Director: Sam Raimi
Screenplay: Billy Boy Thornton and Tom Epperson
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear and Hilary Swank
Country: United States
Running Time: 112 min
Year: 2000
Sam Raimi is the reason I love films. Let me explain. Back when I was a kid, I watched everything I could get my hands on but there was one film that completely changed how I watched films, Raimiās adaptation of Spider-Man. It was the first film I remember watching that had me curious on how it was made. The (at the time) ground-breaking special effects, the creative cinematography, the comic-like feel to everything on screen, it brought a sense of wonder that few films have been able to eclipse in my 27 years of movie-going. I remember watching my 2 disc DVD of that film over and over again, watching the extras and falling in love with not just film, but home media too. Over the years, Iāve dived into Raimiās catalogue and Iām at a point where I only have a handful of his films left until Iāll have completed his filmography. One of those films was The Gift and the moment Arrow announced that they were releasing it for the first time on Blu-ray and 4K UHD in the UK, I knew I had to cover it for Blueprint: Review. What did I think of it, you might be wondering? Wellā¦Ā
The Gift follows physic medium Annie (played by Cate Blanchett) who finds herself wrapped up in some local town drama involving the unstable mechanic Buddy (legendary character actor Giovanni Ribisi!) and abusive husband Donnie (a shocking performance from Keanu Reeves) and begins to see terrifying visions involving Donnieās missing wife. Itās from Raimiās 90s/super early 2000s output, which might be the most interesting in his entire filmography. Itās the era where he made Evil Dead sequel Army of Darkness, revisionist western The Quick and the Dead, the original superhero film Darkman, sports drama For the Love of the Game and the Coens riff A Simple Plan. While not everything works from this period, it highlighted Raimi experimenting with a ton of different genres and styles of filmmaking and The Gift is no exception to that.Ā
Reuniting with A Simple Plan actor Billy Bob Thornton, who wrote the screenplay for The Gift, the film has influences ranging from domestic dramas that would win over Academy voters, a bit of Italian giallo films (as mentioned by editor Bob Murawski on an interview for this release) and even some touches of J-Horror, which caught me by surprise. The thing that absolutely floored me with The Gift is how genuinely unnerving it is. It feels like the first time since The Evil Dead where Raimi is trying to scare the audience without his trademark campy humour.Ā
Itās a film that completely flies under the radar for most fans of Raimiās work and Iām beyond happy that Arrow Video are giving the film the proper home media release it deserves over here because Iād honestly say it ranks highly in his entire catalogue for myself. The performances are excellent, with Reeves in particular blowing me away (his opening scene is one that you have to see to believe) but Ribisi giving the film his all, Blanchett being terrific and the range of supporting actors doing a great job too.Ā
If youāve been avoiding this one for a while because of the more middling reception, I highly suggest giving The Gift a chance. Itās the exact type of film I wish labels like Arrow would release more, because itās a key film in the career of one of the great American filmmakers thatās rarely talked about. Sure, a release of Army of Darkness would be cool but seeing films like this and A Simple Plan receive releases is far more interesting to me. Check this one out!Ā
Film:
The Gift releases on Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray January 27th via Arrow Video. The film recently received a release from Shout! Factory in the States, who collaborated with Arrow for this release (the extras, transfer, etc. are identical across both releases) so if youāve picked that disc up, you know what youāre in for. Itās a decent looking disc but itās not going to blow anybody away. The restoration wasnāt sourced from the original camera negative, rather an interpositive so image quality isnāt perfect but compared to the old DVD releases, I imagine itās a huge step-up in quality. Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 grades are included and theyāre effective and service the film well. Audio wise, thereās two tracks: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and a 2.0 stereo track. I tried both and ended up preferring the 5.1, but the stereo mix sounds solid too. Optional English subs are included. The following extras are included:Ā
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
New 4K remaster from the 35mm interpositive by Arrow Films and Shout! Factory
4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio and optional lossless stereo audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Brand new audio commentary by critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
Brand new audio commentary by critic Meagan Navarro
Isolated music and effects track
Haunting Visions, a newly filmed interview with actor Chelcie Ross
Savage Waters, a newly filmed interview with editors Bob Murawski and Arthur Coburn
Southern Gothic, a newly filmed interview with composer Christopher Young
Four archive featurettes: The Gift: A Look Inside, The Making of The Gift, The Cast on Sam Raimi and Sam Raimi on The Cast
Promotional interviews with Sam Raimi, Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves and Giovanni Ribisi
Footage from the filmās world premiere
Music video for āFurnace Room Lullabyā by Neko Case
Theatrical trailer, TV spots and radio spots
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Thinh Dinh
Illustrated collectorās booklet featuring new writing on the film by Bilge Ebiri, original production notes and and an excerpt from the book The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi by John Kenneth Muir
Two new audio commentaries were recorded for this release, one with film critic Meagan Navarro and another with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson. The first track with Navarro is a good listen, offering an analysis on the film and her perspective on each sequence. Itās clear sheās knowledgeable about the work of Raimi and itās an insightful track. The second commentary, with longtime collaborators Heller-Nicholas and Nelson is as delightful as ever, offering a huge selection of anecdotal information about the filmās production, the pairās thoughts on it overall and the numerous thematic threads that weave throughout the film. Two great commentaries that are easily worth your time.
