The Last Seduction - Imprint Films Limited Edition 4K UHD

If there’s one thing I love about movies is that it doesn’t matter how old it is, it’ll always be new if you’ve never seen it. What I love about great movies is that they’re always great, no matter how many times you see them. John Dahl’s The Last Seduction is one of those films. I discovered it years after it first hit cable and was denied its deserved run at the Oscars, and it became an instant favorite. Now we have a Limited Edition release that gives this Neo-Noir thriller the appreciation it deserves. And after watching it again multiple times to enjoy different presentations and a longer cut proves it’s still amazing after repeat viewings. 

Our little thriller opens with Bridget (Fiorentino) hustling in lead generation, pushing a team of phone jockeys to close on sales of cheapt, crappy, and less than worthless commemorative coins using dubious techniques that’d make Jordan Belfort blush. Meanwhile, on the other side of New York, her Doctor-to-be husband, Clay (Bill Pullman), is closing a drug deal to score $750,000 to pay off a loan shark and secure their future. But Bridget has other plans. Making off with the cash, she hits the road and ends up in a small city upstate. Hiding out, she finds the perfect dupe in Mike (Peter Berg), an insurance adjuster she can manipulate into a bigger scheme to get herself free and clear. 

Get a skilled director like John Dahl, add a great screenplay from Steve Barancik, throw in a dynamite performance from Fiorentino, and you have one hell of a flick. The Last Seduction is one of the best films that not enough people talk about. The plot is loaded with twists and turns you don’t see coming. The characters are ripped from dime-store pulp novels and brought to contemporary life with an intensely talented cast with dialogue that positively crackles. Right from the opening credits, you know this is going to be a great flick you can watch multiple times and never get tired of it. 

So what happened? Why don’t more people know about this film? Well, sadly, it premiered on HBO in 1994 before it could secure a theatrical run. While other award shows don’t have the stipulation that a theatrical premiere must happen first, The Last Seduction lost out on Oscar notoriety and a lot of the acclaim that it deserved. Dahl deserved a Best Director nomination. Barancik deserved a Best Original Screenplay nod. Bill Pullman deserved a Best Supporting Actor nod for his creepy, slimy turn as Clay. And Fiorentino absolutely deserved a Best Actress nomination. While the 67th Academy Awards were a packed run with Forrest Gump taking the bulk of the prizes, this film deserved a chance to compete. 

More than awards and accolades, The Last Seduction deserves a bigger audience. Sadly, home video releases haven’t exactly been helpful in that regard. I understand it rented well on VHS, but the Artisan DVD wasn’t exactly a stellar release, and the Scorpion Blu-ray (the transfer was NOT their fault) was its own small disaster but had excellent extra features. It’s hard to enjoy a great movie with subpar releases. It’s even harder to get other people excited when all you have to offer is a well-used Laserdisc. 

That’s where I’m really excited for this Limited Edition from Imprint. Not only is it a great release, but fans and newcomers alike can enjoy a variety of versions. The new black-and-white Noir Edition is quite exciting. I’m generally curious (but not always sold) about new black-and-white editions of color films. But for lack of better wording, it’s a seductive way to watch The Last Seduction. With all of the plot twists and character turns, black-and-white serves the story well and delivers some striking visuals. It might not be a “better” way to watch the film, but it’s a new way to appreciate a great picture. And after watching the original color version in 4K, the new black-and-white edition in 4K, and the 128-minute extended edition in SD, The Last Seduction is absolutely one of those movies you watch once and you are immediately ready to watch it again. It’s suspenseful, it’s funny, it’s thrilling, it’s just a goddamn great flick.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Thanks to Australia’s Imprint Films, The Last Seduction scores its first global 4K UHD release as the 498th title in the label’s extensive run of physical media releases. A Four-Disc set: 2 BD100 4K discs and 2 Region Free BD50 discs, spread between two black 4K cases. A hardback book delivers a recreation press packet about the film, the cast, and crew, with images from the film. The whole set is bound together in one of Imprint’s hardstock boxes and limited to 1500 units. Each disc loads to a standard main menu with basic navigation options.

After what we’ve had released here in the States, I was just excited to see something that was merely better than “watchable.” But Imprint went the extra mile, fully restoring The Last Seduction in 2160p 1.85:1 in Dolby Vision HDR (and HDR10, of course), in both the original colorized theatrical version and a brand-new black-and-white Noir Edition. Each version gets its own disc, so there aren’t any compression issues to worry about strangling the bitrate. 

Between my old (and sadly now rotting) Laserdisc and the Scorpion disc that came out a couple of years ago, I’ve never had a really “great” viewing experience of this film. But holy hell, this new restoration is something to see. Right away, details are sharper and cleaner than anything I’ve seen before. Facial features, clothing patterns, and the production design are all on display with great clarity and sharp detail. Film grain is apparent but not intrusive; it’s appropriately grainy for the type of film, but it’s not so loud that it draws your attention. The Dolby Vision grade is strong, letting primaries pop nicely with healthy skin tones and plenty of deep, dark, inky black spaces and well-defined shadows. Free of any age-related damage or speckling, it’s a terrific restoration. 

