Darkman – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Commissions Earned
Film Title: Darkman (1990)
Release Date: 2024
Rating: R
Runtime: 96 minutes
Region Coding: Region Free
Distributor: Scream Factory (Shout! Studios)
Audio Format: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0
High Dynamic Range: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Version Reviewed: 4K UHD Blu-ray
Release Date: 2/20/24
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake, Dan Hicks, Ted Raimi, Nicholas Worth
Jump to Sections:
Movie | Video | Audio | Bonus | Closing | Screenshots
Full 4K Tech Specs found at the bottom
click to view a 4K Screenshot
The Movie
“Darkman” was a 1990 action/sci-fi film directed by Sam Raimi. Raimi is best known for directing films such as “The Evil Dead” (1981), “Evil Dead II” (1987), “Army of Darkness” (1992), “The Quick and the Dead” (1995), “A Simple Plan” (1998), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Spider-Man 2” (2004), “Spider-Man 3” (2007), and “Drag Me to Hell” (2009).
Sam Raimi solely wrote the original story. He then collaborated and co-wrote the screenplay with Ivan Raimi (his brother), Chuck Pfarrer, and the brothers Daniel Goldin and Joshua Goldin. That adds up to a total of two sets of brothers and one extra guy needed to pen the screenplay. Chuck Pfarrer is best known for writing the screenplay for “Hard Target” (1993) and co-writing the screenplay for “The Jackal” (1997). The Goldin brothers are known for going on to co-write the screenplay to the film “Out on a Limb” (1992). Joshua Goldin would go on to write and direct the film “Wonderful World” (2009).
The story is that of a scientist, named “Peyton Westlake” (Liam Neeson), who is working on creating what he’s calling synthetic skin. He’s on the verge of a breakthrough at his labs, with the skin able to stay stable for only a short length of time, around 99 minutes before it fails and starts to melt. Peyton has a beautiful girlfriend named “Julie Hastings” (Frances McDormand) who he’s madly in love with, but she’s preoccupied (much like him) with her work. Julie works for a wealthy businessman named “Louis Strack Jr.” (Colin Friels) who has plans for a large building development, but what she later finds out is he’s made some bribes and has ties to a gangster. The gangster is a man by the name of “Robert G. Durant” (Larry Drake) and he’s not someone to mess with.
Durant’s gang includes a very interesting group of henchmen, who are willing to go to great lengths to please their boss and that sadly includes beating our protagonist Peyton up and setting fire to his lab when they come his way by a matter of coincidence. His laboratory explodes, leaving his girlfriend Julie burying what they believe to be his remains and living in sorrow. Little does she know but Peyton survived the explosion and wakes up in a hospital’s burn unit, in casts and covered in bandages much like a mummy. He manages to escape from the hospital quickly and makes his way back to the remnants of his old lab. He sees some equipment that’s not been destroyed and starts to try to salvage his work, with hopes of using them to perfect his creation of the synthetic skin to help his predicament.
Peyton is eventually able to make some skin to disguise himself from his unsightly burned appearance, where he drapes himself in a dark trenchcoat with a cape and wears an older-styled black felt brim hat. He vows to get revenge on the gangster who did this to him and starts by taking the likeness of his henchmen, one by one, to fool them. Can he manage to keep his experimental synthetic skin stable long enough to exact revenge and reunite with his love Julie? You’ll just have to watch and find out how he truly becomes the “Darkman.” Expect one hell of a lot of action here, as this is one of Sam Raimi’s more elaborate early films with a major studio.
Movie Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Video Quality
“Darkman” on 4K UHD Blu-ray is presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with HDR10 and Dolby Vision forms of high dynamic range. This release features a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, approved by Director Sam Raimi and Director of Photography Bill Pope.
