Beetlejuice Beetlejuice - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

In the attached audio commentary on this 4K Blu-ray release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton mentions that there has always been talk about a sequel to his beloved classic Beetlejuice. It’s just that he’d refuse to partake in any project that Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton, among other creatives from the first film, wouldn’t want to do. Thus, we have waited decades for the right story to come along. And while the script itself is probably the weakest aspect of the film, one concerned with far too many plot threads than necessary, it’s proof in the pudding that Burton’s production and filmmaking style was more than enough to make those script issues frivolous in the face of a burst of creativity. In a way, I’m actually shocked you can write a script for something like this, because it became abundantly clear listening to the commentary that Burton comes up with all of these visual ideas on his own. They’re not in the script. He just knows what would work to supplement the script. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice returns to the small town of Winter River, CT, when Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is informed by Delia (Catherine O’Hara) that her father has died in a terrible plane accident where he was eaten by a shark after the plane crashed. Lydia is now the host of Ghost House, a haunted house reality series that has homogenized and sucked the life out of her love for the dead, and that has caused her to become estranged from her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). When the three generations of Deetz women return home, little do they know that Beetlegeuse (Michael Keaton) is waiting and ready to do whatever’s possible to get Lydia to marry him. Chaos ensues, naturally.

As mentioned previously, the real stars of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are the myriad visual gags and asides that enliven the film entirely. There’s a slew of animated sequences mostly done with stop motion, then aided by CGI. The ability for Burton to expand his scope with CGI is used remarkably well here, like when a giant sandworm disrupts the finale and is blended incredibly well with the real in the scene. And then there’s Burton’s obsession with 1960s Italian gothic horror that takes full life in flashback sequences about Beetlejuice, detailing when he was a grave robber and meeting his soul-sucking demon of a wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci). All of these gags do more than color in the script, they become the main show. To Burton, these characters are back for a good time, and he’s going to ensure they’re surrounded by the creativity that made the original so successful.

I think what really shocks me about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice the most is how quickly it was produced. They only shot the film in a couple of months, nothing was rehearsed and Burton was coming up with things on the fly to put in the film. You’d think such a process would lead to disaster, but Burton positions this production as being a journey where all of these creatives are re-connecting and contributing to something everyone is passionate about. To him, it was easy to get the gang back together because everyone was chomping at the bit to revisit these characters and have them face growing up.

Although it may sound like I’m probably Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s biggest fan, I cannot emphasize enough that the movie’s success rests its laurels on specific sequences. Does an extended musical intro sequence where Delores puts all of her body parts back together to the tune of The Bee Gee’s “Tragedy” really need to exist? No, but it’s exactly the kind of silly, macabre beauty that Burton is still adept at providing. Do we really need to see Jeffrey Jones’ character as a stop-motion puppet who gets eaten by a shark? Again, no, but such a thing is so unique and beautifully executed that it only enhances what would be a throwaway moment in other films. 

While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has some trouble getting out of its own way, struggling a bit to add Astrid to the cast and give her a full characterization, it’s filled with so much imagination and creativity the likes of which we don’t see today. It’s not that Tim Burton is back, it’s that he hasn’t felt this inspired and driven in a long time. And I, for one, am happy to see he hasn’t lost a single step.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K UHD
Day-o, day-o! Beetlejuice Beetlejuice come in 4K Ultra HD and me wan' go home. Tim Burton’s sequel comes home with a single-disc 4K Blu-ray package that comes housed in a standard black amaray case with a slipcover over it. The 4K disc is a UHD100 and houses the film and special features. The disc boots up to a standard menu screen with options to play the film, set up audio, browse bonus features and select chapters.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was shot on a Sony CineAlta Venice 2 with Ultra Panatar and Ultra Panatar II Panavision lenses, then it was finished as a 4K digital intermediate. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos worked with Burton to have the same camera rig shoot the majority of the film to ensure the look was consistent. But with the Sony CineAlta Venice 2, all of the in-camera effects and differently styled sequences blend together because it’s capturing everything in the same color space. Burton even preferred to capture the afterlife in 3200 ISO, which returns a bright image with remarkable depth in black levels. 

Needless to say, this new 2160p presentation is sourced from a rock-solid digital intermediate that astounds in detail and color, and the HEVC encode compresses the source terrifically for home viewing. Data rates are consistently in the 85-95 mbps range, flesh tones are tuned in just right and the presentation revels in the finite details of all the puppet work. Dolby Vision HDR grading gives a very appreciable bump in highlight refinement and sharpness. Many of the sequences in the afterlife are not optically filtered, going for clarity and sharpness to show off all the remarkable production design and physical effects, and this 2160p presentation pulls it all off wonderfully. This is yet another show-stopping transfer from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

As for audio, we’re provided with a Dolby Atmos track that pulls out all the stops for the film’s moody, macabre and atmospheric soundscape. Surround channels are engaged throughout the film, enveloping the viewer in the environment of its characters. LFE quality is stellar, and the Atmos height channels are used well during some sequences. Bass is more than appreciable, it’s deep, textural and may blow out cheaper subwoofers in home theater setups. This track is built to give your setup the best workout possible.

In terms of supplements, I’m happy to report that this features package is more robust than your standard studio release, complete with an audio commentary by Burton, a 27-minute making-of featurette and a few other brief but fun supplements covering different aspects of the film. The commentary with Burton is pretty light on technical details, but it’s nonetheless fun to listen to this filmmaker be inspired by his creations for the first time in a long time. The way he talks about creating many of the film’s visual gags is so heartwarming because they’re all personal to him and personal to these characters, plus there’s a funny bit where he talks about ripping off Dune for the sandworm sequence in the film. And if you want to see how they created all those puppets and stop-motion effects, there’s a 10-minute feature going over much of that. While not huge, this is a very appreciable supplements package that covers multiple aspects of the production in ways that other studio releases have not recently. Good work!

Disc 1: 4K UHD Feature & Supplements

• Audio commentary with Tim Burton
• The Juice is Loose: The Making of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (HD 27:37)
• The Ghost with the Most: Beetlejuice Returns (HD 8:34) 
• Meet the Deetz (HD 6:52) 
• Shrinkers, Shrinkers Everywhere! (HD 6:26) 
• An Animated Afterlife: The Stop-Motion Art of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (HD 9:14)
• The Handbook for the Recently Deceased (HD 12:07) 
• 'Til Death Do We Park: Beetlejuice and Lydia's First Dance (HD 7:54)

The juice is loose in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the legacy sequel to Burton’s beloved original classic film, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is ready to spook you with their stellar 4K Blu-ray release of the film. There’s a reference-grade 2160p presentation of the film aided by Dolby Vision and Atmos, plus there’s over an hour of supplements to dig through. This release comes Highly Recommended!