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Ultra HD : Highly Recommended
Ranking:
Sale Price: $32.2 Last Price: $49.95 Buy now! 3rd Party 18.11 In Stock
Release Date: June 27th, 2023 Movie Release Year: 1995

Mallrats - 4K Ultra HD Bu-ray (Arrow Limited Edition)

Overview -

Mallrats is one of those nostalgic movies that brought Kevin Smith to life. It's his most fun film to date and his most quotable. That sense of nostalgia waves high and proud at how malls in the '90s were a cure for everything - even romance and comics. The new 4K image from Arrow is spectacular and the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track sounds great. The wealth of bonus features is truly wonderful and funny. Highly Recommended!

 

Following the smash success of his first feature, Clerks, Kevin Smith returned with Mallrats. Spawning a raft of characters and in-jokes that Smith would carry throughout his career, the film continued the one-of-a-kind comedic world known as the View Askewniverse.

Simultaneously dumped by their girlfriends, comic book obsessive Brodie (Jason Lee) and best friend TS (Jeremy London) plan to ease the pain of their losses by taking take a trip to the local mall. Amongst shoppers, they discover the mall is being used as the venue for a dating show, in which TS's girlfriend Brandi is the star. Hatching a plan to win back their significant others, Brodie and TS enlist the help of professional delinquents Jay and Silent Bob to hijack the gameshow in a bid to win back Brandi. Meanwhile, Brodie carries out his own mission to make good his relationship with Rene (Shannen Doherty), who has attracted the attentions of his nemesis Shannon (Ben Affleck).

Featuring a cast including Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, who would go on to be recurring collaborators in Smith's movies, Mallrats can now be rediscovered in this 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray edition boasting a beautiful restoration and hours of bonus content.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

  • 4K RESTORATION by Arrow Films of both the Theatrical and Extended cuts of the film, approved by director Kevin Smith and cinematographer David Klein
  • DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
  • Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all cuts
  • Audio commentary on the Theatrical version and and other cut with director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, archivist Vincent Pereira, and actors Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, and Jason Mewes
  • Introduction to the film by Kevin Smith
  • My Mallrat Memories, an interview with Kevin Smith
  • Tribute to producer Jim Jacks by Kevin Smith
  • Interview with actor Jason Mewes
  • Interview with Cinematographer David Klein
  • Hollywood of the North, an animated making-of documentary featuring Minnesota crew members who worked on the film
  • Deleted Scenes, Kevin Smith and Vincent Pereira discuss deleted scenes and sequences originally cut from the film
  • Outtakes and behind the scenes footage
  • Cast interviews from the original set
  • Erection of an Epic: The making of Mallrats, an archival retrospective with cast and crew looking at the making and release of the film
  • Q&A with Kevin Smith, archival Q&A filmed for the 10th anniversary
  • 'Build Me Up Buttercup' music video
  • Still galleries
  • Archival introduction to the extended cut by Kevin Smith and Scott Mossier
  • Soundtrack EPK
  • Dailies
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Easter eggs
  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Philip Kemp
  • Fold out poster featuring replica blueprints for 'Operation Drive-by' and 'Operation Dark Knight'
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Robert Sammelin

 

OVERALL:
Highly Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Robert Sammelin
Video Resolution/Codec:
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Length:
96
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
Original DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
Subtitles/Captions:
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all cuts
Release Date:
June 27th, 2023

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Kevin Smith was just a college dropout who maxed out all of his credit cards while working at a gas station to make a movie about working at a gas station. That movie was Clerks and was one of the first independent movies to take the world by storm. Smith's next installment in the same universe was called Mallrats which had a bigger budget and a larger cast that took place at the holy temple of the '90s - the mall. Featuring some young nobody actors at the time, but one heck of a screenplay that focused on romance and hijinks at the mall, Mallrats would become the ultimate fan-favorite of Smith's career.

While Clerks focused on two friends who pondered life's biggest and smallest etiquettes, much like a cathartic and indie Seinfeld episode, Mallrats had more of a narrative about two good friends whose girlfriends end their respective relationships at the same time. For some comfort and reflection, the two men head to the mall to gain some retrospectives on their mistakes in their own way, complete with a dating game show, drugs, and an Easter Bunny. Throughout the vulgar jokes and silliness, there are some real beats of emotion thrown in there on the story of love and relationships between adults.

Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Claire Forlani, Joey Lauren Adams, and Shannen Doherty are just some of the names that rock out in this film before they were super famous where they all turn in memorable performances. The addition of having a main character talks about his love for comic books made it cool to read and show off someone's comic book collection, something that wasn't really done until the MCU started pumping out blockbusters. And this film really gave the world Jay and Silent Bob as more than just two drug dealers who cause havoc. Here they help friends, show love to animals, and get everyone high. It's a wonderful duo, one that has lasted multiple decades of misadventures.

Mallrats is a feel-good movie full of nostalgia from a mall, wonderful and memorable performances from a young cast, and a stunning script that is as poignant and funny as it was 30 years ago. This is one of those highly rewatchable films that never seems to grow old, plus it was the one to start the entire MCU franchise with Stan Lee in rare form here talking about comics.

 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Mallrats snoochies its way to 4K via Arrow Films in a wonderful collector's set. Both discs are housed inside a hard, plastic case with a cardboard sleeve. There are foldable posters included, along with a booklet about the movie inside. There is no digital code. The artwork features a reversible slip with new artwork featuring the cast of the film, while the other side is the comic book poster version of the film.

