Death Becomes Her: Collector's Edition (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Jan 16, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Robert ZemeckisRelease Date(s)
1992 (October 22, 2024)Studio(s)
Universal Pictures (Shout! Studios/Scream Factory)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Death Becomes Her was released in 1992 to mixed reviews, but brought in a successful box office take. Hot off of the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Back to the Future sequels, Robert Zemeckis decided to take on a screenplay by a then unknown writer named David Koepp. The resulting film won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Saturn Award for best visual effects, which were considered groundbreaking for their time and helped usher in the CGI revolution of the early 1990s.
Meryl Streep is Madeline, an aging star in Beverly Hills and the constant rival of Helen (Goldie Hawn). After Madeline steals Helen’s fiancé, reconstructive plastic surgeon Ernest (Bruce Willis), Helen goes mad, vowing for revenge. Years later, Madeline seeks out unorthodox methods in order to remain youthful, paying handsomely for a magic potion from the enigmatic Lisle (Isabella Rossellini) that will stop the aging process. The only drawback is that the person who drinks it becomes the living dead. It isn’t long before the jig is up and both Madeline and Helen are fighting over who gets Ernest—whose surgical skills will keep them young forever, if they have their way.
Death Becomes Her was right in my wheelhouse of darkly comic horror pastiche in the 1990s, fitting right in with films like The Frighteners and Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (both of which Robert Zemeckis also had a hand in). However, Death Becomes Her seemed to be a little more prestigious, mostly because of the cast. It’s difficult to imagine now seeing somebody like Meryl Streep be in what is essentially a horror film, even if it’s a blatantly silly one.
Despite its zanier and more tongue-in-cheek qualities, Death Becomes Her is a clever if not obvious satire on ageism in Hollywood, a trend that only became more rampant over time. It openly pokes fun at Hollywood’s glitzy yet seedy underbelly, many of whom will do anything to stay relevant. One could argue that in the age of the internet, this aspect of fame has grown exponentially. While some of the CGI doesn’t hold up, you can clearly see why such a big deal was made about it at the time. After all, Zemeckis is a director who has always pushed the technological envelope when it comes to storytelling, and Death Becomes Her is a clear part of that push, dated as it is.
What holds up most is the film’s production design, camera work, and performances. Everyone is bringing their A game here, especially Bruce Willis who is far removed from his usual action fare at this point in his career. In some ways, it’s a return to his Moonlighting days, but David Addison was never so schlubby or put-upon to the point of pathetic as Ernest. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn eat the screen up collectively and they’re the obvious main draw, with showstopping appearances by Isabella Rossellini, but Willis is effective and hilarious as a half-drunken buffoon who can essentially be talked into anything.
Death Becomes Her opened at number one when it was originally released and managed to stay in the top ten for a few weeks before falling by the wayside. (I saw it theatrically myself on my birthday three weeks after it had opened.) It was considered a hit and had plenty of long term cult appeal, but somehow fell into a minor bit of obscurity when DVD became the norm, later resurrected by Scream Factory in 2016 for Blu-ray. A lot of black comedies with a horror bent often slip through the cracks and are later revived by fans, but why a film with such a healthy pedigree fell off the radar for such a long time is beyond me. It’s not perfect, but it’s very entertaining.
Death Becomes Her was shot by director of photography Dean Cundey on 35mm film using Panavision Panaflex Gold, Gold II, Platinum, and Panastar cameras with Panavision Primo and Slant Focus lenses for the main cinematography; and VistaVision VistaFlex and VistaGlide cameras with Nikon lenses for the visual effects. Everything was finished photochemically and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for theatrical distribution. Scream Factory debuts the film on Ultra HD with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc. Because the visual effects don’t hold up that well, the final film is always going to look compromised. That said, this is leaps and bounds beyond Scream Factory’s 2016 Blu-ray release, which featured an ancient transfer with excessive DNR. This is a much sharper and more organic presentation with bitrates that often sit between 70 and 90Mbps, occasionally dipping below that range. Grain during non-opticals and visual effects-heavy scenes is well-managed. The picture softens during effects-laden shots, but blends a little better here, thanks mostly to the HDR grades that deepen detail, widen the color gamut, and improve the contrast. Blacks are much deeper and the overall image is clean and stable back to front. All in all, this is likely the best the film will ever look on home video.
Audio is presented in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. These appear to be the same tracks included with Scream Factory’s 2016 Blu-ray release. The film was released in Dolby Stereo, and both tracks offer a good approximation of that experience. The 5.1 track is more of an enhancement, widening out score and sound effects without adding or altering anything. Dialogue is clear and discernible, with plenty of heft in the lower registers when needed. An Atmos remix could likely heighten some of the atmospherics and widen certain aspects of the soundtrack a little more, but these are fine options.
Scream Factory’s 2-Disc Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD release of Death Becomes Her sits in a black Amaray case alongside a 1080p Blu-ray, with an insert and a slipcover replicating the original theatrical artwork. The following extras are exclusive to the Blu-ray only:
- The Making of Death Becomes Her (HD – 25:03)
- Vintage Behind the Scenes Featurette (Upscaled SD – 8:57)
- Photo Gallery (HD – 46 in all – 3:57)
- Theatrical Trailer (SD – 2:01)
These are the same extras included on the previous Blu-ray, starting with a somewhat sloppy featurette, The Making of Death Becomes Her, featuring interviews with Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter David Koepp, director of photography Dean Cundey, producer Steve Sharkey, and production designer Rick Carter. (Shout! erroneously lists special effects artists Lance Anderson and David Anderson as participants, but they’re nowhere to be found.) I say sloppy only because there isn’t much of a narrative here, jumping from one topic to the next with no order to it all, while splicing in random clips from the film. The interviews are nice enough, but it’s not very well put together. Also included is a Vintage Behind the Scenes Featurette; a Photo Gallery containing 46 stills of production photos, behind-the-scenes photos, and posters; and the Theatrical Trailer.
Not included from the Koch Media German Blu-ray release is a set of B-roll footage, several TV spots, and a more extensive image gallery; while the ESC French Region B Blu-ray contains the featurettes Robert Zemeckis, This Movie Suits You So Well, Bruce Willis, Itinerary of a Plain Hero, and The Body Suits You So Well. As evidenced by the film’s trailers, TV spots, and other promotional materials, there’s an enormous amount of deleted and alternate scenes that have never seen the light of day. And once again, none of it has turned up, indeed if it still exists at all. Much of it involves the character of Toni, played by Tracy Ullman, who figured into the plot and the original ending, but wound up on the cutting room floor. Other excised scenes can be glimpsed in the trailer, such as Ernest taking Madeline’s body out of the freezer and dragging her up the stairs. There are many others, and it’s a shame none of them could be included since the rest of the extras are fairly humdrum.
What the 4K UHD release of Death Becomes Her lacks in the extras department makes up for mostly in the video, which was less than stellar in 2016. It’s a fine presentation of the film that may not be in a definitive package, but it’s unquestionably an upgrade that longtime fans can still get behind.
- Tim Salmons
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