When mixing writer Charlie Kaufman and director Michel Gondry for a film, the result is usually pure brilliance and genius. This is true for their film Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, which is perhaps the sweetest and saddest breakup movie of all time. It's told expertly through its characters played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet who have agreed to have their memory wiped of their relationship and of one another. With Kaufman and Gondry's unique vision of this process and the emotional stress of these characters, what was conveyed was sheer beauty on film. This is one of those rare five-star films and still holds up today after eighteen years have passed.
CLICK HERE for the Full Five-Star Review!
Vital Disc Stats: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind wipes its way to 4K + Blu-Ray via Kino Lorber. The discs are housed inside a hard, black plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. The artwork features that iconic movie poster of Jim Carrey looking up at his past relationship on the ice as it breaks. There are no inserts or digital codes here.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind comes with a brand new 2160p UHD 4K transfer with Dolby Vision from Kino Lorber. This new master was color graded by the cinematographer of the film Ellen Kuras who gives a brand new interview in the extras section of this disc. This is the best this film has looked thus far on home video.
As Ellen Kuras discusses in this new interview, she was able to use handheld cameras and a ton of filters to convey the image and vision of director Michel Gondry, which resulted in this movie looking the way it did. It's not all sunshine, rainbows, or bright primary colors with this film. It has a rather cool, steely, decaying look, which goes hand in hand with the tone of this melancholic motion picture. There is still an excellent layer of grain throughout the movie that has been kept intact. There are never any instances of fluctuating or swarming of film grain. It all looks natural and filmic.
This results in a sharp-looking image with some great detail with newly added depth in the textures of clothing and facial features. The stubble on faces, wrinkles, makeup blemishes, and large knit clothing now show off even more detail and textures. Background props and set pieces reveal better detail as well in all the filtered lighting conditions. The heavier CGI effects look more natural here in this 4K image as well. Due to the filtered lighting and how Kuras used her camera, the image is intentionally not digitally pristine but has that heavier filmic look to it, which this 4K master renders beautifully.
The color palette of this film is not wrapped in bubble gum cotton candy but features an icy look at a relationship that has fallen apart. The Dolby Vision enhances these blues, grays, and silvers to look more dynamic. The use of the filters as the dream and memory illusions take place only adds to the bolder colors here. The white levels in the background are richer and never seem to bleed over. The same with the black levels which now look even inkier in these lower-lit sequences, giving way to better detail and more primary colors in the clothing. Kate's bright blue hair now glistens in this dreary world as Jim's brown outfits contact nicely with the lighter colors outside. Skin tones are also as natural as they can be given the filters used. There are no issues with banding, aliasing, or noise here, and is the best this movie has looked yet.
The new 4K Disc looks to have brought over the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track here which is still exquisite. Doing some disc flips didn't reveal any differences. A Dolby Atmos track might have added some smoother transition and height elements, but this DTS-HD 5.1 track is still phenomenal. CLICK HERE for that Review!
All of the extras from the previous release have been imported to this set. All of them reside on the Blu-ray Disc of the set, except for the commentary track which is now on the 4K Disc. There is one new bonus feature for this release, which is a great watch pickup for this set.
4K Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind still holds up after eighteen years in being one of the most brilliant tales of a breakup in history. The unique camera work, the fantastic script, and the amazing performances all brought this movie to be remembered and talked about to this day. The new 4K picture with Dolby Vision looks exceptional and the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track is still amazing. The new bonus feature is worth watching as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
