Beetlejuice UHD Blu-ray (2020)
MSRP: £19.99
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Beetlejuice Review
Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose!
Back when Tim Burton had a spark of creative enthusiasm, he put his mind to slightly off kilter projects; in the case of tonight’s feature, a haunting, but told from the perspective of the ghosts. The result was Beetlejuicea madcap romp through a darkish imaginative tale whereby the scary ghosts are actually a kind suburban couple, who want the new occupants of their house to move out, since they don’t like them or what they are doing to the property – this proves to be difficult since they cannot seem to interact and out of desperation they call upon the ‘bio-exorcist’ Betelgeuse, without realising he works only to his own agenda!
Dark and gaudily lit
Starring Alex Baldwin, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, Jeffery Jones, Winona Ryder, and Michael Keaton (all looking amazingly young!), in the titular role giving a purposefully over-the-top performance. Indeed, all performances are slightly exaggerated, in fitting with the outrageous story and, in particular, look of the film. Dark and gaudily lit, the film has Burton’s look all over it, you know, before it became a pastiche of itself, so it is fresh, vibrant and exciting. There is an energy about the piece; it is silly but dark, thrilling but funny, never preaches and is fast paced while running at normal film length, and not the overly long runtimes that seem to proliferate today.
For the most part it still holds up today, my only gripe would be Elfman’s score, which, to me, seems just too bouncy; but I’m clearly in the minority, since the film has had a ‘music only’ track for as long as I can remember.
Beetlejuice 4K Video
Beetlejuice was shot using Panavision Panaflex cameras on 35mm film, with Warner giving this a new scan and clean-up producing a new 4K DI. The disc presents an native 3840 x 2160p resolution image in the widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and uses 10-bit video depth, High Dynamic Range, a Wide Colour Gamut (WCG) and is encoded using the HEVC (H.265) codec for HDR10. We reviewed the Region free UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Beetlejuice on a Panasonic 65DX902B Ultra HD 4K TV with a Panasonic DP-UB450 Dolby Vision HDR10+ 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.
Model shots
The new scan has revealed a wealth of detail, from close up skin texture, to clothing weaves, from establishing shots of the Maitland’s house on the hill to model shots of the same. Detail is wonderfully keen, edges are held throughout, whether that is sand grains in the sandworm’s domain to the tool marks on the sculptures, or the unconventional wall coverings once the house is decorated.
But where this image really shines is with the WGC and HDR, the colouring simply pops; the green of the ‘afterlife’, the red of Lydia’s wedding dress, the orange of the sandworm’s land, the yellow of the Volvo, the UV light enhanced make-up; it is all stunning represented, giving a depth and solidity to the palette.
Black level is strong and deep, with a good range of shadow detail, while the white scale is lovely, giving highlights a popping edge.
Digitally, there are no issues, the original source is clean, and the naturalistic film grain is well held giving a beautifully filmic presentation.
Beetlejuice 4K Audio
The Dolby Atmos track opens up the surround field, whereby the surround and overhead channels give a decent sense of immersion. There are not many discrete effects, indeed the whole feels rather front heavy, the exception being the score. Dialogue is clean and clear, given a little directionality and sounds very natural. The score does make full use of the surround field and it bounces along merrily. Bass is tight and natural, but won’t be winning any deepest sub awards, but it does fill out effects and score well. The film does lend itself to a strong surround experience, but didn’t really deliver to my expectations, which is a shame.
Beetlejuice 4K Extras
All extras are found on the included Blu-ray.
Animated Beetlejuice TV series – 3 Episodes entitled: A-Ha!, Skeletons in the Closet, and Spooky Boo-Tique
Theatrical Trailer
Music Only Track
Conclusion
Beetlejuice 4K Blu-ray Review
Back when Tim Burton’s creativity was something new and not a pastiche of itself, Beetlejuice came about; being twisted, funny, dark but wholesome, it is instantly recognisable and holds up very well today – it also looks fantastic!
Holds up today
The 4K UHD from Warner is pretty good, the new native 4K image is stunning, both in terms of detail but especially in terms of colour reproduction which blows the screen away. The Dolby Atmos track is a bit front heavy, but effects and the score do envelope well, with the only let down being the rather paltry set of extras.
Beetlejuice is on UK 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray as a standalone 4K release and as part of the Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary Studio Collection from 16th October 2023.
The Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary Studio Collection pulls together ten classic films from three eras in Hollywood - Classic Hollywood, New Hollywood and Modern Blockbusters - and serves them up in a lavish set with impressive packaging, booklets and memorabilia.
Scores
Movie
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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8
Picture quality
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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10
Sound quality
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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7
Extras
•
•
•
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3
Overall
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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8
8
SCORE
OUT OF
10
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