For the black-and-white Noir Edition, take everything I said about the Theatrical version and just forget what I said about color. The grayscale in Dolby Vision is often striking. This film may not have needed this treatment, but it certainly works well. The film already has a Noirish undertone; this grading just completes the aesthetic. Shadows are heightened but are moody and ominous. Smoky bars, narrow hallways, and lowlight locations all pop nicely. Whites are brilliantly crisp, blacks are deep and inky, and the shadow gradation shows that real care was taken for this transfer, without simply desaturating the image. This Noir Edition is only in 4K and not on either of the included standard Blu-ray discs. It might not have been necessary, it doesn’t completely change how you look at the film or it’s story impact, but it’s pretty damned cool.

Each version of The Last Seduction - color, black-and-white, and 1080p Blu-ray enjoys a strong DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround mix. The box details list this as LPCM 2.0 but it is in fact DTS-HD MA 2.0. It’s a great mix through and through. Active and engaging with all of that call center activity right down to the street noise of the initial dug deal. Later, bars, office buildings, and other busier locations lend to that greater sense of atmosphere and activity for the channel spread. Throughout the run, the dialogue is clean and clear without issue. The jazzy score by Joseph Vitarelli fits nicely within the mix, adding to that Noir flavor. Free of any hiss or other issues, it’s an all around great track for this film. 

Thanks to Imprint going the extra mile, we have a fully comprehensive and exhaustive set of extra features here. The good news for those who decided to skip out on the domestic Blu-ray due to the A/V quality issues (I’m very glad I was able to rent it before buying), the excellent bonus features from that disc return. The Dahl/Thompson commentary is an excellent listen if you’re a fan. But sweetening the scheme, Imprint has added over an hour of new cast and crew interviews with Dahl, Berg, Pullman, editor Eric Beason, and cinematographer Jeffrey Jur. Adding to the pile of extras on this set, I’m including the Noir Edition since it really is a unique exclusive addition for this release as well as the Exrtended Cut in HD with SD inserts from a workprint that still has timestamps. The longer cut is interesting, but not necessary material. This is a case where I think the theatrical cut runtime is best. It works long, but works better shorter because that pace is more insistent and focused. There is a solo commentary of sorts with John Dahl for the extended version, whose lineage I’m unsure of; it feels a bit cobbled together from different interviews and commentaries. There are odd gaps and times where it sounds like he’s answering a question no one asked. But it’s at least informative. 

Disc One - 4K UHD Theatrical Version

• Audio Commentary with John Dahl moderated by Nathaniel Thompson 

Disc Two - HD Theatrical Version

• Audio Commentary with John Dahl moderated by Nathaniel Thompson 
• NEW Small Town Noir - Interview with John Dahl (HD 21:35)
• NEW The Demolished Man - Interview with Peter Berg (HD 15:00)
• NEW The Good Doctor - Interview with Bill Pullman (HD 15:15)
• NEW Seductive Rhythms - Interview with editor Eric L. Beason (HD 10:17)
• NEW Hard Light and Soft Shadows - Interview with cinematographer Jeffrey Jur (HD 16:39)
• The Art of Seduction Featurette (SD 30:17)
• Behind-the-scenes Footage (SD 8:35)
• Deleted Scenes w/ Optional Commentary (HD/SD 59:58)
• Alternate Ending w/ Optional Commentary (HD/SD 10:42)
• Image Gallery (HD 2:04)

Disc Three - 4K UHD Noir Edition 

• Audio Commentary with John Dahl moderated by Nathaniel Thompson 

Disc Four 

• Extended Cut (HD/SD 2:13:22)
• Audio Commentary with John Dahl

The Last Seduction is a hell of a film. It’s as if John Dahl and writer Steve Barancik did a '90s Neo-noir remake of Double Indemnity with an incredibly thick, dark sense of humor. It also dovetails nicely within the Erotic Thriller arena without playing to those salacious expectations. Alongside the best Femme Fatales, Fiorentino uses sex to her advantage as a tool and a weapon, but the film doesn’t stop all action and plot to play to prurient expectations. It might not have earned the accolades it deserved when it was first released, but it’s grown a dedicated following…at least a better following than the silly titled sequel The Last Seduction Two.

After sporadic, anemic disc releases over the years, Australia’s Imprint Films gives this underserved gem the physical-media treatment it deserves with an excellent Limited Edition 4-disc 4K UHD release. You get the theatrical version fully restored in Dolby Vision 4K and 1080p, the new black-and-white Noir Edition in Dolby Vision 4K, as well as the Extended Version with the deleted scenes intercut with the restored footage. If that’s not enough, we get archival extras, complete with over an hour of new interviews, all wrapped up in some slick packaging. It might be pricey to import, I hope a comparative release comes here to the States for the budget-conscious collectors, but if you’ve got the bread to spread, this set is a Must Own