VIDEODROME (1983, Blu-ray released December 7, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)
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The tech is all wrong but almost 30 years later the ideas in David Cronenberg‘s Videodrome are right on the money. The “New Flesh” is here. And I’m writing this review with it.
It’s difficult not to feel the looming presence of 1983 and its chunky, beige-box technology while watching Videodrome. Cathode ray tubes, beta tapes and VCRs play such an integral part in the story, you can’t help but be perpetually reminded that the days of NTSC and PAL video systems have come and gone. But the concepts of how we create and consume media are more relevant today than ever before. Cronenberg recognized that humanity’s unmitigated need to stare into a looking glass would eventually overcome us and literally become us, foretelling the coming of reality television and YouTube.
If you manage to be able to look beyond the push and pull of the concepts versus the lifespan of technology, the story itself springs to life. James Woods delivers a tempered performance (well, relative to the manic anger he usually has bubbling just under the surface) as brash TV station owner/programmer Max Renn who stumbles upon the pirate snuff-film “Videodrome” signals when searching for new content. He quickly becomes embroiled in a battle for both the hearts and minds of the television audience as well as his own sanity. The film explores its themes by doing what Cronenberg does best – bending his characters’ reality. We the audience become a part of the experiment after a time, as Renn is pulled deeper into the hypnosis of Videodrome we’re led to question what he is actually experiencing and where his narrative intersects with our own passive consumption of the light interpreted through our retina.
- “The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena — the videodrome. The television screen is the retina of the mind’s eye. Therefore the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore television is reality, and reality is less than television.” – Prof. Brian O’Blivion
Videodrome looks better than ever on this new Blu-ray disc edition from The Criterion Collection. The film-accurate transfer certainly isn’t going to dazzle but seems to respect the nature of the film itself, exhibiting a healthy retention of grain, improved contrast (relative to the previously issued DVD) and fine detail in close ups. From the liner notes:
- “Supervised by cinematographer Mark Irwin and approved by director David Cronenberg, this high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using the MTI’s DRS system and Pixel Farm’s PFClean system, while Digital Vision’s DVNR system was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.“
I have to say that I hate Howard Shore‘s plodding, ham-fisted score for this film. It’s a damn far cry from his fine work on The Lord of the Rings series and drags the film down a notch, in my eyes. That said, the English LPCM 1.0. mono track sounds crisp and well balanced here. No complaints about the quality. From the liner notes:
- “The Monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic tracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated audio workstation.”
Special features mimic those found on the Criterion DVD and are strong across the board. Cronenberg’s candid and informative commentary track (along with D.O.P. Mark Irwin) in particular is well worth checking out as it’s passionate, compelling and full of production details. The other standout feature for me is the vintage 26-minute “Fear on Film” roundtable discussion with Cronenberg, John Landis and John Carpenter, produced and hosted by Mick Garris. Filmed shortly before the release of Videodrome and American Werewolf in London and during production on The Thing, this short program serves as a spyglass back to a time when this new age of horror auteur was just beginning to come into its own. The Blu-ray disc also includes Camera, a short film by Cronenberg, a commentary track from Woods and co-star Deborah Harry, “Forging the Flesh” make-up doc, “Effects Men” Rick Baker audio interview, stills galleries, trailers, a 38-page illustrated booklet and more!
Highly recommended!
READ MORE: Criterion announces December Blu-ray titles: Videodrome, Cronos
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