Eyes Wide Shut’s 4K Restoration by Criterion is controversial
It’s always a cause for celebration when a beloved title finally makes its 4K debut. It’s especially notable when the film in question undergoes a major restoration, but sometimes those restorations can be controversial. Sometimes, as in the case of James Cameron’s films, it can be because the movies have undergone a visual overhaul that significantly changes their appearance, which is increasingly becoming an issue with AI. Yet, sometimes it can be because new technology and scans of the movie’s negatives have brought out details that wouldn’t have been possible in previous home video releases.
The latter seems to be the case with Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Criterion has just undergone a thorough restoration of the movie with DP Larry Smith, but the resulting transfer is strikingly different than the DVD/Blu-ray transfers approved by the Kubrick estate. Here are some samples pulled off X:
So, what’s happening here? Over on DVDBeaver, which to me is the gold standard of review sites from a technical standpoint, they explain that Kubrick’s use force developed film stock was never able to be faithfully reproduced on previous editions of the movie, whereas the HDR grading helps the movie look more colour-saturated, which was Kubrick’s intention. Yet, they also acknowledge that the transfer does lean a bit towards a teal colouring, which is something that has been picked up in many other Criterion transfers and seems to be a trademark for them (their recent transfer of Sorcerer has also been controversial). The visual results are undeniably beautiful, but when you’re dealing with a director like Kubrick, who was so exacting with his films and how they looked, you’re always bound to get some pushback from fans.
Ultimately, Eyes Wide Shut’s new look will be loved by some and hated by others. I personally think they new transfer looks a lot more like how the movie looked in theaters on 35MM (I’m old enough to have seen it in theaters – it came out the year I turned eighteen), but its also such a popular catalogue title that folks have gotten used to seeing the older grading on the DVD/Blu-ray and might be uncomfortable with the new look. What’s the solution? Essentially, to preserve your old Blu-rays. If you don’t like the latest 4K look, the old WB Blu-ray still looks pretty great, and it won’t be going anywhere.
What do you think of this new transfer? Let us know in the comments.
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