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from the camera negative, nonetheless impresses at every turn with excellent color reproduction, stability, strong fine detail, and a soft but Contrary to Warner Bros.' usual habits, the included Blu-ray is a brand new disc (not available separately) that sources its 1080p transfer sprinkled throughout a film that's largely dominated by static interiors and dark, stormy nights. Yet this new 4K transfer, likely sourced This two-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with...uh... different cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption perhaps The Hole, but to a lesser extent) as the best example, that has the fervour to go where horror goes, but with a gloss seldom used in such films.
Here's the huge disappointment of this set. These extras totally blow. In fairness to Warner, however, a birdie in the know tells me it has always been camp Steven Spielberg that has nixed the idea of a true 'Poltergeist' making-of (due to the still-sensitive issues over who really directed the film, etc.) So instead of cast and crew interviews and all that sort of good stuff, all we get is an utterly lame "documentary" on real-life spook hunters. Ugh... Of course, there’s a different element of Poltergeist that provides the single biggest reason why it works, and it’s one that tends to get overlooked. Without a solid family dynamic at the heart of the film, everything else would have been little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. The Freeling household is a credible family unit, and without having that to anchor the film, the supernatural shenanigans wouldn’t work nearly as well as they do. The action may not be believable, but the family dynamic is, and that’s what keeps audiences grounded even when the film goes on its flights of fancy. Yet it’s not really the children who matter. Heather O’Rourke is fine as Carol Anne, and both Oliver Robins and Dominique Dunne make adequate siblings for her, but everything depends on Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams as Steven and Diane Freeling. Carol Anne may have become the face of the franchise, but Steven and Diane were its heart and soul. Nelson and Williams have a natural, easygoing chemistry with each other that works on multiple levels. They don’t just make a plausible couple; they make plausible parents as well, and that’s the real key to Poltergeist. Even when the dialogue fails them, the sincerity of their performances manages to sell it anyway—Williams manages to take that cringeworthy line about Carol Anne passing through her soul, and play it with utterly believable conviction. There’s an argument to be made that the film could be called “Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams’ Poltergeist.” format's capabilities. Poltergeist isn't a visually showy or even attractive production, as only a handful of wistful suburban pans are Matt Villei is a News Writer for Collider. Having a deep appreciation for the games, films, and books he experienced growing up, Matt wanted to learn the inner workings of how these media pieces were made and how to make his own. He graduated from Hofstra University with a Film Studies degree and a Creative Writing minor with the hope of one day making something like the art he grew up enjoying. They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists, Part 2 – Communing with the Dead (Upscaled SD – 15:33)We take a “cinematically” typical American suburban family and take it on spin through Hell - Hollywood has been mining that particular nugget since the late sixties, but rarely with such sheer entertainment value. There is infant-jeopardy, neighbour-ignorance and animosity, deceitful bosses and religion rammed down our throats - but only someone as wide-eyed and childlike as Steven Spielberg could have such elements combining to create one of the most fascinating, though-provoking and downright enjoyable horror yarns around. There are flaws, of course, but Poltergeist is certainly a classic of the genre. When the 80's made commercialism and overkill part of the fabric of existence, the spooky haunted house concept just had to follow suite. Thus, the tone and mood of The Haunting, The Legend Of Hell House, The Twilight Zone and The Uninvited gets the big budget makeover and audiences were finally shown what writers and directors had once only been able to hint at. Both The Thing and Poltergeist were inspirational icons to the genre as it dragged itself out of the seventies, proving that mainstream chillers could still offer the things that hardcore fans demanded to see, and wrap them up with good storylines and characters that you cared about. image detail, better color saturation, a more stable and film-like appearance, and of course improved contrast that helps support medium-deep While not containing the most original of ideas, Poltergeist, did catapult into the mainstream conscience certain cinematic devices, ideas, if you will: that disturbing ancient burial grounds is generally a bad thing, and that clowns are scary. The latter is interesting, in that up until 1982 cinema rarely explored (exploited?) this, oh He Who gets Slapped (1924) or The Man Who Laughs (1928) might have dabbled in the idea with some stark imagery, but it took that scene in Poltergeist to unleash a torrent of scares and all the subsequent movies based on this one simple, terrifying, concept. The reality is that the success of Poltergeist can’t be attributed to any one person. Film is a collaborative medium, and neither Spielberg or Hooper could have created it alone. It took a legion of talented artists including co-writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor; co-producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall; cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti; editor Michael Kahn; visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund (as well as his own legions of supporting crew); and myriad others. Jerry Goldsmith also contributed one of his finest scores (even though calling it “one of his finest” doesn’t really narrow things down very much, as that could be said of nearly half of the scores that he wrote). It took a village to make Poltergeist work, and Spielberg tends to get too much deference simply because his name is the most recognizable one in the credits. There are unquestionably many Spielbergian touches in Poltergeist; he did indeed co-write and produce it, after all. The suburban family milieu is pure Spielberg, as are the more melodramatic moments in the film. When Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams have their dramatic farewell before she plunges into the abyss, the camera cuts away to Beatrice Straight’s tearful reaction, and that’s one of Spielberg’s standard techniques to manipulate the audience by letting them know that it’s time to cry. Yet Hooper’s stamp is present on the final product as well, as there are numerous shots and bits of editing that didn’t quite fit into Spielberg’s house style at the time—for example, the repeated use of crash cut zooms onto faces, or the montage of Nelson screaming from different camera angles after the appearance of the ghost head. (Spielberg would go on to use similar setups two years later in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, but he arguably learned the technique from Hooper and The Texas Chain S aw Massacre.)
