentation with the trailer and another superb commentary with Alan Spencer, here accompanied by Justin Humphreys, that puts most “historian commentary tracks” to shame with its breadth of knowledge and Spencer’s engaging delivery.
THE CONQUEROR Blu-Ray (111 mins., 1956; Kino Lorber): Infamous ‘50s epic features John Wayne as the future Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior here romancing the daughter (Susan Hayward) of a Tartar leader, in a Howard Hughes production derided by critics for decades as one of the worst Hollywood productions of its time – and certainly one of Wayne’s most miscast turns. Dick Powell’s film also became infamous for having been shot downwind of a Utah nuclear testing site, resulting in the eventual, cancerous deaths of many of its cast and crew.
 Despite all of this, “The Conqueror” hasn’t circulated much on domestic home video, making Kino Lorber’s new Blu-Ray (2.35, mono) worthwhile for movie buffs. While this was an RKO production, somehow the rights to this particular film ended up at Universal, which supplied a serviceable but seemingly older HD master for license here. The movie looks aged and has that “noisy” appearance of early high-def masters, but it’s still going to suffice for many, while the mono sound is adequate, supporting a Victor Young score that’s not especially memorable. A historian commentary with David Del Valle and Dan Marino is on-hand plus the trailer.
HOT PURSUIT Blu-Ray (93 mins., 1987, PG-13; Kino Lorber): Misfired, but still interesting, entry into the ‘80s teen comedy market sends a prep-school student (John Cusack) off to the Caribbean in pursuit of girlfriend Wendy Gazelle. There, he finds her and her family entangled with local pirates, leading Cusack to take up with old salt Robert Loggia in order to rescue them. Tom Mankiewicz produced “Hot Pursuit” for RKO, with “Tron”’s Steven Lisberger directing and co-writing – yet despite their talents and a terrific cast, “Hot Pursuit” is all over the place tonally, lacking charm, even with Cusack essaying one of many similar roles he performed during the decade. The “Rareview” synth score is all formula, but at least the Stillers (Jerry and son Ben, making his feature debut here) are good for some laughs. Another Joe Ramoni commentary is on-tap in Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray (185, 2.0 DTS MA stereo), the picture’s premiere in the format, from a 4K scan of the OCN.
 Also New on 4K UHD
GLADIATOR II 4K UHD/Blu-Ray (147 mins., 2024, R; Paramount): Lazy “re-quel” to director Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning box-office smash (which I truthfully found a bit overrated upon its own merits years back) “re-skins” the narrative of its predecessor for a tediously uninvolving, unnecessary follow-up.
The charisma-challenged Paul Mescal plays the Son of Crowe here, going through many of the same narrative paces as his cinematic Pops after having been hid away as a child by mom Connie Nielsen. The contrivances of making a sequel necessitated that the entire ending of the first “Gladiator” was rendered meaningless by this movie’s premise, as Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor has been replaced with a pair of brothers (Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger) who have turned Rome into another “Do Not Vacation” spot. Ultimately, Mescal’s Lucius enters the ring again and leads a big revolution…oh wait, that doesn’t actually happen as David Scarpa’s incredibly unambitious script decides to cut things off before the big battle finale.
It’s great that Ridley Scott is able to go out at his age and turn out movie after movie, but there’s something undeniably passionless about so much of his work over the last couple of decades – generally speaking – that it’s unfortunate he doesn’t feel the urge to spend time cultivating a quality project as he once did early in his career. “Gladiator II” has the same, nondescript feel of another rotten sequel Scott recently produced – “Alien Covenant” – and instead of continuing the original’s story in an even remotely interesting way, it goes the way of Disney’s “Force Awakens” by just remaking and retreading its predecessor, all to diminishing creative returns.
Paramount’s 4K UHD (2/39) sports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound, but the visuals are unmistakably artificial in the sequel’s heavily-digital presentation compared to the more “lived in” physical world shown in the first “Gladiator.” Extras include deleted scenes and numerous featurettes, the Blu-Ray and a Digital HD copy in Paramount’s limited-edition Steelbook packaging.
 Also new from Warner is a 4K UHD remaster of CONSTANTINE (121 mins., 2005, R), the supernatural DC Comics adaptation that – along with a stiff Keanu Reeves lead performance – manages to deliver a satisfying amount of glossy entertainment for genre fans.
Reeves stars as John Constantine, our chain-smoking, sarcastic hero who watches the battle of Good and Evil (and God Vs. The Devil) play out between Heaven and Hell with one exception: it isn’t supposed to crossover into our plain of existence. After performing an exorcism on a young girl (in the movie’s slam-bang opening set piece), Constantine realizes that someone from down below is hatching a plan to bring hell on Earth (even more than it is already). The plan could be possibly connected to a female cop (Rachel Weisz), who tracks down Constantine and finds out both angels and devils are everywhere — provided you know where to look.
Fans of the DC Comics “graphic novel” cried foul over this big-budget Warner Bros. release, but if you’re like me and have never heard of the “Hell Blazer” comic, you’re likely to be entertained by this surprisingly effective mix of special effects wizardry, occasional black comedy, and religious theory.
First-time feature director Francis Lawrence, working from a script by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello, thankfully never becomes overwhelmed with the movie’s occasionally spellbinding visual effects. This allows for intriguing supporting performances from the likes of Weisz, Tilda Swinton (as Gabriel, here a fallen angel of the asexual persuasion!), Djimon Hounsou as a sage witch doctor, and Peter Stormare, who appears as Satan in a climax that’s thankfully a lot more restrained than you might expect.
Warner’s good-looking 4K UHD offers an often stunning Dolby Vision HDR (2.35) presentation with Dolby Atmos sound. The hodgepodge score by Brian Tyler and Klaus Badelt was reportedly the result of Tyler’s original score being dumped in numerous sequences and worked around to accommodate several songs. Subsequently, it doesn’t have the majestic or particularly sinister tone one might anticipate.
The UHD also includes a brand-new retrospective, “Two Decades of Damnation,” which is comprised of Reeves and Lawrence reuniting to discuss the film. Carried over from previous editions are commentaries, 18 minutes of deleted scenes including a subplot involving Constantine’s affair with a female demon, and an alternate ending. Optional commentary by the director is available over the excised sequences as well.
NEXT TIME: OCN Wrap including Cinematographe’s newest! Until then, don’t forget to drop in on the official Aisle Seat Message Boards and direct any emails to our email address. Cheers everyone!
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