Next, let me get technical for a bit in regards to the 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc itself here. This release uses a BD-100 (100 gigabytes) disc, 69.74 gigabytes total, and 61.3 gigabytes for the film itself, in the HEVC codec. Now, let’s take a look back at the original Universal Studios 2010 Blu-ray release of the film. That release used a BD-25 (25 gigabytes) disc, 18.20 gigabytes total, and 17.2 gigabytes for the film itself, in the VC-1 codec. With that being said, the new 4K version is roughly 3 and a half times larger in terms of file size in comparison to the original HD version.
Based on my observations via my 4K UHD Blu-ray player, this seems to be running an average (roughly) of anywhere between 79.9 in darker scenes to 84.2 Mbps in the HEVC (high-efficiency video coding) codec, hitting peaks as high as 94.5 and 108.5 Mbps at times. According to info on the PC side, this seems to have an overall video bitrate of 81.3 Mb/s average.
Next, I want to visually compare the original Blu-ray and the 4K UHD Blu-ray. I’ll be showing you the still screenshots for both the 2010 Blu-ray Disc and the new 2024 4K UHD Blu-ray releases. For those who want to see more Blu-ray VS. 4K screenshots, click the text below.
Blu-ray VS. 4K Screenshots Comparison:
SOURCES: 2010 Blu-ray (left), 2024 4K UHD Blu-ray (right)
When looking at the comparisons above (and further below), the first thing that you will notice in 4K is that film grain is now finally visible, unlike with the 2010 Blu-ray. There has been a color timing change also and for the better, as the original Blu-ray felt too dark and murky. Next, you are most certainly going to notice that the framing has changed and this is something that I’ve seen with matted 1.85:1 intended aspect ratio materials when they end up getting proper 4K restorations. One film that comes to mind that I have previously reviewed on 4K UHD Blu-ray with this very same issue comes from a different period, the 1971 film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” This happens and when someone correctly frames things you’ll notice a huge improvement, even though at first it might seem different and hard to accept.
This has a solid black level. There’s a definitely at times subdued but also a somewhat vibrant color palette and the flesh tones (in comparison to the Blu-ray) look more accurate than ever throughout. The change of color timing is obvious to anyone used to this stuff. This is a pretty damn impressive video presentation in 4K and manages to fix things and finally do the film justice, with both the approval of the director (Sam Raimi) and the director of photography (Bill Pope). The folks at Scream Factory (Shout! Studios) have done a great job here and this is the best the film has ever looked on home video. That said, all and all, “Darkman” on 4K UHD Blu-ray earns a 4.5 rating for video quality.
Video Quality Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Audio Quality
“Darkman” arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo. Those unable to decode the aforementioned lossless format will find a DTS core in the 5.1 and 2.0 sound configurations. I will note that the original 2010 Blu-ray Disc release [from Universal] contained a 5.1 lossless mix in the same format. Nevertheless, this 5.1 mix does not seem identical to the sound mix on that original release. But then again, maybe that’s just me. Regardless, it sounds great.
The first thing that truthfully stands out here about the 5.1 surround mix is the original music, composed by Danny Elfman, which gets a great representation via excellent rear channel usage and comes with a strong amount of LFE, that you’ll be feeling via the subwoofer. The dialogue here is delivered from the center channel, as it should be, and is never overpowered by either the music or the action. Speaking of action, this movie sure as hell has its fair share of action and when it does it’s very over-the-top. Gunshots, explosions, helicopters, and all. This sound mix never has always had a good amount of “oomph” behind it and it still holds up today, proving to be impressive and enough to certainly do this cult classic justice. That said, this earns itself a respectable 4.5 rating for audio quality.
Audio Quality Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Bonus Materials
The 4K UHD Blu-ray disc includes the following:
- NEW Audio Commentary with Filmmaker and Darkman Superfan Josh Ruben Hosted by Justin Beahm
- Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Bill Pope
Then you also get a Blu-ray Disc included in this 2-disc “combo pack” set.
