The Remains of the Day - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Remains of the Day



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


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Movie
Before Downton Abbey becoming a cultural phenomenon we had another major film back about 30 years ago (really? Has it been that long?) that introduced us to the British caste system and the world of high class butlers and housekeepers etc. Based upon Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro’s 1989 novel of the same name about a butler reminiscing over events of the 20th century as told from the point of view of a lay person, rather than the ostentatious view of high class British nobility. I vaguely remember the film due to my mother dragging me to see it at 11 years of age (yeah, that really went over well with an 11 year old who just wanted to watch the latest Arnie movie), and promptly forgot about it ever since. The film DID get a wide Blu-ray release back in 2015 as a limited edition pressing from the new defunct Twilight Time, and then re-released back in 2019 by Sony among other Twilight Times licenses that reverted back to Sony about the same time. Naturally I wasn’t that interested due to my childhood boredom of the film, but figured now that it’s hitting 4K UHD I might as well revisit the film once more and see how I like it some 30 years later.

The film opens up with a brief history of events that led up to the present. Like many post World War II manors, Darlington Hall is devoid of it’s original owners, and is sold off at auction in order to pay for the dilapidated economy that England has found itself after the war. Retired U.S. senator Lewis (Christopher Reeve) steps in and buys the house at auction, saving the manor and the included art collection within from being scrapped and ruined. Taking up residence in the estate the last remaining major staff member is the butler, Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) who has worked the manor for literally decades.

Stevens is looking for a new housekeeper when he manages to stumble upon a letter by Miss Kenton (now Mrs. Bunn, played by Emma Thompson) who is updating Stevens with how her life has been going, and thanking the old man for the best years of her life at Darlington Hall. When Lewis gives Stevens the week off to recuperate and take a break, the aging Butler decides to take a trip down to meet Miss Kenton once more and hopefully bring her back as the new housekeeper once again. The end result is a whimsical trip down memory lane as the rest of the movie is one gigantic flashback of Stevens remembering the introduction of Miss Kenton, and how it forever changed his life, and the events of the manor itself forever.

The Remains of the Day is a surprisingly sweet, but also unsentimental film that acts as a bit of a history lesson for many years due to Steven’s long tenure at the manor. Slow, but never ever dull, the film is a steady and methodically paced slice of life drama that showcases an incredible cast of actors, including a barely 20 year old Lena Headey, and Hugh Grant. Smart and witty, it may never be a blockbuster film that will be remembered forever, but manages to be a a compelling “tell all” film that certainly surprised me at it’s quality considering it had been 30 years since I had actually seen it.




Rating:

Rated PG for thematic elements




4K Video: Video:

According to what I could glean, this 4K UHD is sourced from the same 4K master that was used for Sony’s 2019 release (no idea if it’s the same master as used for the 2015 Twilight Time release) and supervised by director James Ivory. As I’ve never seen a single home video release of the movie up until this point (which IS shocking, considering how many Blu-rays and DVDs I’ve owned over the last 20+ years) but I can say that the results are phenomenal. The opening chapter can be a bit soft, but once we jump back into the past the movie really clears up and is a very rich and well tapestried image. Grain is well structured and never obtrusive, and the HDR/Dolby Vision addition makes the colors simply pop off the screen at times. There are so many rich details and shades of coloring that I was honestly sitting there with my mouth hanging open at times. The lush green hills surrounding Darlington are amazing, as is the deep mahogany and maroon shades of the dining hall in the flashbacks. Blacks are deep and inky, showing off stunning shadow detail and nary a hint of major banding.







Audio:

Sony went all out with the audio tracks. Not only do we have a brand new Atmos track, but also the original 5.1 and 2.0 theatrical mixes in DTS-HD MA, as well as a handful of foreign language tracks in DTS-HD MA 2.0 as well. The Atmos track won’t really bring down the walls, but it is a technically superb track that really relies on ambiance and the stringed instrument score to really expand the sound stage from the 5.1 mixes. There is a beautiful sense of immersion and airy lightness to the track that allows the listener to really feel the presence of every angle of the mix. There overheads and surrounds get a moderate amount of use and the discrete elements in the top channels really make the mix seem that much more immersive. The low end is moderate, but done quite well to accent and support the rest of the mix rather than draw attention to itself. Sony is no slouch when it comes to their audio mixes (even dramatic mixes like this one) and the Atmos upgrade is well worth it just for the layering of difference ambient cues. Well done Sony.







Extras:

• DOLBY VISION/HDR GRADE, approved by director James Ivory
• DOLBY ATMOS TRACK, plus 5.1 + 2-Channel Surround
• Audio Commentary with Director James Ivory, Producer Ismail Merchant, and Actress Emma Thompson
• Love and Loyalty: The Making of The Remains of the Day Featurette
• The Remains of the Day: The Filmmakers Journey Featurette
• Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw Featurette
• 7 Deleted Scenes with Optional Director's Commentary
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by The Remains of the Day. I hadn’t seen it in LITERALLY 30 years, and hadn’t ever picked up the Twilight Time and Sony Blu-ray releases so I had zero frame of reference outside of a fuzzy memory to compare to. Smart, savvy, witty and methodical, the film managed to thoroughly please this jaded (and aging) film critic more than I expected. The 4K UHD disc has most of the extras of the Twilight Times release (minus a couple it seems), but is LOADED with tons of audio options and makes for a compelling dramatic viewing. Definitely worth picking up.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Reeve, Emma Thompson, Peter VAughan, Hugh Grant, James Fox
Directed by: James Ivory
Written by: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Kazuo Ishiguro (Novel)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, French, German, Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish DD 2.0, Korean DD 5.1
Subtitles; English SDH, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
Studio: Sony
Rated: PG
Runtime: 135 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 21st, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I enjoy watching the British caste system from Downton Abbey to Upstairs Downstairs.
I can't remember if I saw this but I am interested. Will check this one out.