they'll immediately strike viewers as impressive, especially on an OLED or even LCD screen with reliable local dimming. (There are even dual WCG and HDR give a natural boost to the colours without losing the original cinematic intent; flesh tones are natural, greens are lush, reds are bold, and blues cool. Lighting, so important in the atmosphere, is well captured, giving intensity and vividness to the scenes, without encroaching or bloom.Theatrical Trailer (2:26) - Last included on MGM's 1997 DVD ( 1997 DVD, people!), this appropriately spooky vintage
The second point is that some people have reported issues with the disc freezing for them at approximately 13:50. There’s no consistency regarding the players that seem to be having the issue—for example, some people have had the problem using an Oppo UDP-203, while others haven’t. (For the record, it played fine for me on an Oppo UDP-205, which is mechanically identical to the 203.) Strangely enough, it hasn’t always occurred consistently, as some users have reported that it played fine the first time, but then froze every time after that. It may not affect your specific player, but it’s something to keep in mind. Offering subtle or moderate improvements to the film's audio and even two resurrected vintage extras (rare territory for Warner Bros.), for many fans
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from the recent remaster and has been encoded with the more efficient AVC codec. As such, it displays similar strengths including more refined NOTE: Both the 4K and Blu-ray discs in this release feature the same audio options, reviewed below. DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio. It's still obviously less gripping than the remix in direct comparison, with a touch of distortion at higher volume levels and
Description: A typical family in a quiet suburb of a normal California faces a frightening ordeal when its home is invaded by a Poltergeist. Late one night, 10-year-old Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke) hears a voice coming from inside the television set ... At first, the spirits that invade the Freeling's home seem like playful children. But then they turn angry. And when Carol Anne is pulled from this world into another, Steve and Diane Freeling (Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams--In the Land of Women) turn to an exorcist (Zelda Rubinstein) in this horror classic from director Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre films) and producer and screenwriter Steven Spielberg.. They Are Here was originally produced for the 2007 Warner Bros. DVD. It combines interviews with various experts on the paranormal with clips from Poltergeist. They try to connect their beliefs about the supernatural to events in the film, which doesn’t exactly support their case. As documentaries go, it’s about as persuasive as the average Shark Week program on Discovery. If those programs have managed to convince you that megalodon are still alive and well in the oceans today, then this may be the show for you. The Making of Poltergeist is a vintage promotional featurette from 1982. Like most such EPK material, there’s little substance to it, though it does show some behind-the-scenes footage that provides a tantalizing glimpse of the rotating room in action. The fact that it focuses entirely on Steven Spielberg might add fuel to the fire for those who support the ghost directing theory, but it’s worth pointing out that it was directed by Frank Marshall, who could hardly be considered an unbiased source. directed this piece), actor Craig T. Nelson, and director Tobe Hooper, as well as candid footage from the set including a few good looks at special effects retained but improved is good news for everyone -- another feather in WB's cap, as they're not usually known for this.of the Digibook edition linked above. While I wouldn't personally award this film a full five stars, I certainly can and will recognize it as a well-made
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