4k Movie, Streaming, Blu-Ray Disc, and Home Theater Product Reviews & News | High Def Digest
Film & TV All News Blu-Ray Reviews Release Dates News Pre-orders 4K Ultra HD Reviews Release Dates News Pre-orders Gear Reviews News Home Theater 101 Best Gear Film & TV
Ultra HD : Must Own
Ranking:
Release Date: April 17th, 2023 Movie Release Year: 1991

Naked Lunch - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Arrow Video UK Limited Edition)

Overview -

Despite releasing horror hit after hit in the 1970s and 80s, David Cronenberg strove to separate himself from his reputation for body horror, and his biggest risk came in the form of Naked Lunch, an incredible adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name. Arrow brings this 1991 masterwork to 4K Ultra HD with a gorgeous 2160p presentation bolstered by Dolby Vision, plus a truly comprehensive set of special features to enjoy. No matter if you’re addicted to bug powder, mugwump jizzum, or huge upgrades of a master filmmaker’s work, this is a Must-Own release!

 

In a career dedicated to seeing the unseeable and filming the unfilmable, perhaps only David Cronenberg could really do justice to William S. Burroughs' controversial novel, Naked Lunch. Weaving together elements of Burroughs' own remarkable biography with the content of the book, Cronenberg's film steps inside the body and mind of an author to depict the dangerous act of imagination itself from the inside out.

Former junkie William Lee (Peter Weller, Robocop) makes ends meet as an exterminator. But when he and his wife Joan (Judy Davis, Barton Fink) discover the hallucinatory properties of the powder he uses to kill bugs, they become hooked, and their world is changed forever. Insects speak, typewriters mutate and talk, interdimensional beings reveal themselves, identities fracture and blur; nothing and no one is quite what it seems. When Bill, under the influence of drugs, or the bugs that have begun talking to him, shoots his wife, he flees to Interzone, at once a place and a state of mind, where things only get stranger.

Winner of Best Picture, Best Direction, and Best Screenplay at the 1992 Genie Awards and featuring an astonishing score by Howard Shore (Videodrome), Naked Lunch is provocative, transgressive, and surreal - a feast for the senses, where nothing is true and everything is permitted.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

  • NEW 4K RESTORATION from the original camera negative overseen by director of photography Peter Suschitzky and approved by director David Cronenberg
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
  • Original lossless 2.0 stereo and 5.1 audio options
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary by director David Cronenberg
  • New audio commentary by film historian Jack Sargeant and screenwriter Graham Duff
  • Naked Attraction, a new interview with legendary producer Jeremy Thomas
  • Exterminate All Rational Thought, a new interview with star Peter Weller
  • Peter Suschitzky on Naked Lunch, a new interview with the celebrated director of photography
  • Naked Flesh, a new interview with special effects artist Chris Walas
  • A Ballad for Burroughs, a new interview with composer Howard Shore
  • Tony Rayns on William S. Burroughs, a new interview with the renowned writer and critic
  • David Huckvale on Naked Lunch, a new interview taking a closer look at one of Shore's most unusual film scores
  • A Ticket to Interzone, new visual essay by critic David Cairns
  • Naked Making Lunch, archival making of documentary directed by Chris Rodley presented in a new scan from the director's personal 16mm print and viewable with a new audio interview with Rodley discussing his connection to Cronenberg and the process of making Naked Making Lunch
  • Concept Art Gallery, a collection of drawings and maquettes for the creatures of Naked Lunch by Stephan Dupuis
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Image Galleries, including never before seen stills from the set courtesy of Chris Rodley
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
  • Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
  • Six postcard-sized reproduction lobby cards
  • 80-page perfect bound collector's book featuring new writing by critics Vanessa Morgan and Jack Sargeant, plus select archival material including David Cronenberg's introduction to Everything is Permitted: The Making of Naked Lunch, and a chapter from Cronenberg on Cronenberg

 

Alternate order link from DiabolikDVD.

