Mary Shelley's Frankenstein – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1994
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writers: Steph Lady, Frank Darabont
Cast: Robert De Niro, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn , Ian Holm, Richard Briers, John Cleese

Release Date: March 28th, 2022 (UK), April 12th, 2022 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 123 Minutes 33 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 15 (UK), R (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK) / $49.95 (USA)

"At the turn of the 19th century, visionary scientist Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) embarks on an obsessive quest to conquer the mysteries of human mortality. But his hubristic bid to create life out of death goes hideously wrong, and succeeds only in begetting a deformed monster (Robert De Niro).

Horrified by what he has wrought, the scientist attempts to destroy his creation, but fails. Rejected by his creator and shunned by the world of man, the tormented creature swears vengeance against Frankenstein and his family. As the monster begins to enact his murderous revenge, Victor must face a terrible reckoning with the tragic consequences of attempting to play God." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was restored in 4K by Sony Pictures Entertainment. 4K scanning by Prasad Corporation, Burbank from 35mm original picture negative.

Digital image restoration by Prasad Corporation, India. HDR color grading by colorist Trent Johnson at Roundabout Entertainment in Santa Monica,”

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 93.1 GB

Feature: 74 GB

When Sony released Mary Shelley's Frankenstein on Blu-ray in 2009, that transfer has not aged well since then, and it left a lot of room for improvement. The greatest areas of improvement with Arrow’s transfer are image clarity, shadow detail, and compression. Also, their transfer does an excellent job when it comes to the color palette and grain looks organic.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a LPCM stereo mix in English. Both audio mixes sound excellent; dialog always comes through clearly, ambient sounds are well-represented and range-wise, things sound robust when they should. Included with this release are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (16 images), theatrical trailer #1 (1 minute 29 seconds, DTS-HD stereo), theatrical trailer #2 (1 minute 54 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with costume designer James Acheson titled Stitching Frankenstein (14 minutes 53 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with composer Patrick Doyle titled We’ll Go No More A Roving (12 minutes 40 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with make-up designer Daniel Parker titled Making It All Up (14 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a 1910 short film adaptation of Frankenstein from a 2K restoration by the Library of Congress, with music by Donald Sosin (12 minutes 55 seconds, DTS-HD stereo with English intertitles), a featurette with David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk on the differences between the novel and Kenneth Branagh’s screen adaptation titled Dissecting Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (15 minutes 33 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette on the origins and evolution of the Frankenstein story, featuring Gothic specialists David Pirie, Jonathan Rigby and Stephen Volk titled Mary Shelley and The Creation of a Monster (29 minutes 37 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary by film historians Michael Brooke and Johnny Mains, reversible cover art and a 36-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled ‘Hideous Progeny’: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein written by Jon Towlson, an essay titled “P.S. I Am Not Mad”: Playing God in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein written by Amy C. Chambers, information about the transfer and production credits.

Summary:

Though there have been numerous adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, most of these adaptations are not faithful adaptations; they only take elements from her novel. That said, Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Frankenstein is the closest any film to date has come to replicating Mary Shelley's source novel.

Frankenstein has come a long way since the majority of adaptations were low-budget horror films. Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation is a big-budget studio film that has an all-star cast and a wealth of resources at its disposal. With all of these things working in his favor, does Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation succeed?

The thing that immediately sets Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation apart is the bookend sequences involving an expedition to the North that crosses paths with Victor Frankenstein and his monster. These sequences are one of many moments that Kenneth Branagh adapts from Mary Shelley's source novel that were missing from previous Frankenstein adaptations. That said, the inclusion of these moments enhances the narrative that lies in between them.

Whereas earlier adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein were straight-up horror films. Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation is best described as a melodrama with Gothic horror elements. And nowhere are the Gothic horror elements more prominent than when it comes to the visuals. Another area where Gothic horror’s influence can be felt is the impeccable set design.

Performance wise, the entire cast is excellent in their respective roles, especially Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver) in the role of Frankenstein’s monster. But he generally excels in every film that I have seen him in. What makes his performance so special is the way in which he approaches the character. He brings pathos to a character that in most past adoptions lacked humanity. Another performance of note is Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of Victor Frankenstein. He delivers a performance that perfectly compliments Robert De Niro’s.

From a production standpoint, there’s not an area where Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation does not excel. He does a superb job of capturing the essence of Mary Shelley's source novel; the narrative does a fantastic job of building tension; and the finale provides a cathartic coda. The two most memorable moments are a scene where Victor Frankenstein brings his creation to life and a scene where the monster rips out Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein’s heart, followed by her own resurrection and self-inflicted demise. Ultimately, Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is an exhilarating cinematic experience.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein makes its way to 4K UHD via a spectacular upgrade from Arrow Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and an assortment of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer