Gremlins is available now for the first time in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Directed by Joe Dante (Innerspace, The ‘Burbs)) and written by Chris Columbus (The Goonies, Young Sherlock Holmes), the film stars Zach Galligan as Billy Peltzer, Phoebe Cates as Kate Beringer, and Hoyt Axton and Randall Peltzer, along with the voices of Frank Welker as Stripe and Howie Mandel as Gizmo.
Gremlins is a wildly original roller-coaster ride of hilarious mischief. One minute your hair will stand on end, the next you’ll hold your sides with laughter at the havoc these supposedly gentle furballs create when the rules surrounding their care and feeding are inadvertently broken one fateful Christmas. Written by Chris Columbus and directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins unleashes special effects that dazzle and enchant and merriment that lingers in the memory.
Review:
Just in time for the holiday season, and I’m talking both Halloween and especially Christmas, Gremlins is now on 4K Blu-ray and it looks REALLY damn good. Sure the 1984 film is dated and when a film that is dated, gets re-released in the best picture/sound format possible, you tend to notice more mistakes. I didn’t have that issue with this re-release and in fact, as someone who never got to see Gremlins on the bigscreen because I wasn’t born until 85, this feels like what I assume most fans experienced when they saw the movie in theaters decades ago. Joe Dante’s cult classic gets better with every re-watch and I always love hearing that morbid Santa/Chimney story. Remember that? Holy shit was this ever a dark film.
The special features are all previously available in other formats, but it’s nice that they were included because if you’re going to splurge on another re-release of a classic film, you might as well get the full meal deal so you can scrap whatever versions you previously had on the shelf. The movie holds up better than I remembered too and it’s a fast-paced thriller that continuously reminds me of how different parenting was back in the 80’s.
The bottom line – is that you really only need this remaster if you’re a die-hard fan to be honest. I don’t know how many die-hard Gremlin fans there are still, but even then I’m not sure the steep price-point is necessarily worth it this time unless you have a damn good 4K TV and you like to watch Gremlins at least once every year. If you fit that criteria – get it now.
Rating: [star rating=”4″]
Special Features:
- Filmmakers’ Commentary with Director Joe Dante, Producer Michael Finnell and Special Effects Artist Chris Walas
- Cast Commentary with Director Joe Dante, Zack Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Dick Miller, and Howie Mandel
- Gremlins: Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Additional Scenes with Commentary
- Photo Gallery
- Theatrical Trailers
- Additional Scenes
- Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent: Making Gremlins
- Gremlins: The Gift of the Mogwai (motion comic)
- The Last Gremlin (motion comic)
- From Gizmo to Gremlins: Creating the Creatures
- Hangin’ with Hoyt on the set of Gremlins