Rebel Without a Cause - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
To wrap up the trio of “100 Year Anniversary” Warner 4K UHD re-release, we have the king of cool himself. The prince of the flipped up collar, the master at making girls knees weak, James Dean himself in the role that basically defined his career before his untimely death a few short months before the theatrical release

Back in the mid 1950s we were at a paradigm shift for cinematic films. Hollywood was tired of making Leave it to Beaver happy go lucky Father Knows Best films and was looking for something that would strike at the heart of young viewers. They wanted something edgier, something cooler, and with the early rise of the civil rights movement stirrings, they also wanted a “stick it to the man” kind who fought against all the hyper conservative older generation who were winding down from their wartime efforts some 20 years earlier. I guess you could say, they wanted someone who would get the kids in a frenzy and say things like “OK Boomer” to their parents and hopefully sweep faltering ticket sales. Well, with James Dean they got what they wanted and then some.

James Dean starred in his second best performance yet (A Streetcar Named Desire is his best in my personal opinion) in what was considered a massively shocking film in the mid to late 50s, made even more shocking when the poor guy died in a traffic accident a few months before Rebel Without a Cause came out. The film starts out with troubled young Jim Stark (James Dean) getting arrested for public drunkeness, while simultaneously running into poor Judy (Natalie Wood) who is acting out in her own way, and John Crawford (Sal Mineo), also struggling with parental issues. The three form a strange bond that goes out of control when unbridled anger, sexuality, and rage cause their WWII era parents to wonder what is going on.

Rebel Without a Cause can widely be considered the film that ripped the band-aid off of the facade of post WWII cinema that had painted a happy picture of middle class America. Before that time we had spent 20 something years trying to act as if the next generation (and the greatest generation) were all happy and goofy, with a strong respect for their parents and the epitome of what we call a “1950s household”. Instead it brought to people’s attention the rage that was brewing under the surface, and just how much damage had been done to a generation who was living with the previous one who happened to be ridden with undiagnosed PTSD from going through one of the most traumatic wars ever!

Shocking, visceral, and completely not 1950s like, Rebel Without a Cause is still an excellent film, even though it does feel a bit dated too. While it did a good job at exposing how not everything was hunky dory back then, some of the cinematic effects, acting effects, and simple story lines still followed the rough and stilted over acting “stage performances” style that was prevalent back then. It lacks the subtlety of modern day techniques that started to change in the 1960s and the nihilistic era of film making that was the 1970s. That being said, James Dean and Natalie Woods turns in the performances of a lifetime, with gut wrenching pain from both being displayed in all it’s raw glory on film.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some violence and thematic elements




4K Video: Video:

Sourced from a new 4K remastering done specifically for this release, the new 4K UHD looks amazing. The old Blu-ray always looked good too, but the 4K UHD with it’s rich colors from the new HDR tinkering just looks that much better. James Dean’s bright rose red jacket literally pops off the screen, and the warm facial tones compliment it nicely. I noticed that the colors and push towards the red end of the spectrum (noticeable most with the facial textures and tones) is more tamed this time with the dimmer look. Instead of being almost neon bright, they retain more of the natural look, just with that burnished and colorized look of the 1950s. Blacks are deep and inky, showing great grain structure and shadow detail without any signs of crush or banding anywhere. The film has some 1950s optical effects that can make backgrounds look a bit soft and out of focus at times, but that is more to do with the style of film making vs. a transfer issue. Excellent all the way around.








Audio:

Ok, here’s the strange part. Warner has declined to do upmixes for the last few 4K UHD classics in the last month, but for this one they went from a 2.0 theatrical mix to full on Atmos. Coming from a dramatic movie that really doesn’t SCREAM “oh yeah, we need Atmos” I was a bit perplexed why it got that treatment. I still don’t know why, but the resulting mix is quite pleasant to the ears. Cleaner, the hiss form the 2.0 Mix from the aging Blu-ray is gone, and I noticed a decent amount of surround activity where I didn’t really expect any. You can hear footsteps in the background at times, or a gunshot going off over your shoulder. It’s still not going to be a massively immersive mix due to the source material and film style. Bass is very nice when digging into the score, and overall, the track feels a lot better than I was expecting.







Extras:

• Audio Commentary Douglas L. Rathgeb
• "James Dean Remembered" (1974 TV special)
• "Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents" (featurette)
• "Dennis Hopper: Memories from the Warner Lot" (featurette)
• Screen Tests
• Wardrobe Tests
• Deleted Scenes

Nicholas Ray and James Dead created an instant classic with their 1955 film, and the coming of age drama still manages to resonate with people some 68 years later, despite the massive culture shifts that have happened since then. The new 4K UHD looks and sounds pretty fantastic, even weirdly sporting an Atmos track for a film that really doesn’t seen to NEED one (although welcome addition). Still highly recommended for classic film fans everywhere, and the 4K disc is excellent.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Meneo, Jim Backus, Corey Allen
Directed by: Nicholas Ray
Written by: Stewart Stern, Irving Shulman, Nicholas Ray
Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Spanish (Castilian) DD Mono
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish (Castilian), Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Spanish (Latin American)
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 111 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 18th, 2023