Bound: The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3¾/5

Plot Synopsis: Sparks fly when Violet (JENNIFER TILLY) sets eyes on Corky (GINA GERSHON) in an elevator. Violet is the girlfriend of a violent gangster, Caesar (JOE PANTOLIANO), while Corky is fresh out of prison and doing renovations on the apartment next door. As the two women launch into a passionate love affair, they assemble an intricate plan for Violet to escape from Caesar, with two million dollars of the mob’s money, but the important part is to make it out alive.

Quick Hit Review: In 1996 Bound ushered in The Wachowskis as a force in Hollywood as only a few short years later they would go on to make The Matrix, one hell of a science fiction flick that has held up quite well all these years later. And the same can be said for Bound, a well made and taut modern film noir, perhaps right up there with The Usual Suspects, featuring amazing performances from the three leads and for some reason did not get any recognition at the Academy Awards; though it joins the likes of Hear which also was apparently forgotten.

It’s been probably 3-4 years since I last watched Bound, likely when I overpaid for a French version for some reason (if I recall, might’ve been the only way to get the Unrated cut in high-definition). In any case, watching it again, the movie just works so damn well. The lighting and photography by Bill Pope (The Jungle Book, Alita: Battle Angel) was fantastic and worked in wonderful conjunction with the well written script and direction from The Wachowskis, if only they would go back to the basics…

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4/5

This two-disc set comes housed in a clear HD keep case and inside is a fold-out booklet.

Audio Commentary with writer/directors The Wachowskis; actors Joe Pantoliano, Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon; film editor Zach Steinbeg; and technical consultant Susie Bright. It’s a good track and is quite informative and entertaining.

Interviews:

• Pipeline to Seduction (16:45) is a video essay by Film Critic Christina Newland
• Femme Fatales (26:38) – Actresses Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly
• Joe Pantoliano (15:05) has the actor discussing his role
• Here’s Johnny! (9:53) – Actor Christopher Meloni
• Modern Noir: The Sights and Sounds of Bound (29:00) – Cinematographer Bill Pope, Editor Zach Seeenberg, and Composer Don Davis
• Playing with Expectations (13:55) – Scholars B. Ruby Rich and Jen Moorman
• Title Design (6:50) – Titles designer Patti Podesta

This is a good selection of interviews with each participant recalls their careers leading into Bound and looking back on its uniqueness and what it brought socially. Note, a couple of the interview titles came from the Olive Films Blu-ray release…

Theatrical Trailer (2:06)

4K VIDEO – 4¾/5, BLU-RAY VIDEO – 4¾/5

Bound cuts loose onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection and is presented in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfer, respectfully. This is a new 4K digital master of the unrated international version, created from the 35 mm original camera negative (and a 35 mm Interpositive in some sections). Supervised and approved by cinematographer Bill Pope, the transfer does look excellent with sharp detail but more impressive, black levels are stark yet objects or people can still be discerned and considering this is a darkly lit film, there are plenty dimly lit shots (such as the opening with Gina Gershon tied up in the opening credits and later on during the third act). There were no signs of artifacts or aliasing making for a clean transfer. Compared with the included Blu-ray, the 4K disc of course has a bit better detail yet even at 1080p it’s still remarkable.

AUDIO – 4¼/5

The disc comes with a decent enough DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is a slight upgrade over Olive Film’s DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. Dialogue does come across pretty well along with the score from Don Davis. Nothing exceptional but for a movie that is a neo-noir thriller, and save for some gunplay, and fairly low key, it’s a satisfactory track.

OVERALL — 4½/5