Jade - Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

I was a kid when Jade came out and, man, I remember the negative buzz so clearly. My mom was working at the local, small-town video store, and I remember customers coming in, saying things like, “Gosh, what a terrible movie! I can’t believe David Caruso ruined his career by leaving NYPD Blue to be in this thing! What was he thinking?!” Or, they’d say, “It’s too dumb to be a thriller, but it’s not sexy enough to be a porno!” But despite how much everyone seemed to loathe Jade, they couldn’t rent it fast enough. If people weren’t complaining about it, they were asking when it would be back in stock. Hell, I even remember a big cardboard display in the lobby of the shop!

Jade. It’s funny the things you remember. It took me years to finally get around to seeing it. I got a bug up my butt on some '90s erotic thriller kick, and I saw it for sale on VHS for about two bucks (yes, I still have a functioning VCR), so I gave it a watch. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it. For years, I’d been told it was somewhere between the worst movie ever made and the worst "experience on this planet." So, I was a little nervous. I know William Friedkin doesn’t have a spotless record or anything, but c’mon. The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Sorcerer, all in a row? Three stone-cold classics back-to-back-to-back? Plus all his other hits throughout the years, like To Live and Die in L.A. Sure, he’s made some… interesting choices, like that movie about the babysitter who feeds kids to an evil tree, but he’s earned his status as a legendary filmmaker.

David Caruso plays ADA David Corelli, who finds himself up to his waist in sex, lies, videotape, and intrigue when he stumbles into a brutal murder case involving his close friend Matt (Chazz Palminteri) and Matt’s wife Katrina (Linda Fiorentino), who used to be Corelli’s lover. The screenplay by Joe Eszterhas was apparently rewritten extensively by Friedkin, so I’m not sure who’s exactly to blame, but the issue with the movie, by and large, is simply a lack of coherence.

Jade is a lot of things all at once, somewhere between a Chinatown-flavored Neo-noir (both due to its Chinatown, San Francisco setting and homage to the '70s film) and a sleazy softcore Cinemax flick, but a lot of things that happen don’t make a lick of sense. A lot of what happens feels required by the plot, so the answer to “Why is this happening?” is usually “Because the movie needed it to.” And far too often, the plot twists and turns simply to pull the rug out from underneath its audience again and again. It’s disorienting, but not in an exhilarating way, where we’re taken along with the filmmakers on this journey through the dark sexuality of the human spirit; it’s just exhausting.

Watching Jade again for the purpose of this review, I don’t believe it’s anywhere near as bad as its reputation would have you believe, but it’s still a mess. This release of the film also includes the extended Director’s Cut, which does flesh out some of the story, adds some clarification here and there, and improves the film but not by any substantial margin. I don’t like the ending as much, either. I preferred the theatrical cut’s final twist, which had a nasty, biting edge to it. The Director’s Cut dulls that edge by adding yet another twist which ironically brings a sort of closure to the story. I preferred the open-ended vibe of the original, which almost felt like a sort of horror movie thriller ending.

Jade is an interesting entry into a very specific genre made during a very specific time. It’s not a great movie, but it’s also not a bad one. It’s a solidly fine, messy entry into the catalog of 90s erotic, twisty thrillers. This being a William Friedkin film, you can expect at least one awesome car chase in the movie. Friedkin knows how to film vehicular carnage. He just inherently understands it, somehow. He understands how to convey a sense of geography to the audience, and it’s not all swerving, crashing, and burning rubber. There’s a lot of cat-and-mouse tension in the thrill of the chase. But as far as delivering a tantalizing edge-of-your-seat erotic thriller, he stumbles through. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Vinegar Syndrome’s release of Jade arrives on two discs (one 4K UHD and one Blu-ray) housed in a standard case with reversible cover art. On one side is the original, jade-green (what else?) poster artwork from its original theatrical release and subsequent home video releases. On the other side is brand-new artwork commissioned for this release. If you ordered from Vinegar Syndrome (or are a subscriber), you score an exclusive custom-art slipcover and hardstock slipcase complete with a booklet containing essays and photos from the film. 

According to the team at Vinegar Syndrome, when Jade was initially released in theaters, it was not in accordance with William Friedkin’s approved color timing. The color timing used for this release was based on director-approved home video releases, which more closely resembled his vision. The film was scanned in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative and graded in Dolby Vision HDR. This thorough, labor-of-love process was also extended to the director’s cut, although certain extended sequences could not be obtained from the original negative, so multiple sources were used, including a 35mm interpositive and an SD video master. Overall, for the extended cut, the results are mostly seamless. There are a few jarring inserts, but I have to applaud the effort and the painstaking work that went into this restoration process.

As for the overall look of the films, I do think Friedkin’s wishes for the color timing do skew toward the garish. Thankfully this isn't in line with the color timing changes he unleashed for the first Blu-ray of The French Connection or The Boys in the Band. I understand that Jade is going for a very stylized, exaggerated look, but it’s not always successful. When it is, the details are sharp, crystal clear, and with an amazing color realization, aided by the Dolby Vision HDR grading to allow a much wider color spectrum. A lot of the time, though, it just looks oversaturated, like someone switched your TV’s video setting to “Dynamic.” I’m still going to grade this video section a bit higher, because Vinegar Syndrome has put in some amazing work in using reference video to mimic the filmmaker’s wishes.

Jade has likely never sounded better on home video. The theatrical version has two audio options, both a 5.1 surround mix and a 2.0 stereo mix, both encoded in DTS-HD MA, while the extended cut only has the stereo option available. I gave both versions and both mixes a listen, and whichever option you choose, you’re in for a winner. The stereo option is nice and tight, with excellent leveling between dialogue, James Horner’s musical score, and the various action-packed sound effects. The surround option is a total blast. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s clear the sound designer on this mix is having a lot of fun. Rear-speaker activity is at a near-constant level–screeching tires during a chase scene, ambient effects like the dull roar of a crowded party–but most often is used for the score. During those first few moments, a piano BOOMS from the front of the soundstage, and the echo of the cacophonous bang makes its way to the rear. It’s the little things like that which make all the difference.

Vinegar Syndrome did not cheap out on supplements here. There aren’t a ton to make your way through, but the offerings here are quite decent, including audio commentary, interviews both new and old, and a featurette.

4K Disc

• Audio Commentary (Theatrical Cut) - Jennifer Moorman
• Unrated Director's Cut (UHD 1:47:41)
  

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary (Theatrical Cut) - Jennifer Moorman
• Unrated Director's Cut (HD 1:47:41)
• Eszterhas, Friedkin and Jade (HD 7:02)  - Interview with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas
• Hysterical Blindness: William Friedkin at Paramount (HD 22:07) - Featurette with editor Augie Hess and assistant editor Darrin Navarro
• Director William Friedkin (SD 12:58) - Vintage interview by Charlie Rose
• Original Trailer

Jade is not going to be for all tastes. Hell, it’s not even going to be for most tastes. But for as tough as I’ve been on Jade as a film, it is deeply fascinating. Somewhere inside of it is a great movie, but a messy production history with two conflicting visions for the overall result clashed, and what was left was a sort of incoherent, sorta sexy, sorta boring quasi-thriller that had some good moments. I love a trainwreck as much as anybody, so I admire the work that went into the creation of this release, and Vinegar Syndrome has outdone themselves. Jade is Recommended, not only for the sheer amount of work that went into this restoration, but the dedication to preserving a filmmaker’s vision.