{"id":24258,"date":"2020-12-12T18:39:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T02:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=24258"},"modified":"2020-12-16T15:22:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T23:22:20","slug":"review-crash1996-bluray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2020\/12\/review-crash1996-bluray\/","title":{"rendered":"Crash: The Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Crash<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t a movie I found all that great though my interest was mainly for some of the controversy and honestly as strange as the \u201cplot\u201d and characters were, it\u2019s not that out of bounds at least nowadays.<\/p>\n

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Crash
\n<\/span>\u2014 The Criterion Collection \u2014<\/span>
\n(1996)
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Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama, Suspense\/Thriller<\/span>
\nThe Criterion Collection | NC17 \u2013 100 min. \u2013 $39.95 | December 1, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

Date Published:<\/strong> 12\/12\/2020 | Author:<\/strong> The Movieman<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Director: <\/strong>David Cronenberg
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>J.G. Ballard (book); David Cronenberg (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, Rosanna Arquette<\/span><\/p>\n
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DISC INFO:
\n<\/u><\/strong>Features: <\/strong>Commentary, Featurettes, Trailers
\nSlip Cover: <\/strong>No
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nFormats Included: <\/strong>Blu-ray
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/span><\/p>\n
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Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.66
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>48.24 GB
\nTotal Bitrate: <\/strong>38.57 Mbps
\nCodecs: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/span><\/p>\n
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The Criterion Collection provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
\nThe opinions I share are my own.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE \u2014 3\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Plot Synopsis: <\/strong>A traffic collision involving a disaffected commercial producer, James (JAMES SPADER), and an enigmatic doctor, Helen (HOLLY HUNTER), brings them, along with James\u2019s wife, Catherine (DEBORAH KARA UNGER), together in a crucible of blood and broken glass \u2014 and it\u2019s not long before they are all initiated into a kinky, death-obsessed underworld of sadomasochistic car-crash fetishists, including the photographer and provocateur Vaughn (ELIAS KOTEAS), for whom twisted metal and scar tissue are the ultimate turn-ons.<\/p>\n

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Quick Hit Review: <\/strong>I\u2019m not overly familiar with David Cronenberg\u2019s films outside of The Fly<\/em> which I saw a long time ago, so don\u2019t remember a whole lot about it. In any case, I had heard of Crash<\/em><\/strong> mainly for the controversy that surrounded it back in 1996\/1997 that to some extent still permeates today (it\u2019s also one of a handful NC-17 films I have in my collection). So after finally watching this, and maybe because times have changed so rapidly, not entirely sure what all the hype is about. Yes, there are many bizarre scenes but the message Cronenberg is trying to send, what I perceive as the mesh of sex and the mechanical (to the point Spader\u2019s character gets a hood ornament tattoo), kind of hits you over the head with it. Admittedly, like a car crash itself, it was hard to look away from the peculiar plot and even odder characters, so can give the film that.<\/p>\n

Also will give credit to the actors, every one gives it their all and while both James Spader and Holly Hunter are quite good, though Hunter does seem to disappear through the third act, the highlights were Deborah Kara Unger (who would have an important role in David Fincher\u2019s The Game<\/em>) and Elisa Koteas, and if not for the controversy, would think both deserved Supporting Acting Oscar nominations, Koteas in particular was great, in a disturbing sort of manor anyway.<\/p>\n

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So even though I wasn\u2019t wholly invested in Crash<\/em><\/strong>, at the very least these self-destructive characters and Cronenberg\u2019s message, I think, of the mixture of vehicular destruction and sex, does give the film a uniqueness like never seen before…<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 3\u00bd\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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This release comes housed in a clear HD case and comes with a foldout essay booklet, which personally I\u2019m not a fan of. No new features here unfortunately and if you want any, you\u2019ll need to seek out Arrow Video\u2019s release out of the UK (including a 4K Ultra HD transfer).<\/p>\n

Audio Commentary<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Director David Cronenberg from 1997 where he discusses the origins and provides some background on the production.<\/p>\n

Press Conference (37:39)<\/u><\/strong> from the 1996 Cannes Film Festival and features David Cronenberg, Cinematographer Sushitzky, Author J.G. Ballard, Producers Robert Lantos and Jeremy Thomas, and actors Rosanna Arquette, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, James Spader and Deborah Kara Unger<\/p>\n

Q&A (1:41:42)<\/u><\/strong> that\u2019s from 1996 with Cronenberg and Ballard at the National Film Theatre in London<\/p>\n

And last some Press-Kit Footage (8:47)<\/u><\/strong> and the U.S. (1:52)<\/u><\/strong> and International (1:31)<\/u><\/strong> Trailers.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 4\u00be\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Crash<\/em><\/strong> comes to Blu-ray presented with a 1.66 widescreen aspect ratio and has been given a new 1080p high-definition transfer, which was culled from the 35mm original camera negative plus additional title elements and a 35mm interpositive (as a reference). The transfer, which was supervised by cinematographer Peter Sushitzky (and approved by Cronenberg), looks fantastic with sharp detail throughout to the point the natural film grain and noise has been retained. And although this is a pretty dark movie, colors do appear well balanced plus no apparent flaws like artifacts, aliasing or general film damage.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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AUDIO \u2013 4\u00bd\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track was newly created for this release and taken from the original Dolby stereo print. The bulk of the audio might come from the center channel for dialogue or general sexual noises; there is some balance for other elements like Howard Shore\u2019s hypnotic score and obviously the few vehicular crashes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 3\u00be\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Crash<\/em><\/strong> isn\u2019t a movie I found all that great though my interest was mainly for some of the controversy and honestly as strange as the \u201cplot\u201d and characters were, it\u2019s not that out of bounds at least nowadays. Might be worth checking out with a good selection of bonus material and the video and audio transfers were both top notch.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Crash<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Crash isn\u2019t a movie I found all that great though my interest was mainly for some of the controversy and honestly as strange as the \u201cplot\u201d and characters were, it\u2019s not that out of bounds at least nowadays.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[5088,1691,646,763,1946,6813],"class_list":["post-24258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-david-cronenberg","tag-deborah-kara-unger","tag-elias-koteas","tag-holly-hunter","tag-james-spader","tag-rosanna-arquette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24258"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24286,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24258\/revisions\/24286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}