Director: Bruce Robinson
Screenplay: Bruce Robinson
Starring: Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant and Richard Griffiths
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 107 mins
Year: 1987
Withnail & I is one of the most beloved British cult comedies for a reason. It’s endlessly quotable, it features star making performances from Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann and introduced the world to writer-director Bruce Robinson. Back in 2014, Arrow Video released the film on remastered Blu-ray in a release packed with new and legacy extras and ten years later, they’ve gone back once again to remaster the film in 4K, with Dolby Vision and some new physical extras. As it had been a few years since I’d seen the film, I requested a screener to see if Withnail held up as much as I thought it did on my first viewing.
Withnail & I follows two aspiring actors, living in the shoddiest of flats known to mankind, who spend all of their time getting drunk, taking drugs and complaining about who will do the washing. Deciding that they need to get away, the pair take a trip to Cumbria and spend some time in a local cottage, away from civilization. During their trip, almost everything that could go wrong ends up going wrong, the pair bicker and get into hilarious antics, alongside Withnail’s (Richard E. Grant) uncle Monty, a theatrical gay man, played hilariously by Richard Griffiths.
The thing that audiences love so much about Withnail & I, outside of the characters, is the screenplay. Writer-director Bruce Robinson based most of the film on his real life experiences in the 1960s and given that it’s his first directorial effort, the scrappy nature of some technical elements of the film make the end result feel earnest and charming in a manner that few debuts can capture. Whether it’s a quarrel in a pub that Paul McGann’s “I” finds himself in, or the endless bickering about which one’s going to kill a live chicken so they can have lunch, the film is packed with hilarious sequences that feel so particular, so British in design and so organically funny, that it feels like an autobiographical piece from the mind of a madman.
While there’s elements of the film that may have aged a little more poorly than others (the way the film portrays its homosexual characters might rub some people the wrong way), the ratio of laughs the film gets out of me on each viewing is higher than most comedies. Grant’s performance as Withnail still might be my favourite work from him, and McGann plays the straight man incredibly well, although he’s clearly having a great time throughout (the cafe scene in particular absolutely kills me every time) and Griffiths’ overly theatrical performance as Monty is scene stealing.
It might seem like an odd choice for a UHD release, but I have to commend Arrow for putting in the effort to give one of Britain’s most enduring comedies the physical media release it deserves. Hopefully this introduces even more people to the insanely hilarious, yet bleak world of Withnail & I. Sure, we might not have UHD releases for most of Kurosawa’s works, but do we really need those when I can see Richard E. Grant drunkenly performing a scene from Hamlet to unamused wolves at a zoo? I think I know the answer.
Film: 
Withnail & I releases on Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray via Arrow Video on the 24th of June. The transfer is a brand new 4K restoration with a Dolby Vision HDR grade and it looks stunning. I own the previous Arrow Blu-ray, which was sourced from a 2K restoration and I always thought that was an impressive disc, but this new scan blows the previous disc out of the water. Bitrates are high throughout and the Dolby Vision implementation is subtle, but improves the richness of the colours in ways that a standard Blu-ray couldn’t. Two audio tracks are included, an English mono track and a 5.1 mix. I viewed the film with the mono and it sounded solid as expected, there’s no complaints there. Optional English subtitles are included. The following extras are included:
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, supervised and approved by director of photography Peter Hannan
4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless mono soundtrack
Optional lossless 5.1 soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by writer-director Bruce Robinson
Audio commentary by critic and writer Kevin Jackson, author of the BFI Modern Classic on Withnail & I
All four original Withnail Weekend documentaries, first screened on Channel 4 in 1999, including The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson, which looks at the director’s career, Withnail & Us, which focuses on the film’s making, and two shorter documentaries, I Demand to Have Some Booze and Withnail on the Pier
Interview with production designer Michael Pickwoad
An appreciation of Withnail & I by Sam Bain, co-creator of Peep Show and Fresh Meat
Archival interview with Bruce Robinson
Theatrical trailer
Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring two choices of original artwork
Limited edition perfect bound book featuring writing on the film by Vic Pratt, Anthony Nield, Martin Jones, Neil Mitchell and Mike Sutton
The first archival audio commentary is with writer-director Bruce Robinson and originally appeared on the 2009 Blu-ray released by Anchor Bay. It’s a fun listen, with Robinson being as straightforward and to the point as you’d expect, reminiscing about the shoot, telling stories that are also shared on the included documentaries, but they’re fun to hear regardless. A solid track.
The second archival audio commentary with Kevin Jackson was included on Arrow’s prior Blu-ray release and is a decent listen to. This provides a more analytical viewing of the film, touching on all aspects of the film’s themes, the positive and negative ways the film has aged. Jackson previously wrote the BFI Modern Classics book on the film in 2004 and has an excellent array of knowledge about the film, which makes it an enjoyable listen for fans of the film.
The four Withnail Weekend documentaries (The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson, Withnail & Us, I Demand to Have Some Booze and Withnail on the Pier) are ported over from Arrow’s previous release and were originally presented on Channel 4 during their Withnail Weekend in the late 90s and they cover everything you’d want to know about the film. WIthnail & Us runs for 25 minutes and features interviews from the cast and crew, as well as fans of the film and touches on the cult status of the film, the chaotic production and might be my favourite extra on the entire disc. The Peculiar Memories of Bruce Robinson runs for 40 minutes and provides an overview on Robinson’s career. It’s a fun, insightful piece. I Demand to Have Some Booze! is a short featurette discussing the drinking game associated with the film and Withnail on the Pier includes fans talking about the film on Brighton Pier. This series of featurettes is fantastic and highly worth
The archival interview with production designer Michael Pickwoad is ported from Arrow’s prior Blu-ray and runs for 21 minutes. Pickwoad talks about the entire film’s production, its inception and some of the situations that the cast and crew got into during the shoot. It’s a little dry, but provides some fun insight into the production that’ll please fans.
An appreciation of Withnail & I by Sam Bain is ported over from the previous Arrow Blu-ray and consists of Peep Show co-creator Sam Bain and why he loves the film so much. It runs for 8 minutes and Bain showcases his love for the film, explains how he discovered it initially and how relatable he found the film. It’s a nice little piece that’s worth checking out.
The archival interview with Bruce Robinson, Handmade & I wasn’t included on any previous Arrow releases, but was recorded in 2008 and its inclusion is appreciated. He recounts his experiences working with production/distribution company Handmade Films, and he’s very open about the experiences he had with them. It’s full of hilarious anecdotes and it’s great to see this included. It runs for around 12 minutes.
A theatrical trailer is included.
I wasn’t provided with the physical extras, including the booklet unfortunately, so I can’t comment on these.
Arrow Video’s 4K UHD release of WIthnail & I is excellent, with a stunning transfer, everything ported over from the previous Blu-ray release and from the looks of things, a great physical package to boot. Fans can rejoice that this cult classic has finally made it to the UHD format in top condition.
Disc/Packaging: