Review: Event Horizon 25th Anniversary SteelBook Collector’s Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray

Event Horizon is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new, 4K Ultra HD™ + Blu-ray™ Collector’s Edition SteelBook®. The film was directed by Paul Anderson (Resident Evil), the film stars Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Sam Neill (Jurassic World: Dominion), Kathleen Quinlan (Breakdown), Joely Richardson (“Nip/Tuck”), Jason Isaacs (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Richard T. Jones and Jack Noseworthy.

Seven years ago, pioneering research spacecraft “Event Horizon” mysteriously vanished without a trace on its maiden voyage. But then, in the darkness of deep space, a persistent signal prompts a crew to make their way through the galaxy on a bold rescue mission. What they uncover is an unimaginable interstellar horror that will test the entire team’s sanity and souls.

I was sent a copy to review. Having been a big fan of the film since I saw it on the cinema during its initial release I was more than happy to take a look at it.

I can safely say, I was not disappointed.

The Collector’s Edition includes the collectible SteelBook® in an acetate o-ring, a blueprint poster. art cards, pin and patch along with the film on 4K UHD™ and on Blu-ray™. I loved the blueprint poster and I am tempted to use it for an adventure in the Aliens Roleplaying Game.

Let us begin with the film itself.

The idea of a haunted house scenario in space was the thing that grabbed me when I first heard about the film. A good ghost story is always good and I have always been a sucker for a film that involves a group of people heading off to a distant abandoned place only to find bad things have happened – Aliens, John Carpenter’s The Thing – I am sure there must be a better name for that particular genre of film but I am not sure what. Explorer or Investigative Horror?

Paul Anderson, the crew and the actors put together a fantastic sci-fi horror with some gorgeous set designs, creepy visual effects and some brilliant performances. As you can gather I am a big fan of the film.

It also introduced us to a very simple explanation to travelling through space via wormholes. Thor Love and Thunder referenced that very scene.

There is no need to describe the actual film any further as it is celebrating its 25th Anniversary and I am sure most of you will have seen it. It still holds up well and even looks better than some more recent sci-fi horror movies. The sets are still one of the big standouts of the film, but some of the visual effects involving green screen and in particular the CG images of floating cups, watches, and so on do look false and superimposed. However, that is mainly due to time moving on and the use of CGI improving.

With regards the look of the new edition it did look great. Some of the compression issues from previous formats have been sorted out and there is still some lovely film grain so you get the classic movie look. The blacks are deep, dark and terrifying and the actors all look magnificent with skin tones, shadows and the like all well balanced. There are a few scenes where the image seemed a little muted and I am not sure whether that is because the print they were using did not give the full high-definition image they needed for those moments.

On the whole, the film has never looked better.

The soundtrack was always a killer with Michael Kamen and Orbital doing a cracking job twisting the electronic music into the film and building on the suspense. Throw in tracks by the likes of The Prodigy and it is a great album to put on when not watching the movie.

The sound mix of the film was always good and things are even clearer now. On a decent sound system, you will be looking over your shoulder at the whispers and wondering when the words Liberate tuteme ex inferis will tunnel into your brain.

As with many of these new reissues, the extras are well worth taking a look at. The almost mythical lost cut of the film is still nowhere to be found and probably will be forever, but there are a few deleted and extended scenes to check out. The commentary by Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt is a fun listen and you can tell how much they loved making the film.

My favourite was The Making of Event Horizon documentary which featured various insights into the production and also included Jason Isaacs talking about working with the cast and his many anecdotes about the production.

If like me, you are a fan of the film then it is well worth picking up this new edition.

Film

Disc

Both versions of the Event Horizon release contain the following legacy bonus content on Blu-ray Disc™:

• Commentary by Director Paul W.S. Anderson and Producer Jeremy Bolt
• THE MAKING OF EVENT HORIZON – 5 DOCUMENTARIES
• THE POINT OF NO RETURN: The Filming of Event Horizon with Director Commentary
• Secrets with Selectable Director Commentary
• THE UNSEEN EVENT HORIZON with Director Commentary
• Theatrical Trailer
• Video Trailer

I talked about the film in an episode of After The Ending and you can listen to that below.

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