 

Video Review

Ranking:

Mallrats comes with a brand new 2160p 4K UHD image via Arrow Films. According to the Arrow booklet, this new 4K picture was scanned from the original 35mm camera negative at 4K resolution. The 35mm interpositive was also scanned in 4K for the Director's Cut of the film and graded in HDR and Dolby Vision. The whole restoration process was approved by Kevin Smith. The results are amazing and are an upgrade from Arrow's previous 1080p Blu-ray release from a couple of years ago.

This film is almost 30 years old and wasn't necessarily made with the vest equipment or lighting conditions. So the source has taken its toll over time with its many releases on home video. There have been moments of heavy grain fluctuations or weird color corrections done, but with the 1080p Arrow release a couple of years ago, it seemed like all of the grain was washed away and there was a digital print of the film. That might have angered some fans, but with his new 4K transfer, the grain, and filmic look are back and better looking than ever.

The color palette is vibrant in certain sequences, more particularly at the mall with tons of pink and neon highlights that are bold and flashy. Thanks to the HDR upgrades, these colors look even better than before. The blue schematics are perfectly blue and the pink floors and red neon lighting are magnetic. Inside Bordy's basement room, the colors are more earthy with tons of browns and beiges, where colors don't necessarily pop. Black levels are inky and rich and the skin tones are natural.

The detail is sharp and vivid throughout with some of that nostalgic early '90s film grain. The textures in the flannel clothing and coterie clothing are fantastic and the close-ups reveal wonderful facial features like acne, beads of sweat, individual hairs, and more. The shag carpeting shows those strands of fibers perfectly too. Wider shots never look soft. There are no major issues with video noise, aliasing, or banding. This is the ultimate way to watch Mallrats.

Audio Review

Ranking:

This Mallrats release comes with the DTS-HD 5.1 option and a 2.0 mix. This is a great-sounding track that is perfect for a '90s comedy. Sound effects are well-balanced and offer up those wackier vibes that are something out of a Looney Tunes episode. The atmospherics of the mall reverb nicely and the ambient activity allows people to talk from all angles of the mall and those cash register sales. The song cues are perfect as well. The low end of the bass has a nice rumble when the score is played, but other than that, there isn't a ton of big action-packed rumbles. The dialogue is clean, clear, and easy to follow. There are no major problems with this audio option.

 

Special Features

Ranking:

There are over four hours of new and vintage bonus material on this release. There is also the Theatrical Cut on Disc One which runs at 94 minutes and the Extended Cut which runs at 122 minutes. The theatrical cut is the better version of pacing and comedy. The new bonus features along with the vintage extras cover almost every part of the film and its production. There are poignant, funny, and highly entertaining.

Disc One

  • Intro (HD, 13 Mins.) - A brand new introduction from Kevin Smith as he talks about the film, its life on shelves after all the years, coming to HD, and more.
  • Commentary - Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, and others discuss making the movie, some of the fun anecdotes from the set, and more. As always, Smith's commentary tracks are golden.
  • My Mallrat Memories (HD, 30 Mins.) - Another new extra with Kevin Smith reminiscing about making Mallrats with some amazing stories.
  • My Mallrats: A Tribute to Jim Jacks (HD, 13 Mins.) - Kevin talks about his friend and producer Jim Jacks.
  • Blunt Talk (HD, 10 Mins.) - A new interview with Jason Mewes who talks about working with Kevin and his role in the franchise of the View Askew universe.
  • Hollywood of the North (HD, 10 Mins.) - A fun animated behind-the-scenes look at Mallrats.
  • When We Were Punks (HD, 6 Mins.) - The Director of Photography David Klein comes in for a new interview about how he shot the film inside a mall.
  • Deleted Scenes (HD, 63 Mins.) - An hour long of deleted scenes with Kevin Smith and producer Vincent Pereira talking about how much longer the movie could have been.
  • Outtakes (HD, 8 Mins.) - Some funny bloopers and on-set footage are located here.
  • Cast Interviews (HD, 9 Mins.) - Archival interviews with the cast from the original set of the film.
  • Erection of an Epic (HD, 22 Mins.) - This is the original making of Mallrats and it's delightful.
  • Q & A with Kevin Smith (HD, 9 Mins.) - Another archival piece with Kevin answering questions from the film's 10th anniversary.
  • Build Me Up Buttercup (HD, 4 Mins.) - The punk version of the song is located here in video form.
  • Trailer (HD, 3 Mins.) - Trailer for the film.

Disc Two 

  • Intro (HD, 11 Mins.) - This is an older intro from Kevin and Scott Mosier talking about the movie.
  • Soundtrack EPK (HD, 5 Mins.) - Kevin and Scott discuss the soundtrack and songs of the film.
  • Dailies (HD, 120 Mins.) - Virtually around two hours of the dailies from the shoot of the film.
  • Still Galleries - images from the film and artwork of the movie, including the comics, and behind-the-scenes.

Arrow Booklet - There is a great booklet that features essays, tech specs, cast and crew information, and the foldout posters of the schematics.

Mallrats is one of those amazing movies that still holds up all these years later and is still one of Smith's most fun productions to date. It has some of the most memorable dialogue and started the entire Stan Lee cameo craze before the MCU was a real thing. Arrow has done a knock-out job with the 4K video and its DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix. The bonus features are fantastic as there is a treasure trove of information on these two discs. Highly Recommended!