Three newly recorded interviews are included on this release with actor Chelcie Ross, editors Bob Murawski and Arthur Coburn and composer Christopher Young. The Ross interview runs for around 7 minutes and features the actor reminiscing about the shoot, Raimiās direction, the Billy Bob Thornton screenplay and working with actors like Katie Holmes and Keanu Reeves (thereās lovely comments about Reeves, as expected). A nice little interview. The interview with Murawski and Coburn runs a little longer at 13 minutes and is a delightful time. Murawski shares his love for cult cinema out of the gate, talking about how excited he was about working on the film given that it was shooting in the same location as Lucio Fulciās City of the Living Dead and his experiences working with another editor on the film (given his working relationship with Raimi). He compares The Gift to giallo cinema, which is an apt comparison, and talks about how Coburn saw the film more as a domestic drama. Itās a solid interview and absolutely worth your time. Finally, Youngās interview runs for 8 minutes and given how often the pair would collaborate again in the future (Drag Me to Hell, Spider-Man 3), itās amazing to hear the story of how eager Young was to work with Raimi and the experiences working with him on The Gift. Young rocks the coolest jacket and shades during the interview too, just saying. All in all, these three interviews are solid watches that are worth your time if youāre a fan of the film and want to hear more from people involved in the production.
A Look Inside runs for 11 minutes and as expected from a promotional featurette from the year 2000, offers a brief yet decent look inside (ba-dum-tss) to The Gift and its production. A decent watch. The Making of The Gift is 7 minutes long and briefly talks about the production of the film, although it feels a little redundant after the prior A Look Inside featurette. The Cast on Sam Raimi is 4 minutes long and features the actors talking about Raimiās visual style and what it was like working with him, but half of the runtime is featured with footage from the film. Sam Raimi on the Cast is 5 minutes long and features more of the same, but from Raimiās perspective. You can tell that Raimi had a great time working with the cast but the dated approach to this featurette holds it back. I wasnāt huge on these featurettes, but itās nice to see them ported over.
Four promotional interviews are also included, featuring director Sam Raimi and actors Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves and Giovanni Ribisi. Each of the four answers a series of talking points about the film. Raimiās interview is 6 minutes, Reeves and Ribisi talk for around 3 minutes and Blanchett talks for around 4 minutes. Theyāre relatively by-the-numbers interviews but theyāre worth a watch if you want to hear Raimi and the actors briefly talk about the film.Ā
Five minutes of footage taken from the filmās world premiere is included, featuring red carpet interviews with some of the cast members.
An isolated music and effects track is included, which is great to see. Iām always a sucker for these and being able to hear Youngās score on its own is a fantastic extra.
The music video for āFurnace Room Lullabyā by Neko Case is included.
The theatrical trailer, some TV spots and radio spots are included.
I wasnāt provided with the retail copy so I canāt comment on the slipcover or the booklet, unfortunately.Ā
The Gift might be the most underrated film in Raimiās catalogue and Arrow Video have done what youād expect from them and given the film the release it deserves. With a solid transfer and a great selection of extras, this release should please any fan of Raimi. Highly recommended.
Disc/Packaging:
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