Leviathan – 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Commissions Earned
Film Title: Leviathan (1989)
Release Date: 2024
Rating: R
Runtime: 98 minutes
Region Coding: Region Free
Distributor: KL Studio Classics
Audio Formats: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 & 2.0 Stereo
High Dynamic Range: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Version Reviewed: 4K UHD Blu-ray
Release Date: 2/20/24
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Cast: Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, Hector Elizondo, Meg Foster
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
“Leviathan” was a 1989 film that blended the genre of undersea adventure with horror and science fiction. The movie was directed by George P. Cosmatos, best known for also directing the films “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985), “Cobra” (1986), and “Tombstone” (1993). The story was written by David Webb Peoples, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeb Stuart. Peoples is best known for writing (or co-writing) screenplays for the films “Blade Runner” (1982), “The Blood of Heroes” (1989), “Unforgiven” (1992), and “12 Monkeys” (1995). Stuart is known for writing (or co-writing) the screenplays to the films “Die Hard” (1988), “Another 48 Hrs.” (1990), and “The Fugitive” (1993).
The story takes place at an underwater geological facility known as “Mining Station #7” on day 87 of a 90 shift for a small group of workers. Things are run by a company called the “Tri-Oceanic Corporation.” The CEO of that company is “Miss Martin” (Meg Foster) who stays in communication directly with the head of the undersea operation “Steven Beck” (Peter Weller). The other seven members of the crew include “Dr. Glen ‘Doc’ Thompson” (Richard Crenna), “Elizabeth ‘Willie’ Williams” (Amanda Pays), “Buzz ‘Sixpack’ Parrish” (Daniel Stern), “Justin Jones” (Ernie Hudson), “Tony ‘DeJesus’ Rodero” (Michael Carmine), “Bridget Bowman” (Lisa Eilbacher), and “G.P. Cobb” (Hector Elizondo).
When we first meet the underwater mining crew they’re at work as usual, extracting minerals using their gear wearing deep underwater pressure suits. They’re happy that in three more days, they’ll be getting to go home and have already worked a good 87 days underwater completely away from all humanity, in complete isolation. There’s just one problem here that arises, and that’s where the film gets its title. While they’re out diving one of the crew members strays off and let’s just say that they manage to discover the remains of a large ship that is known as “Leviathan” as it is written in Russian.
The crew members manage to find a giant safe inside the ship’s wreckage and proceed to analyze the contents. They find out that the ship’s crew were all deceased before it even ever went underwater, according to ship logs. They don’t know it yet, but something has followed them from that wrecked ship and it may be responsible for what killed the crew and why it ended up wrecked on the bottom of the ocean. Let’s just say something has joined our crew and it’s not friendly. Things start to get a bit worrisome when one crew member becomes ill, then another, and so on. The crew’s doctor and leader try to make the most sense of the situation and react accordingly. Will they be able to stop this weird new thing they’ve brought with them from the wreckage and make it back home?
Movie Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)
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Video Quality
“Leviathan” on 4K UHD Blu-ray is presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with HDR10 and Dolby Vision forms of high dynamic range. The movie was shot on 35mm film using the anamorphic lenses. This 4K physical media release features a 4K scan of the 35mm interpositive.
Next, let me get technical, for a bit, regarding the 4K UHD Blu-ray Disc itself here. This release uses a BD-100 (100 gigabytes) disc, 72.34 gigabytes total, and 70.7 gigabytes for the film itself. Based on my observations via my 4K UHD Blu-ray player, this seems to be running an average (roughly) of anywhere between 88 to 92.2 Mbps in the HEVC (high-efficiency video coding) codec, hitting peaks as high as 97.6 and 121.6 Mbps at times. According to info on the PC side, this seems to have an overall video bitrate of 93.2 Mb/s average. Statistically, that’s one very high overall video bitrate, folks. Kino Lorber tends to do this a lot, with running high video bitrates, and I continue to truly enjoy it.
Visually this comes with a very nice amount of film grain for a film from the late 1980s. However, there’s a certain slightly softer feel to some shots but there’s undeniably a great amount of newfound detail to be found here, especially in facial close-ups (see below). The black level is solid, and the color timing feels to be spot on with accurate flesh tones represented thanks to the addition of high dynamic range. The 4K presentation proves to be rather solid and also can be at times rather impressive in comparison to the previous HD version of the film on Blu-ray. The set design, costumes, and props can show off here in 4K along with the special effects done by the late great Stan Winston.
Overall, one cannot help but feel that “Leviathan” on 4K UHD Blu-ray is a welcomed upgrade to the home video of this underrated film. That being said, it earns itself a respectable 4.25 rating for video quality. Kino Lorber has done this film visual justice.
Video Quality Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Audio Quality
“Leviathan” arrives on 4K UHD Blu-ray with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo sound configurations. For those unable to decode those lossless sound formats, there are DTS 5.1 and DTS 2.0 Stereo core audio tracks included.
It’s first worth noting that I opted for the 5.1 surround sound mix here and that’s what I’ll be describing. From the very beginning of the movie, I was completely drawn in by the original musical Score for the film, composed by the late great Jerry Goldsmith. The music gets a very nice amount of rear channel use and comes with a deep amount of LFE that you’ll feel from the subwoofer. The sound effects also make great use of the rear channels and have their fair share of bits that you’ll hear and feel in terms of bass.
The dialogue is key here, and it’s distinctly delivered via the center channel speaker. Even during scenes where the crew is wearing their underwater deep-pressure diving suits, you’ll be able to understand every bit of dialogue exchanged. This mix has some rather impressive moments, during mostly the latter half of the film. The action can be somewhat intense at times, as this movie does rely on suspense. That all being said, the lossless 5.1 mix here was impressive enough to earn itself a respectable 4.25 rating for audio quality.
Audio Quality Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)
click to view a 4K Screenshot
Bonus Materials
Then you also get a Blu-ray Disc included in this 2-disc “combo pack” set.
- The Blu-ray Disc includes the film and features a 1080p HD video presentation in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio with lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo sound configurations. NOTE: This Blu-ray Disc is locked to Region A.
Bonus materials included on the 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray are listed below.
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
Bonus material included only on the Blu-ray Disc are listed below.
- Audio Commentary by Film Historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
- “Leviathan – Monster Melting Pot” Featurette (40 minutes, 27 seconds – HD) includes interviews with Tom Woodruff Jr. (creature effects),
- “Dissecting Cobb: Interview with Actor Hector Elizondo” (12 minutes, 36 seconds – HD) is very interesting. I’m personally a fan of Hector’s work and found this to be certainly intriguing.
- “Surviving Leviathan: Interview with Actor Ernie Hudson” (15 minutes, 2 seconds – HD) is a must-watch for any fan of Hudon’s career, as he’s reminiscing here about his film career and not just about working on this particular movie. It’s a lot of fun.
- Theatrical Trailer (1 minute, 54 seconds – HD)
Overall, the bonus materials here are from a previous release on Blu-ray from another distributor and they’ve all been ported over nicely in high definition. They total up to roughly 77 minutes or so. That’s enough to leave the fans enough to get lost in just those extras alone, and then you also have an audio commentary track as well. This all makes for a pretty good set of supplemental material, in my opinion.
Bonus Materials Rating: 3.75 (out of 5)
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Closing Thoughts
“Leviathan” from 1989 was released the very same year as another film set entirely underwater, “The Abyss” (1989). How crazy is that? That’s something that only Hollywood can end up making happen in the same year. Now, I’m not going to argue which is a better film here or anything like that. I just wanted to make the point that they both just-so-happens were released in the very same year. This feels like an underrated film, in my opinion, and perhaps it was overlooked because of the other film I mentioned before. Regardless, I find “Leviathan” to be a good film that includes some decent performances, notably from Peter Weller, and it features impressive special effects done by the late great Stan Winston.
In terms of video quality, this comes from a new 4K scan of the interpositive — as opposed to the original film negative. That’s something probably worth noting and remembering. The 4K visual presentation with high dynamic range behind it certainly can be impressive for a 1989 movie, with its fair share of newfound detail. Close-ups show off some of that detail that you never were able to see in just HD. The black level is solid and the color palette can be at times somewhat vibrant. It’s a rather impressive video presentation that comes with a healthy amount of film grain.
In terms of audio quality, you get both a lossless 5.1 surround mix and a lossless 2.0 Stereo mix for your choosing. This offers up one pretty impressive lossless 5.1 mix that manages to make for great usage of the rear channel speakers and comes with a strong amount of LFE. Dialogue is distinctly driven from the front in the center channel speaker. The 5.1 mix certainly has its climactic moments which will leave you slightly impressed and a bit immersed in this underwater world that the characters are living in. The film has one very suspense-filled ending — without dishing out spoilers — and I’ll say that scene is one deciding factor in why I think this is an impressive 5.1 surround mix. Rest assured that the original Score composed by Jerry Goldsmith sounds good here.
For bonus materials, you get an audio commentary track from a historical perspective, then you get a featurette on the making of the film, several semi-recent interviews with cast members, and the theatrical trailer. It is a pretty good set of supplemental material that I found to be worthwhile in the sense of being both informative and entertaining. Overall, this 4K UHD Blu-ray of “Leviathan” proves it is a definite upgrade and that its fans will most certainly want to own it. I’ll end this review by saying this for my overall verdict, Cult Classic Gets An Upgrade.
In terms of 4K UHD Blu-ray release, this gets:
4.25 (out of 5) for video quality
4.25 (out of 5) for audio quality
3.75 (out of 5) for bonus materials
Overall Verdict:
Cult Classic Gets An Upgrade
Available As:
2024 4K UHD Blu-ray Release
Available at: Amazon | Kino Lorber
Commissions Earned
4K UHD Blu-ray Screenshots:
Standard Packaging:
4K UHD Blu-ray Technical Specifications:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Exact Runtime(s): 1:37:45
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: 72.34GB total / 70.7GB for the film
Video Bitrate: 93.2 Mb/s