- The Blu-ray Disc includes the film using the new 4K scan. This features a 1080p HD video presentation in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio as well as lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono sound. This is where you’ll find the true majority of the bonus materials. One other note, this Blu-ray is Region A locked, whereas the 4K UHD Blu-ray theoretically is region free — to my knowledge.
Bonus materials included on the Blu-ray Disc are listed below. These are in a variety of HD (high definition, 1080p) and SD (standard definition, 480p) video with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound.
- NEW Audio Commentary with Filmmaker and Darkman Superfan Josh Ruben Hosted by Justin Beahm
- Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Bill Pope
- “Dissecting Darkman” — Interview with Liam Neeson (7 minutes, 29 seconds – HD) was done by Shout! Factory in association with Red Shirt Pictures for the previous 2014 “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray release. The interviews with others, further listed below (unless otherwise noted), are also from that 2014 release.
- ”The Name is Durant” with Larry Drake (15 minutes, 59 seconds – HD) has the actor discussing working on this first film, as well as the sequel.
- “The Face of Revenge” with Makeup Designer Tony Gardner (13 minutes, 21 seconds – HD) proves to be very informative and entertaining.
- “Henchman Tales” (12 minutes, 57 seconds – HD) includes interviews with Dan Bell (“Smiley”) and Danny Hicks (“Skip”).
- “Dark Design” (16 minutes, 46 seconds – HD) includes interviews with Randy Ser (production designer) and Philip Dagort (art director). You’ll learn here that no computer visual effects were done on this film. The production designer reminiscences about getting his first personal computer while making this film to use to keep track of work. Things were done as practically as possible, including the famous scenes involving a helicopter.
- An Interview with Frances McDormand (10 minutes, 50 seconds – HD) is a must-see. Frances discusses the period when she was living with both The Coen Brothers and Sam Raimi. Keep in mind that Frances is married to Joel Coen, and they had just done the film “Blood Simple” (1984) — the very same year she married Joel. Sam Raimi was a close friend to her and the Coen brothers. So, it should come as no surprise that he would have cast the extremely talented actress in his studio film, although she did have to audition like everyone else. It’s worth noting that Frances has now gone on to win a total of three Academy Awards, for best actress in a leading role. Any fan of movies should listen to this interview. Hearing Frances mention the magazine Fangoria, and discussing how much Sam Raimi loves it, is just awesome.
- “Darkman EPK Featurette” (6 minutes, 26 seconds – HD) includes brief interviews with Sam Raimi (director/co-writer), Liam Neeson (“Peyton Westlake” / “Darkman”), Larry Drake (“Robert G. Durant”), Frances McDormand (“Julie Hastings”), and Larry Hamlin (makeup artist).
- Cast & Crew Interviews (8 minutes, 59 seconds – HD) includes interviews with Sam Raimi (director/co-writer), Liam Neeson (“Peyton Westlake” / “Darkman”), Larry Drake (“Robert G. Durant”), and Frances McDormand (“Julie Hastings”). These interviews were done by Universal and are all from 1990. This featurette also includes a bit of on-set footage, behind-the-scenes, as well as clips from the film.
- Vintage Interview Gallery (from 1990) includes:
- Colin Friels (12 minutes, 14 seconds – SD)
- Frances McDormand (20 minutes, 42 seconds – SD)
- Liam Neeson (28 minutes, 2 seconds – SD)
- Sam Raimi (23 minutes, 9 seconds – SD)
- Deleted Scenes (37 minutes – HD) are very lengthy and in rather rough quality, but prove to certainly be worth watching.
- Theatrical Trailer (1 minute, 46 seconds – HD)
- TV Spots (4 minutes, 24 seconds – HD)
- Still Galleries include:
- ”Behind the Scenes/Makeup Effects” (4 minutes, 47 seconds – HD)
- Posters & Artwork (2 minutes, 7 seconds – HD)
- Production Stills (8 minutes, 42 seconds – HD)
- Storyboards (8 minutes, 22 seconds – HD)
Overall, the bonus materials here are excellent. You get all of the original bonus materials from the 2010 Blu-ray as well as the 2014 Scream Factory “Collector’s Edition” extras. Plus, you now get a new audio commentary track from a fan, in a historical and appreciation sense. I listened to the new audio commentary track here, and I must tell you that Justin Beahm (of Reverend Entertainment) and Josh Ruben did a great job. Ruben actually would like to make a “Darkman” film, you’ll find out.
