One of the best things about the home video boom and culture of the ’80s and ’90s was how physical media — and the stores that housed them — could turn an overlooked gem into a cult smash-hit. A movie could find a second life on the rental shelf or from friends passing around a single VHS copy. That trend has largely disappeared in recent years, thanks to movies getting completely lost in the streaming shuffle, but a new push to restore great films through 4K UHD formats has left the door to cult classic creation cracked open.
Giving new life to movies through 4K updates and brilliant collector discs is the most exciting part of this current era of physical media, but it still feels rare that a great movie from the past gets a great 4K treatment without already having an established following. After all, the studios and boutique labels are trying to make money on these things. There are exceptions to every rule, though, and seeing a film like Bill Paxton’s Frailty get such an outstanding 4K release gives me a lot of hope that we could be on the verge of another generation of film discovery.
If you’re not familiar, Frailty is a thriller from 2001 about a fictional Texas killer known as the God’s Hand Killer. The film is told in flashbacks, as an adult man (Matthew McConaughey) tells the story of his father (Paxton) believing that he was tasked by God to destroy the demons of the world. While Frailty didn’t make a huge impact at the box office, and has been floating under the radar on different streaming services of late, Lionsgate Limited has just delivered a sensational 4K restoration of the film that feels like it needs to be shared with friends.
Lionsgate’s 4K edition of Frailty (you can pick up your copy here) went on sale this summer and presents a version of this movie that longtime fans probably never thought they’d see. The Dolby Vision-enhanced 4K transfer is out of this world, giving new life to a film that struggled to offer great picture on DVD or Blu-ray. Frailty is visually very dark, and a lot of the detail Paxton captured in the shadow-drenched scenes has either been lost for years, or so washed out to make things visible that the film came off more green than black.
The restoration restores those blacks in a way that makes you sink into the darkness of the story. It’s some exhilarating work that goes above and beyond what would’ve done the trick. This period of the early 2000s often gets overlooked when it comes to restorations, given that technology was really evolving when those movies were being made, but Lionsgate’s approach to Frailty shows just how much some of these titles need to be given a second look. The disc captures that classic 2000s aesthetic while never feeling like a 25-year-old picture.
I also have to stress one more time just how miraculous it feels for Frailty to get a 4K treatment at all. This is a movie that made just over $17 million when it was released and never quite took off at the tail-end of the video store days. But those who have seen it have always known it was worth pounding the drum for, and now we have a chance to share a shockingly high quality edition of Frailty with others who haven’t discovered it.
On top of the brilliance of the transfer itself, it’s nice to see that this new edition of Frailty also had serious care poured into the packaging and features. The set comes in a box with brand new art from Justin Erickson, depicting Paxton’s character and his two sons as a stained glass portrait. Inside is a copy of the note-filled script, as well as a slew of new and legacy special features. Among those brand new features is a short documentary about Paxton’s role in bringing Frailty to life, going from just a star to making his directorial debut. The feature combines old footage from the original junket with new interviews featuring people who worked with Paxton on the film, as well as his son, James Paxton.
Frailty is special film that feels both specific to its era, but also incredibly timely. Hopefully, with this long-overdue 4K restoration, its wonders will finally be have an opportunity to catch on with the sizable audience the film has always deserved.
A copy of Frailty was provided for review consideration.
The post Frailty: Bill Paxton’s Excellent and Underrated Thriller Gets a Phenomenal 4K Treatment appeared first on ComicBook.com.