Why So Blu?

Collateral – 20th Anniversary Steelbook Edition (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

It’s been twenty years since the August 2004 debut of Michael Mann’s thrilling neo-noir Collateral. While the film had previously been released on 4K UHD back in 2020, Paramount saw fit to re-release the film with a snazzy new steelbook edition. No, there has been no change to film in any other way, let alone any new features added. However, for anyone who does not already own the Oscar-nominated Tom Cruise/Jamie Foxx flick, there’s plenty to enjoy here. The film remains a well-crafted, cool display of Mann’s precision fitting on a tense, high-concept story. The unique-for-the-time filmmaking choices (shooting on digital) also meant seeing a film take a different visual approach, leading to some interesting results for the home release. But hey, make the best of it, improvise, adapt. Gotta roll with it.

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Film:

The previously published review’s take can be found Here.

Plot-wise, the film gets down to business quickly. Max (Foxx) is a Los Angeles cab driver whose next fare may be his last. Vincent (Cruise) offers Max several hundred dollars to take him to five different stops. As it turns out, Vincent is a hitman, and Max must keep driving him to his different targets. How will Max escape? What’s behind Vincent’s mission? Will the two find common ground?

Michael Mann knows how to shoot LA at night, and taking the opportunity to experiment with digital cameras, there is so much ground covered when it comes to lower-lit areas, shadows, the use of the city’s natural lighting, and more. It also means the film can convey a much grittier sensibility. Collateral is very much grounded in the real world, and it only adds to the tension that would otherwise be found in a more heightened Hitchcock or Hitchcock-ian-styled feature.

Moreover, you have two big movie stars delivering the goods. Cruise is already in peak form, taking on one of his last non-action-heavy adult roles and hitting great marks as a deadly assassin. The grey hair, cold demeanor with bursts of subtle humor, and a general sense of cool (you get the idea that he, James Caan from Thief, and De Niro from Heat have all crossed paths at one point) allow the actor to make you wish he’d still challenge himself in this way.

Not to be outdone, Foxx is fantastic in his Oscar-nominated performance as the straight man of the two. Nervous and unprepared for the night ahead of him, watching him evolve for the sake of self-preservation is a real joy to see. It’s not unfounded to think that his Academy Award win for Ray from that same year was at least partially due to admiration for the performance being given in Collateral.

Plenty can be said about the rest of the film as well, whether it’s the rest of the supporting cast, which includes Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem, among others, or the gradual increase in tension as the night wears on. So much is accomplished through a blend of mood and momentum that makes for a tight thriller that could practically be described as the third act ripped out of another movie and expanded to tell this intriguing story.

For more of my insights on Collateral, along with former Why So Blu? writer Brandon Peters, take a listen to the Out Now with Aaron and Abe commentary track for the film embedded below, which also features writers Scott Mendelson and Yancy Berns:

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Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Layers: BD-66

The previously published review’s take can be found Here.

To add my own take – I’m a bit higher on the visual presentation, as I believe Collateral’s cinematography is one of the film’s most vital elements. Adding Dolby Vision to the video presentation for the 4K does plenty to add to this film’s coloring. Details such as the cab, specific environments, and skin textures also benefit from this upgrade. Given the grain and noise that comes from shooting in a city on digital, a 4K presentation allows these elements to be more clearly realized. Given the nature of how the film was shot, there’s only so much that can be done, but this is still the strongest the film will look at home, which is still a solid improvement.

 

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, German 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German

The previously published review’s take can be found Here.

As for additional thoughts on the audio, there’s really nothing more to say. It’s a solid, lossless presentation that may not be the most powerful but provides a fine listening experience for a film featuring gunplay, speeding cars, a big nightclub scene, and other notable auditory-friendly moments.

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Extras:

The features are identical to the previous release, with Mann’s terrific commentary being found on both discs, while the rest of the features are available on the Blu-ray. The most notable element about this release is, of course, the steelbook case the film now arrives in. I still wish Paramount had chosen anything else for this cover, such as the terrific one-sheet. Still, I get the logic of having both stars front and center.

The previously published review’s take can be found Here.

 

Summary:

Collateral rocks. It was one of the best films of that year and boasts plenty of great qualities, including the excellent work by Cruise and Foxx. I’m generally all in for hitman thrillers/dark comedies of any kind, and Michael Mann had me dead-to-rights with knowing how to make this clever thriller work. The new 4K release is the same as the old one but with a shiny new case. If you haven’t picked up Collateral before, here’s the chance to make it happen.

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