The Hitcher: Limited Edition – Second Sight Films (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1986
Director: Robert Harmon
Writer: Eric Red
Cast: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Release Date: September 30th, 2024
Approximate running times: 97 Minutes 26 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free (UHD)/Region B (Blu-Ray)
Retail Price: £49.99 (UK)

"A would-be samaritan picks up a hitchhiker and soon discovers the man is a relentless serial killer. Framed by the cold-blooded murderer for a string of slayings, his only help comes from a caring waitress as they attempt to flee from both the law and the hitcher." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "A new 4k restoration by Second Sight Films from the original camera negative supervised and approved by Director Robert Harmon."

The Hitcher comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 91.1 GB

Feature: 70.5 GB

This new transfer of The Hitcher film is a revelation, improving its previous home media treatments. Second Sight Films has done a phenomenal job; the source looks exceptional, and this is yet another solid encode from Fidelity in Motion. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic. That said, there are many moments that take place in the dark—almost pitch black—and this transfer does a superb job handling them.

The Hitcher comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.9 GB

Feature: 27.4 GB

The Blu-ray included as part of this release uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD’s transfer.

Audio: 5/5 (Dolby Atmos English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English and a Dolby Atmos track in English. The audio tracks sound excellent with clear dialog, balanced sounds, well-presented ambient sounds, and robust delivery when required. That said, you can’t go wrong with either audio track. Included are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include three theatrical trailers (5 minutes 14 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an archival documentary titled The Hitcher: How do these movies get made? (38 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a short film directed by Eric Red titled Telephone (26 minutes 25 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Robert Harmon titled The Calling Card, he discusses his short film China Lake and its connection to The Hitcher (15 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a short film directed by Robert Harmon titled China Lake (34 minutes 48 seconds, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a video essay by Leigh Singer titled Duel Runner, he discusses the evolution of The Hitcher and Rutger Hauer (19 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with composer Mark Isham titled A Very Formative Score (15 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with cinematographer John Seale titled The Man from Oz (9 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with C. Thomas Howell titled Doomed to Live (28 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Eric Red titled Penning the Ripper (41 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Robert Harmon titled Bullseye (41 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), The Projection Booth Podcast: featuring Robert Harmon and Rutger Hauer, this extra plays out like an audio commentary track, a scene specific audio commentary with Robert Harmon, Eric Red, Executive Producer Edward S Feldman, Mark Isham, John Seale and Actors Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell (51 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, and an audio commentary with Robert Harmon and Eric Red.

The Blu-ray disc has all of the same extras that are on the 4K UHD disc.

Other extras include a rigid slipcase, 6 collectors' art cards, a book with Eric Red’s original screenplay, and a 200-page hardback book with cast & crew information, an exclusive interview with director Robert Harmon conducted by Lou Thomas, as essay titled The Devil Thumbs a Ride written by Jon Towlson, as essay titled Tall Dark Stranger: Robert Harmon’s The Hitcher, an essay titled I Want You to Stop Me: Masculinity in the Films of Eric Red written by Craig Ian Mann, an exclusive interview with writer Eric Red conducted by Matthew Thrift, Behind the Scenes Stills, an essay titled Dangerous Intimacy: The Queerness of The Hitcher written by David Kittredge, an essay titled The Immovable Object Meets the Unstoppable Force: Ambiguity, Duality and the Silent Landscape in The Hitcher written by Rebecca McCallum, an essay titled Road to Ruin: Traversing an Allegorical Nightmare Through Violence and Genre written by Meagan Navarro, an essay titled On the Highway to Hell with The Hitcher written by Marc Weinberg, and acknowledgments & Production Credits.

Summary:

Robert Harmon directed The Hitcher. He is also known for directing Nowhere to Run, Gotti, and Highwaymen.

A psychopath hitchhiker stalks a young man driving across America, framing him for crimes he didn't commit.

The Hitcher is a film that could have gone in a myriad of directions with a different director or casting changes. This is especially clear when it comes to director Robert Harmon, who was making his feature film debut with The Hitcher. His choices when it comes to the visuals and how he saw the story greatly enhance what in lesser hands could have been a by-the-numbers body count film.

The Hitcher begins in pitch black, before a single match brings some light into the frame. In these opening moments a young man picks up a hitchhiker, and things quickly spiral out of control. In such a short time, the narrative does a phenomenal job establishing the two main players in the story that unfolds. That said, the narrative jumps right in with an intensity that’s relentless.

All around, everyone involved with The Hitcher is at the top of their game. When it comes to casting, The Hitcher is a textbook example of how important it is to find the right actor. Performance-wise, the entire cast is excellent, especially the three leads. That said, Rutger Hauer’s (Blade Runner) towering portrayal of the psychopath hitchhiker overshadows all the other performances.

As mentioned before, the visuals are outstanding, and they play a significant role in the story that unfolds. Some standout moments include a shot where the hitchhiker gets up from a pavement after being thrown from a car, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character's death scene, and a scene where the hitchhiker jumps through a moving car's window. Every moment is filled with striking imagery; not a single inch of any frame is wasted.

For such a violent, bloody film, The Hitcher is filled with beautiful compositions. So much of The Hitcher takes place in wide-open scenic landscapes that reinforce characters' isolation. And though the carnage is front and center, there are a few exemplary action set pieces. Ultimately, The Hitcher is an unsettling thriller that is rich in subtext and never loses its potency no matter how many times you watch it.

The Hitcher gets a definitive release from Second Sight Films, 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 MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer