Gattaca: Steelbook Edition - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Gattaca: Steelbook Edition



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
I’m going to admit something. I’ve owned Gattaca on Blu-ray for the better part of a decade, but I’ve never seen the film in my life. Yes, I got the film during the infamous B1G1 free sales of the format wars, but it lounged around in my collection without every being watched. I kind of feel embarrassed and bad about never having seen it, despite wanting to and being told by multiple friends that I really should. This new 4K UHD steel book was the perfect opportunity though, so I set myself down last night and binge watched the 4K UHD and the Blu-ray back to back in order to see how it looked on both formats. Not only am I kicking myself for never seeing the film till now, but also happy to tell fans that the upgrade is well worth it for those who have the old 2008 Blu-ray, as the new master and audio remix do wonders for the film.

I’ve been a fan of Andrew Niccol for many years, with his best film easily being The Truman Show (one of Jim Carrey’s best ones as well), but Gattaca was the first feature film by the director/writer, and really where people started to take notice of him. A dystopian sci-fi film about the essence of being human, Niccol crafts a world where people born “normally” is not so normal anymore. The world has moved on to judicial use of eugenics, where everyone is born into this world the best version of themselves they possibly can be (physically) thanks to genetic manipulation. Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) is a genetic “mistake” in this world. He’s a natural born human without genetic alteration, and any people born that way are considered a sub class of human beings, and pushed to the bottom caste of the world order in favor of the genetic altered “normal” people. His brilliant aptitudes are looked over due to his familial history of heart disease (which was basically been eradicated in the genetically altered world), even though he’s suited for something much greater due to his intellect and skills.

Vincent is relegated to being a manual laborer for the rest of his life, and given a life expectancy of only 30 odd years. However, Vincent gets the deal of a lifetime in the form of Jerome (Jude Law), a brilliant eugenically created upper class man who has suffered a spinal injury and must sit in a wheelchair. Jerome offers Vincent the opportunity to fulfill his life long dream of becoming an astronaut by assuming Jerome’s identity and class benefits. Thus the manual laborer joins the Gattaca space program, and works his way up the ranks towards astronaut. Unfortunately a murder within the space program puts Vincent’s “identity” in question, putting both him and Jerome under the microscope and putting everything they have worked for at risk.

Gattaca is really a double feature at heart. The most obvious sub story is the whole moral dilemma about what makes a person truly “human”. Vincent is the every day laborer who is made human BY his flaws and his sheer determination to succeed when no one thinks he’s able to. And then there’s Jerome. The man who has everything. The perfect career, the perfect status, but a lack of will and determination that keeps him below where he was “destined” to be due to his superior genetics. Under scrutiny it’s really a tale about the dichotomy of the person who has it all, and the person who doesn’t and what makes them truly them.

The second, and biggest, is the dystopian tale of putting humans into boxes and ordering their life around due to their genetics. The story had been done to death in sci-fi over the years, but it’s still relevant today as we come closer and closer to actual genetic manipulation in today’s day and age. It brings up quandaries about human desire for betterment, for getting rid of diseases and hindrances in our society, but also asks about the COST of doing so. Everything has a cost and while this one is a bit exaggerated (as is most sci-fi), it does sober us up a bit and cause the viewer to pause and wonder about the downsides of technology and how it can just as easily backfire on us as push us forward.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for brief violent images, language, and some sexuality




4K Video: Video:

Gattaca sported a decent encode from the Blu-ray, but from what I could gather this was struck from a newer 4K master that looks a LOOOOOT better than the aging 1080p disc does. The old Blu-ray was a solid disc from a technical standpoint 10+ years ago, but with newer 4K remasters and re-encodes it was definitely a bit lacking. The new 4K UHD disc is startlingly great, with a nice healthy grain layer that looks very natural, and a rather impressive uptick in visual clarity. Right off the bat you notice cleaner textures, better detailing on clothing and skin pores being visible to the naked eye. The dark film still has a heavy green and blue shifting color grading, as well as very ash gray muted look to most of the film, but the colors show some impressive pop with the new HDR application. Greens are deeper and brighter, skin tones look a little less pale, and even the black levels really shine. I noticed a lot more shadow detail in the home of Eugene, and little things like his wheelchair covering being better nuanced. It’s a solid 4K UHD disc, and even though I had never seen the film before, comparing the UHD vs. The old Blu-ray showed that this was definitely a rather large step ahead for the film.







Audio:

I had always heard that the old 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track found on the Blu-ray wasn’t THAT great, and the reports were right. The Blu-ray (from what I sampled) was a bit anemic and flat. Nothing bad, just didn’t have the “pop” that I was expecting for a film of this sci-fi dystopian genre. The UHD disc sports a brand new Atmos track as WELL as a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, which (when sound leveled), sounds remarkably like the old TrueHD track upon comparison. The Atmos track is much much better, though, really opening up the sound stage and adding some vibrancy to the film. The score flows effortlessly throughout all the channels, and the bass is much punchier and more impressive. The vocals are above reproach (well, except for the obvious scenes, such as the end where the waves crashing around drowns out voices), and the mix is really enjoyable. I didn’t notice a WHOLE lot of discrete sounds coming from the overheads, but there’s some mild ambient tones (during the ocean swim etc) bleed into those channels. It’s not a mega awesome Atmos mix, but it’s very precisely done and very clean sounding, with a moderate use of rears and overheads to give it a more expanded sound.







Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Blooper Reel
• Welcome to Gattaca Featurette
• Do Not Alter
• Substance Test Outtake
• Previews

Final Score: ​

Having been lazy and never seeing Gattaca before, I felt like I was revisiting a film I should have seen many years ago. The movie is expertly cast and is a much more slow paced thriller than what I was expecting. I was amazed at how well the 90s film held up in today’s more modern world of science fiction, and completely understand why it has been hailed as a 90s classic for almost 25 years. The 4K UHD appears to be a great upgrade over the Blu-ray in all areas except for the extras (same old extras). Great movie, great encode, definite buy in my humble opinion.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal, Xander Berkeley, Jayne Brook
Directed by: Andrew Niccol
Written by: Andrew Niccol
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 106 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 23rd, 2021

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[Todd Anderson]

Funny... I've never watched this flick either. Sounds like this might need to be a buy!

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I LOVE this movie, and I used to live two blocks from the “ship” from the film, actually the Marin County Courthouse, a Frank Lloyd Wright structure.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I LOVE this movie, and I used to live two blocks from the “ship” from the film, actually the Marin County Courthouse, a Frank Lloyd Wright structure.

Well that's a strong vote of confidence. This one has stood the test of time, eh?

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

Well that's a strong vote of confidence. This one has stood the test of time, eh?

I am picking up the UHD curbside over lunch.

 

[Travis Ballstadt]

I had jury duty in this thing.

 

[Grayson Dere]

I've seen this movie a few times and I NEVER get tired of it

 

[typ44q]

This has been a favorite of mine since it came out and they did an excellent job on the UHD well worth the double dip for me!