Identity (Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Released just ahead of the summer of 2003, Sony Pictures’ James Mangold-directed Identity feels like the type of neo-noir murder-mystery thriller that Dimension Films would’ve been proud to release in the wake of Scream, if not early M. Night Shyamalan, what with its high-concept horror elements. Mangold manages to elevate a B-movie premise and cast with purposeful direction and a taught runtime, even if repeat viewings have diminishing returns.
Film ★★★☆☆
Written by Michael Cooney, the writer-director of 1997’s Jack Frost, along with 2000’s Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman, Identity emulates Agatha Christie novels and old Hollywood noir by isolating 10 seemingly random individuals in a rapidly escalating whodunnit, complete with classic noir misogyny by way of 1990s sensibilities, if not a tinge of 1980s: the women’s roles largely being a mix of canon fodder, scream queen, or sex worker insults; though to be fair, the men in the movie aren’t much better.
With only a 90-minute runtime, the movie has to quickly establish multiple characters in short order, none of whom have much depth (although that’s somewhat justifiable by the psychology of the movie). To its credit, Identity smartly uses the title credits to establish various characters, while also teasing its main concept (if not outright revealing). Indeed, the movie isn’t really shy about what it is, though it doesn’t explore the existential aspect as much as it could; not that it’s trying to.
Leading the cast is John Cusack, bringing his trademark wry humor and world weariness to a character who’s in between lives (pun intended) – though may not be the most charismatic choice for a protagonist. Surrounding him is a cast ripe for the time and largely playing to type: Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Clea Duvall, Rebecca DeMornay, John C. McGinley, John Hawkes, Jake Busey, and the under appreciated Pruitt Taylor Vince, among others.
Phedon Papamichael’s cinematography is easily one of the highlights of the movie, providing moody lighting and some impressive shots and compositions (regardless of whether or not the compositing is up to the task). There’s at least one wide shot of the hotel with John Cusack that’s particularly cool (and that Mangold is a big fan of).
Alan Silvestri composes the film’s score, which is on the more serviceable side, but relatively impressive in that he replaced the film’s original composer Angelo Badalamenti and still providing an atmospheric endeavor.
David Brenner’s editing is also on-point, successfully navigating the different perspectives and time jumps, while keeping the thrills and mysteries intact.
All together, Identity sticks in the mind as an intriguing thriller of its time, even if it’s not the one last standing in a “best of” genre competition.
Video ★★★★☆
Encoding: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4k (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10 compatible
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Clarity/Detail: Arrow does a generally great job of presenting the film on 4K HDR.
Despite a crisp veneer and generally clean presentation, Identity often isn’t the sharpest on clarity or detail, but that may be more a fault of the source film’s focus than it is Arrow’s picture efforts. Often are edges, lighting and colors clear, just for textures and faces to be a bit soft – particularly in medium or wider shots.
Depth: Foreground details tend to fair much better than background, but, again, that may be more an issue with the source film than the clean and consistent transfer by Arrow.
Black Levels: For a movie that heavily uses lighting to evoke a noir setting, it’s safe to say the disc has nice, rich blacks throughout.
Color Reproduction: While the movie largely focuses on blacks and shadows, colors have a rich and warm presentation, successfully evoking the amber hues of phosphorous street lamps mixed with a claustrophobic modern noir motel setting (complete with neon lights).
Flesh Tones: Skin tones look great considering the lighting and setting, what with the warm ambers and grimy noir wetness.
Noise/Artifacts: Besides the issues with focus, arguably the stand-out issue with the disc is the fairly constant amount of noise throughout the picture – particularly for a movie where lighting is so pivotal. There’s almost always something going on in the shadows, which takes away from the immersion.
Audio ★★★★☆
Audio Format(s): Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Dynamics: Identity isn’t the most noteworthy audio showcase film, but Arrow’s lossless 5.1 track does an excellent job of making one feel like they’re trapped in a motel during a storm. The rain particularly shines (despite the unseen nighttime clouds), with other creeks, books, slams, heartbeats and sound effects shaping an unsettling mood and environment.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: Lightning gets a nice boom from the bass, along with other low-end sounds (heartbeats) to help thrill the viewer.
Surround Sound Presentation: All the audio elements of the film are clean and distinct, allowing the 5.1 mix to do an excellent job of painting and shaping the space, whether it’s outdoors or indoors, static or in motion. Door slams, heartbeats, cars, lightning, rain and characters all move around the soundscape in the right ways.
Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is generally crisp and clear, whether characters are near or far, shouting or whispering – even with weather and other effects going on.
Extras ★★★★☆
- Theatrical and Extended cuts
- Archival audio commentary by director James Mangold
- Archival audio commentary by screenwriter Michael Cooney
- I Met a Man That Wasn’t There, a brand new interview with actor Pruitt Taylor Vince
- Producing Identity, a brand new interview with producer Cathy Konrad
- On The Set, an archival behind the scenes featurette
- Deleted scenes
- Storyboard comparisons
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring two choices of original artwork
- Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Andrew Cardno and original production notes
Summary ★★★★☆
Identity was a noteworthy horror murder mystery when it was released in 2003 and went on to a fairly decent reputation, particularly on home video. It may have fallen out of the zeitgeist in this streaming era, what with murder mysteries being evergreen and the central conceit feeling a bit… dated, but it’s still a fascinating time capsule. Arrow’s Limited Edition does a great job presenting the film in 4K, and by combining archival extras with a couple new ones, narrows this release of Identity down as ultimately the one to get.
