Beetlejuice 4K Blu-ray delivers stunningly beautiful video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
After Adam and Barbara Maitland die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the Deetzes and teen daughter Lydia buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice, a rambunctious spirit whose "help" quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
For more about Beetlejuice 4K and the Beetlejuice 4K Blu-ray release, see Beetlejuice 4K Blu-ray Review published by Randy Miller III on August 30, 2020 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
NOTE: This review's screenshots are sourced from the
included Blu-ray, which does not feature a new transfer.
Warner Bros. has once again burrowed into their deep back
catalog for another welcome 4K release, this time for Tim
Burton's supernatural
horror-comedy Beetlejuice. Though Michael Keaton's
titular character doesn't get near as much screen time as you
remember, his
presence looms over the production which maintains a creepy
but extremely fun and playful vibe. Like most PG-rated fiims of
its era,
Beetlejuice isn't necessarily a safe bet for young
viewers -- that is, if they'd even care about young Alec Baldwin
and Geena Davis struggling
to navigate through a surprisingly bureaucratic afterlife with
the unwelcome help of a foul-mouthed bio-exorcist. Ladies
and germs, it's showtime!
Though certainly respectable for its time, Warner Bros.' 2008
Blu-ray edition of Beetlejuice (which is included here in
lieu of a properly
remastered disc) opened up the film to 1:78:1. Restoring the
film to its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio is just a cherry on top,
though: even more
noteworthy is the outstanding level of depth, clarity, and texture
present on this new 2160p transfer, which beautifully captures
the stunning outdoor
scenes and colorful set design and breathes new life into the
film's unique visuals. Fine detail is perfectly resolved and the
picture as a whole achieves
a very rich and film-like appearance overall, from extreme
close-ups to wide panoramics and just about everything in-
between. Likewise, dirt and
debris are completely absent and the transfer runs at a very
high bit rate, showing absolutely no signs of compression
artifacts, banding, jagged
edges...or excessive noise reduction, as evidenced by the fine
but very present level of film grain throughout. All things
considered, it's one of the
better catalog remastering jobs I've seen in recent memory this
side of Warner Archive but, as many 4K fans know, picture
clarity is only half
the story.
Perhaps the real star of the show is Beetlejuice's
superb HDR10 color enhancement, which tastefully boosts the
film's terrific color
palette into new and exciting territory without compromising its
original look. Simply put, this film was made for the
format and shot after shot
proves it with extremely strong saturation, vivid primaries, and
all-around excellent color levels that pop out nicely and create a
consistent level of
visual interest from start to finish. From the afterlife's horrific
waiting room to the intense green glow behind a chalk-drawn
door and, of course, the
nightmarish landscape outside the Maitlands' house, there's an
awful lot of eye-popping color to appreciate here. It's basically
Batman -- or
better yet, Batman Returns -- without the
slightly controversial color
re-grading, a tastefully enhanced but purist-friendly palette that
die-hard fans will swoon over. Now, where's Pee-Wee's Big
Adventure already?
Unlike the majority of early Warner Bros. Blu-ray releases,
Beetlejuice somehow ended up with a lossless Dolby
TrueHD 5.1 audio mix back in
2008. It's been tastefully tweaked into a full Dolby Atmos track
for this new 4K disc (which automatically unfolds into a
TrueHD 7.1 mix for those
without an Atmos setup) and not surprisingly sounds like a
million bucks: dialogue is crisp and clear, surround channels --
including the heights -- are
occasionally put to use during its more supernatural moments,
and discrete channel separation is extremely strong at times.
Danny Elfman's
outstanding original score has about the same presence as its
5.1 counterpart, which is balanced nicely with a deep and lively
dynamic range. Still, this
is a largely front-loaded affair overall and those extra channels
don't make Beetlejuice substantially better from a sonic
perspective...but the
extra spit and polish attention is certainly appreciated.
Like Warner Bros.' recent 4K release of The Goonies, several new lossy
foreign dubs have been added on the 4K disc although the
previous 5.1 mix is gone. Subtitle
choices are also
different but English (SDH) is
still front and center.
This two-disc release arrives in a dual-hubbed keepcase with
colorful artwork, a few inserts (including a Digital Copy
redemption code), and a
matching slipcover. Its slim extras are identical to those from
the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Blu-ray
(save for the bonus CD, of course) and are housed on the Blu-
ray disc only. These
include:
Tim Burton's Beetlejuice was the first major showcase of
his visual sensibilities and a truly unique film in its own right.
Most of it went
right over my head as a kid, I still didn't fully appreciate it well
into my twenties, but as a somewhat mature and responsible
adult/husband the film
really clicked for me this time around. Warner Bros.' sparkling
new 4K edition certainly helped matters too: its
outstanding new transfer offers
perhaps one of the most satisfying uses of HDR10 color
enhancement to date, which breathes new life into the
production design and special effects.
The new Dolby Atmos track is pretty fun too. Yet the lack of
more bonus features, not to mention other missed
opportunities (like a recycled Blu-ray
and no lossless music-only track on the 4K disc) keep this from
feeling like a truly definitive release. But Beetlejuice has
never,
never looked better, and that'll be more than enough for
most.
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