OVERALL:
Must Own
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
80-page perfect bound collector's book featuring new writing by critics Vanessa Morgan and Jack Sargeant, plus select archival material including David Cronenberg's introduction to Everything is Permitted: The Making of Naked Lunch, and a chapter from Cronenberg on Cronenberg
Video Resolution/Codec:
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Length:
115
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
Original lossless 2.0 stereo and 5.1 audio options
Subtitles/Captions:
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Release Date:
April 17th, 2023

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Of all the novels dubbed “unfilmable” over the years, it’s easy to understand why William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch was immediately given that title whenever a filmmaker expressed interest in adapting it. Burroughs’ free-flowing prose is seated in a world fully realized and nearly incomprehensible, and its depiction of power imbalances under capitalism sure hit harder given today’s reality. To look back on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s banning of the book is to find irony in the Democratic capital of the United States trying to stymie expression. Anyway, the point is that Burroughs’ book is the kind of art that changes how you engage with art, and Cronenberg nearly achieves the same with his adaptation.

Burroughs is famous for being cantankerous about adaptations of his work, and he’s more than a bit justified in that exact feeling, though the man’s violent attitude certainly takes an artist of a certain demeanor to parse through all the terse wordplay. In comes Cronenberg, a calm and metronomic presence that seems at odds with Burroughs at first, but what’s always been there is a man that deeply understands our relationship with drugs, power, and money as in how they dictate our reality. Thus, we must revolt, in whatever way we can.

Naked Lunch follows drug addict and exterminator William Lee (Peter Weller), a man who accidentally shoots and kills his wife, but that was after he hallucinated that a giant talking beetle was trying to conscript him to kill his wife for a mysterious corporation called Interzone Incorporated. Lee flees to Interzone, a constantly morphing city located somewhere in North Africa, and becomes involved in a mysterious plot orchestrated by Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider). Naturally, Bill has many drug episodes along the way, including one where his typewriter/beetle creature brutally murders another typewriter in gruesome, weird, and bloody detail.

The film is anything but a straight adaptation of Burroughs’ source, eliding a loose autobiography of Burroughs’ life and specific passages from the book to create something incomprehensible but thematically full. Something that, I think, accurately captures Burroughs’ writing while being something completely of Cronenberg’s making. The horror maestro’s proclivity for stories about addiction and how that morphs both the person and the reality around them is on full display here, and the breathless production design and creature effects make for a fully realized vision. 

To write about Naked Lunch is to fail to summarize its strengths neatly, but believe me when I say that it still stands as one of Cronenberg’s most formally and narratively audacious works. And better yet, it still delivers on that confounding, transfixing feeling you get when reading Burroughs’ work.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Get your mugwump typewriter out and start click-clacking away with this new 4K Blu-ray release from Arrow. This limited edition comes housed in Arrow’s standard chipboard packaging, and inside is a fold-out poster with artwork on both sides, a 78-page booklet filled with critical writings and production notes, and of course the black Elite case for the 4K disc. This single-disc release comes with a triple-layered BD100 disc and some other fun physical goodies in the case, including a steamship ticket to Interzone, postcards, and business cards for William Lee and Dr. Benway. The 4K disc boots up to a standard menu with options to play the film, set up audio and video, plus explore bonus features.

NOTE - We haven't been able to rip the 4K disc yet, when we can for this release or when we review the Turbine disc, we'll update with new pics and if possible a video sample.

Video Review

Ranking:

It truly doesn’t matter if you’re tripping from bug dust or not when watching this HEVC-encoded 2160p presentation framed at 1.85:1, as you’ll be treated to an absolutely stunning transfer through and through. This presentation is sourced from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative undertaken by both Turbine Media and Arrow Films. Scanning was done in Toronto, then conforming and color grading was done in Germany by Turbine, and then the final transfer was approved by Cronenberg. The result is a beautiful and filmic image that pulls an incredible amount of detail out of the source.

