American Movie - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Everyone has a movie like this for themselves. Every time you watch this movie, it casts its spell on you. It’s almost like watching it for the first time all over again. For me, that movie is American Movie and when it ends, I blink away a few hot tears welling up in my eyes. Every. Single. Time.

Movies are magic. They can be, anyway. We watch movies to be transported off to strange, new worlds. We watch movies to laugh. To be scared. To feel the awe and mystery of the human experience. And sometimes we watch movies to see a piece of ourselves up there on the screen. American Movie represents a big turning point in my life when I first saw it all those decades ago, in the year 1999 I saw more incredible film releases than I can count.

I grew up in a small town, population of about 7,000, and my mom managed the local video store. I spent a lot of time wandering the aisles of that old video store and it kickstarted my lifelong obsession with movies. And as much as I loved movies (and still do) they felt unattainable as an art form. They’re too ambitious and too expensive for regular people. As a teenager, I saw Roger Ebert and guest critic Joyce Kulhawik gush about how much they loved this movie, so I went out and rented it as soon as I could. When I saw American Movie for myself, Mark Borchardt helped destroy that preconceived bit of nonsense I’d been carrying around with me. Here, I was watching a story about a regular guy in a small town not unlike my own, making a movie despite everything in his life going wrong.

And what I like about Mark is that he doesn’t overcome his obstacles with good cheer and a chuckle. No. He’s a human being. He gets depressed. He wants to quit. He almost does quit several times. But, eventually, with the help of his best friend Mike Schank (who also performs the film’s musical score), and his dysfunctional family, he does finish his film project. Granted, he goes from something much more ambitious (a feature-length film named Northwestern) to something perhaps a bit more manageable (a short film named Coven).

The strength in American Movie, and what a lot of people get wrong about it, is that it never punches down to Mark. It never mocks him. Instead, the film—along with director Chris Smith and producer Sarah Price—is fascinated by him. Here’s this unorthodox guy with oversized glasses, in need of a haircut, without a buck to his name, and he wants to go and make a movie and be a rich, famous filmmaker one day. Rather than laugh at him for his lofty, oversized goals, American Movie allows Mark to speak at length about his technical skills. He’s familiar with film language. He has a vast library of books on the subject. And when we see glimpses of his finished product, he obviously knows what he’s doing. Keep in mind he shot Coven (pronounced coe-ven, because cuh-ven sounds like "oven", man) on 16mm film, which is a whole skill unto itself.

American Movie also succeeds at being one of the funniest movies I think I’ve ever seen. Mark and Mike’s comradery and banter is the stuff of legends. The way Mark tries to order Mike, but Mike—who just recently became sober after years and years of alcohol and hard drugs—just kind of lets it all roll off his back. Every “character” in this documentary feels so real. Everyone has room to breathe and feel like their natural selves. We get to spend Thanksgiving with them and see them eat and drink too much and lose control in a scene that makes this nearly an annual watch for me every November. Then, we get to see the fallout of regret, sallying forth and carrying on, only to repeat the cycle, but maybe, one day, learn some lessons from it.

There’s a palpable magic to American Movie. The ending is always sure to wring some tears from me, but never in ways that I expect. It’s not some cornball ending where the underdog accomplishes his goal and sees his dreams come to fruition. No. This is real life, after all. We see Mark on the edge of the rest of his life, with no idea what to do next, and there’s something simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating about it. American Movie isn’t just about accomplishing something, it’s about what we’re all capable of. What a masterpiece.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
American Movie arrives on a single 4K UHD Blu-ray disc housed in a standard case with the same cover art that has graced all previous releases, from VHS to DVD and Blu-ray. The main feature and all supplemental features are contained on the one disc.

While it might sound like overkill to give a movie like American Movie (a low-budget documentary shot on 16mm) the 4K/Dolby Vision HDR treatment, I have to tell you: It works. Some scenes and sequences will look more or less identical to the previous 1080p HD Blu-ray, but the Dolby Vision grading greatly benefits shots with more complex, uneven, naturalistic lighting. These scenes look incredibly lifelike and vibrant, and the documentary stylings make it almost look like you’re peering through an open window into an event occurring just outside.

Talking head segments that are more staged in their composition with even lighting are indistinguishable from the previous Blu-ray release, although with the increased 4K resolution, the images do appear to be a bitter sharper overall. Like most documentaries, particularly documentaries shot on film, scenes shot in low light have issues with focus, so many of the images are going to be softer, which is par for the course and a look that suits American Movie quite well. I’ve always thought it was a good-looking film, but especially now it looks especially good, with increased color accuracy from the HDR grading. Skin tones show details never clearly seen before, like red noses from the winter cold.

American Movie carries over the same DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track from its Blu-ray release. I’ve heard some reviews lament that the film doesn’t have any sort of surround sound track, but I just don’t think that it’s necessary for a film like this, a low-budget labor of love documentary. Mono feels appropriate for its scrappiness and the audio track given is well-mixed. Mike Schank’s musical score, classic compositions played by him on an acoustic guitar, shines beautifully. Dialogue is always sharp and precise. And even ambient sounds recorded on location, like chirping birds, traffic whooshing by, etc., blend in, leveled with great care and accuracy.

Special features, unfortunately, are lacking. Every feature here was previously available on its DVD release. For some reason, the full presentation of Mark’s short film Coven was not available on the Blu-ray, but it’s been added back to the 4K UHD, albeit in SD without any sort of restoration or upgrading. It’s the exact same file from the original DVD.

The archival audio commentary track featuring Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank (who takes frequent cigarette breaks) is one of the best audio commentaries ever recorded and I’m glad to see it return.

I would have loved to have seen some updated features, new interviews, to catch back up with Mark today, but I’m greedy.

• Audio Commentary featuring Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank
• Deleted Scenes (SD 36:56)
• Coven (SD 36:20) short film by Mark Borchardt 
• Theatrical Trailer

American Movie is many things. A great documentary. A great buddy movie. And a wonderful slice of Americana. Sony continues its trend of excellent 4K/HDR transfers with a video presentation that justifies the upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray and now 4K UHD. Even though the special features don’t have anything new for fans, the features that are there are decent, with an incredible audio commentary. All in all, American Movie in 4K comes Highly Recommended.