Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

“Are we adequately scared now? Good! Great, sit down, get comfortable.” 

You gotta love a movie when from one scene to the next, you have no idea what’s going to happen. As soon as Sam Rockwell’s Man From The Future bursts through the door of Norm's Diner, I knew I was in for a treat with Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. Scraggly beard, clear raincoat, random wires, and a strange circuit board vest - it’s a look! And then, with the sort of hilarious, effortlessly manic ease that only Rockwell can deliver, we learn what the whole damn show is going to be about. In order to save the world from an apocalyptic AI-driven future, he just needs the right combination of “volunteers” of the 47 people from the diner to help him. Success is inevitable, even if it takes around 117 times to do it! 

And that, I’m afraid, is about all I can say about this one without getting lost in the plot weeds or giving away too much ground. What I will say is that it might take multiple viewings for all of the small details to sink in. My review copy arrived at around 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. I started watching it at 6:00 along with my dinner, and finished it roughly 2 hours later. By 9:30, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I figured, “Why not?” and threw it back on. And by the next morning, I’d slapped it back on while I started in on this write-up.

It’s an intricately plotted piece of work. Matthew Robinson’s screenplay layers in the small details. Turns of phrase, off-handed comments, they all pay dividends later. With Verbinski’s active camera work and staging, all of the visual cues and nods maintain that same sort of “blink, and you’ll miss it” quality, making multiple viewings almost a necessity. Not that I mind, I enjoyed the hell out of each viewing! 

Verbinski is an amazing shooter, and it’s great to have him back behind the camera, but this film’s success hinges largely on the cast. Of course, Sam Rockwell as our Man From The Future delivers a fiercely hilarious performance. The man has come a long way from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Juno Temple is a spritely presence for her character arc. Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña get some time to shine as in-over-their-heads teachers with tech-obsessed students. But as far as the costars go, Haley Lu Richardson’s tech-allergic Ingrid gets the meatiest participation trophy. 

If there’s a knock I have after three viewings, the film has a bit of a lurching pace. We get these interludes for most (but not all) of The Man From the Future’s support crew. Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña’s back story and how they ended up at Norm’s is a good bit of sci-fi/horror fun. Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid gets a nice background and underscores why she’s an important player. But it’s Juno Temple’s Susan that is the frustrating background element for me. While her character is interesting and she's great in it, with a gag about leaning on technology for processing grief, it also tries to satirize something that has no business being made fun of, and the segment itself feels too long. While essential to the plot, her segment plays like a Verbinski Pirates of the Caribbean sequel sword fight that refuses to end. 

So not perfect. But Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die is great when it keeps its focus, moves fast, and maintains the high energy it kicked off with. In the end, I had a hell of a lot of fun and didn’t die watching it! Gore Verbinski is a creative, inventive talent. I may not love everything he’s made, but all of his features are, at the very least, worth taking a look at and deciding for yourself whether it deserves shelf space. Nine years is a long time between films, so I hope he’s got something else in the hopper.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die lives on with a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + digital release from Universal. I’m glad to see that despite the film’s minimal box office haul, it got the 4K treatment. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 with a BD50 supporting the 1080p. The discs are housed in a standard case with identical slipcover artwork. 

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die clocks in with an excellent Dolby Vision enhanced 2160p 2.39:1 transfer. From Sam Rockwell’s amazing costume (that I seriously hope becomes a cosplay staple at cons) to the intricate set design to the wildness that occurs during the big mission, the details remain sharp and clear throughout. Which is important because there are many hints and clues lurking in the background for us to spot on repeat viewings. Given that most of the film takes place at night and in the shadows, the Dolby Vision grade does a nice job of ensuring adequate brightness so we can still appreciate the fine details and facial features, while also lending itself to the ominous shadows and deep blacks. Colors are allowed to get splashy here and there, usually during the side-character interludes, where primary saturation is a bit more lively and exciting. All around an excellent-looking disc. 

Digging in with an English Dolby Atmos track, the audio mix makes its presence known almost immediately. As a waitress delivers coffee throughout the diner, the sounds of people clicking on their phones, milling about, while the kitchen does its work, fill the soundscape. Then Sam Rockwell bursts through the door, and the mix is off to the races. Overheads tend to be used to accent a location, but there’s plenty of distinct overhead activity - especially for one particular thing that’s too weird to explain without getting lost in the plot weeds. While the film is largely conversational, the activity of the settings and how zany Sam Rockwell can get with his movements ensure the soundscape never dulls. LFE offers plenty of heavy impact on the low end. All around a fun, intricately designed mix for a very wild and creative flick. 

The bummer of this release is the bonus features package. A five-minute EPK that’s so basic and slim, there’s almost no point. No commentary. No trailer. Just a basic by-the-numbers talking head EPK that's over before it even gets interesting. 

• The Making of Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die (HD 5:07)

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is a weird, wild, and wickedly funny flick - that’s probably not going to be for everyone. Like a strange trip on your favorite illicit substance, you just gotta go with it and let the show unfold. It takes strange turns, odd detours, and arrives at a very bizarre destination. I love a movie that feels fresh and surprises me and this is one of those where I didn't feel like I knew what the plot was going to throw at me. I didn’t love every aspect. I felt some of the side background detours could have been cut or sped up a bit, but otherwise, the show is a gas. Enough that I wanted to see it again almost immediately - and enjoyed it even more after multiple viewings! On 4K UHD, the flick scores an excellent A/V presentation that gets plenty of mileage out of its Dolby Vision encoding and Atmos audio track. Bonus features are a virtual non-starter, unfortunately. I would have loved a more expansive and detailed set of extras for such a wildly creative film, but alas, they're not to be. Not everyone’s gonna love it, but I’m looking forward to my next trip with the Man From the Future. Recommended 

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