The film grain is light but natural here, which is perfectly reflective of the stock used during the 1990s. Flesh tones sing here, and that breathless production design has all kinds of textures that you couldn’t quite appreciate in previous 1080p presentations. As for black levels, it’s my great pleasure to report that they are deep and strong. Much of the film was shot on elaborate sets, and Cronenberg’s mastery of lighting extends to his shadow play, all of which looks terrific here.

Now, for all of those creature effects, they’ve all served the test of time and only gain impact when exposed to 2160p. The practical craft is enhanced by the Dolby Vision HDR layer, plus the warm and cool color tones used throughout look better altogether when compared to previous releases. While this may not be the kind of night-and-day upgrade that people seem to clamor for with 4K, I found it to be the absolute best rendering I’ve seen of the film yet.

4K UHD Sourced Images

Audio Review

Ranking:

Arrow provides both the original 2.0 stereo and archival 5.1 sound mixes, with the latter encoded as an LPCM track and the former a DTS-HD MA rendering. Both tracks are remarkably clean and prioritize most of the film’s soundscape to the front channels, although the 5.1 mix adds a lot of ambient environmental sounds and other surround effects that add nicely to the experience. That being said, I know the 5.1 mix is included as an archival extra, as it’s not an accurate rendering of how the film sounded in theaters. I give the edge to the 2.0 stereo track for offering the best balance of Howard Shore’s jazzy score and the film's dialogue.

Special Features

Ranking:

Arrow has packed this limited edition with supplements, so I’d recommend spiking your coffee with mugwump jizzum before diving in. For one thing, the talent interviews are exhaustive, including an interview with Peter Weller that runs over an hour. The actor is a huge talker, though that can be attributed to his inspiration found in filmmaking, and he had a very close relationship with William S. Burroughs while researching the role. On top of that, he’s very clear and coy about his relationship with drugs and how that too influenced his eagerness to work on the project. It’s a terrific interview to watch and easy to enjoy, as Weller is a vibrant spirit filled with historical anecdotes and a deep admiration for Cronenberg.

Another huge highlight in this set is the interview with Howard Shore that was filmed by Turbine in 2022. Shore frequently collaborates with Cronenberg, and it’s a rare treat to hear how the duo starts working near the beginning of pre-production rather than shortly before shooting or in post-production. Shore is a fan of Burroughs and talks excitedly about having to compose jazz for the film.

  • Audio commentary by director David Cronenberg
  • New Audio Commentary by film historian Jack Sargeant and screenwriter Graham Duff
  • Naked Attraction, a new interview with legendary producer Jeremy Thomas (HD 15:32)
  • Exterminate All Rational Thought, a new interview with star Peter Weller (HD 61:53)
  • Peter Suschitzky on Naked Lunch, a new interview with the celebrated director of photography (HD 11:01)
  • Naked Flesh, a new interview with special effects artist Chris Walas (HD 18:36)
  • A Ballad for Burroughs, a new interview with composer Howard Shore (HD 17:09)
  • Tony Rayns on William S. Burroughs, a new interview with the renowned writer and critic (HD 60:29)
  • David Huckvale on Naked Lunch, a new interview taking a closer look at one of Shore's most unusual film scores (HD 31:27)
  • A Ticket to Interzone, new visual essay by critic David Cairns (HD 28:31)
  • Naked Making Lunch, archival making-of documentary directed by Chris Rodley (HD 54:40)
  • Concept Art Gallery, a collection of drawings and maquettes for the creatures of Naked Lunch by Stephan Dupuis (HD 2:51)
  • Theatrical Trailer (HD 1:36)
  • Image Galleries, including never before seen stills from the set courtesy of Chris Rodley

Final Thoughts

Naked Lunch stands as a hugely daring work from master filmmaker David Cronenberg, and it’s a treat to have it exposed to the wonders of 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Vision courtesy of Arrow and Turbine. This limited-edition release comes packed with hours upon hours of supplements, plus physical goodies and essential writing on this crazy film. Call an exterminator if you must because of the bug infestation, but this is a Must-Own release!