If only Sam Raimi had done a new interview I think this could have been great enough to receive a perfect score for extras. However, the archival interview with Sam Raimi here still proves to be a must-see for any fan of his work and the newer interview with Frances McDormand is amazing as well.
Bonus Materials Rating: 4.75 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Closing Thoughts
“Darkman” from 1990 was an underrated film; there is no denying that this movie did not receive a fair reception from the critics. Perhaps even the audiences were a bit too early to judge this film and might want to give it a revisit. Regardless, this flick has developed a cult following over roughly 34 years since its release. Liam Neeson has gone on to become a household name and star in many successful films.
The movie itself went on to spawn two direct-to-video sequels, “Darkman II: The Return of Durant” (1995) and “Darkman III: Die Darkman Die” (1996), on which director/co-writer Sam Raimi served as executive producer. And, Sam Raimi as most of you know would go on to direct a whole lot of films, with a great deal of those listed much further above in this review.
Concerning video quality, this 4K UHD Blu-ray release brings a presentation admittedly far superior to the original 2010 Blu-ray release. You now can finally see film grain and a very impressive amount of detail. The color timing even has drastically changed, for the better. This [in 4K] is in all ways an improvement over the troubled original Blu-ray release. This is by far the best the movie has ever looked on home video, and it’s had a troubled past. So, rest assured the movie finally looks as good as it should.
In terms of audio quality, this gets (yet again) a lossless 5.1 surround sound mix that certainly does Danny Elfman‘s original music justice. There’s one strong amount of LFE that you’ll be feeling via the subwoofer and an appropriate amount of rear channel usage throughout the film. The action-packed scenes can sound impressive here at times and it’s one hell of a lot of fun, as you’d expect from any Sam Raimi film. Plus, you get a lossless 2.0 Stereo mix for those who lack a surround sound speaker system.
The bonus materials take the previous Scream Factory “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray and port them onto a new Blu-ray with this new 4K restoration, and add one new fan audio commentary. These are some outstanding bonus materials and give the fans all of the recent interviews with the film’s cast [regarding this film]. However, you will not find any recent interviews with the film’s director (Sam Raimi) here, despite his involvement in approving the new 4K transfer. Regardless, it’s a downright excellent set of extras.
Overall, the folks at Scream Factory (Shout! Studios) have put together one impressive 4K UHD Blu-ray release for the film that does it the justice that it truly deserves. The cult following of “Darkman” fans will genuinely enjoy this new 4K release. This comes as A Recommended Upgrade.
In terms of 4K UHD Blu-ray release, this gets:
4.5 (out of 5) for video quality
4.5 (out of 5) for audio quality
4.75 (out of 5) for bonus materials
Overall Verdict:
A Recommended Upgrade
Available As:
2024 4K UHD Blu-ray Release
Available at: Amazon | Walmart
2024 4K UHD Blu-ray Limited Edition SteelBook Release
Available at: Amazon | Walmart
Commissions Earned
4K UHD Blu-ray Screenshots:
Blu-ray VS. 4K Screenshots Comparison:
SOURCES: 2010 Blu-ray (left), 2024 4K UHD Blu-ray (right)
Packaging:
4K UHD Blu-ray Technical Specifications:
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Exact Runtime(s): 1:35:41
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with a DTS 5.1 core), English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (with a DTS 2.0 Stereo core)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Disc Size: BD-100
Disc Use: 69.74GB total / 61.3GB for the film
Video Bitrate: 81.3 Mb/s