4K UHD Review: Scream Factory’s The Ring Collection (Box Set)

A.W. Kautzer

2 years ago

The mad geniuses over at Scream Factory have given Samara and her trilogy of films exquisite restoration/remasters in 4K UHD. The Ring Collection is something every fan is going to want to pick up regardless of what happens in Seven Days…

The Film(s)

The Ring

This is one of the very few remakes that outdoes the original. Director Gore Verbinski brings his skills as a visual storyteller to The Ring which is everything you could possibly want from a horror film let alone a remade horror film.

The film goes beyond a simple high concept of a “tape that kills you in seven days”. The film constructed as both a ticking clock narrative and a mystery is adult in all the ways that horror wasn’t in 2002. That is not to say it loses any of its bite or wit because of it. In fact, The Ring is subtly about fathers and mothers too busy with their own lives to see their children’s issues right in front of them. A biting bit of commentary that manages to find its way to the very end of the film.

Further proof that Verbinski and Company were pushing against what was the norm is the cast. Naomi Watts at this point had just been nominated for Mulholland Drive, with good reason, and here she’s in full-on Star/Actress mode. Rachel is not just compelling, but Watts makes her intrepid reporter a bit of a mess but in a way that we find endearing that few could, if any. The dance that she and David Dorfman as her son Aidan have is a stroke of genius from Screenwriter Ehren Kruger (still an amazing name for a filmmaker working in horror) – and has been repeated but never duplicated successfully. Dorfman himself is on the elite tier of “creepy kids with knowledge” which was such a cliché in the early to mid-00s.

Martin Henderson as the third part of their nuclear family is as good as the other two just adding the right amount of aloofness to make his character work. Also superior supporting turns by Brian Cox, Jane Alexander, Amber Tamblyn, and Adam Brody – make The Ring an elevated horror in every sense of the work.

The Ring is as much a classic as the original Japanese Version. So good was the remake that it lured the director of the original, Hideo Nakata, to direct the sequel.

The Ring Two

This sequel is the very definition of a “second-half movie”.

The problem is that the film takes almost an hour to reveal its true end game. The hour that comes before the stunning “bathtub possession” set piece is a case of overly done setup and context. Even with director Hideo Nakata at the helm, who specializes in these types of slowly burning fuse exercises in horror, the first half is a bit too much.

The cast is exemplary here with as much depth as the first film. Simon Baker replaces Martin Henderson as the defacto male co-star. This one again is all about Naomi Watts and David Dorfman. In fact, Dorfman has the showier role here where he’s asked to play essentially two very different but equally subtle roles. The young actor handles it with an amazing amount of complexity and style. Watts is equal as his foil helping him with navigating the trickier sections of the film that could have come off terribly.

The Ring Two other biggest issue is the CGI / Video-based effects. These just don’t quite work as well as some of the process shots in cars. The work feels not fully integrated into the film as well as the first or even the third film manages to do. So much so that one of the biggest jump scares comes off cheap and ineffective.

Those gripes aside, The Ring Two, shines in its stellar second half. That last hour where Nakata and screenwriter Ehren Kruger go all out – makes for a worthy successor to the original. One just wished the first half of The Ring Two was as compelling and driving a narrative force as its second half.

Rings

The 2017 reboot of the franchise is lacking the element that really elevated the first two: Naomi Watts and David Dorfman. Rings has a great concept and some truly fascinating mythology that it plays out against some inventive set pieces, but it never truly hits the pitch of the first two. Thus remains an interesting experiment in the series – think Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Where Rings takes the “cursed videotape” concept and Samara in the age of social media is quite fascinating. It would have been more so if it was Watts’s Rachel and Dorfman’s Aidan having to deal with this a decade plus. Instead, we have two leads that would have been the foils for Samara at the beginning (much like the first and second films). This is where Rings fails and isn’t able to elevate itself beyond the “teenage soap opera” no one wanted.

Matilda Lutz and Alex Roe are perfectly fine as the leads but that’s it. They’re fine. They do nothing that elevates this the way that Watts and company did in the prior two films. Everything lacks the sort of punch that’s needed. Everything feels like again “teenage soap opera” with them in a way that you honestly do not care about what happened to them.

The most compelling part of Rings is its addition to the mythology and the addition of Vincent D’Onofrio as a vital piece of that. However, to ruin what the film does with both would be unfair to any willing audience member. D’Onofrio understood the assignment and elevated the film in the second half to a pitch that’s deserving of an entry into the series. One can see Watts and Dorfman in Lutz and Roe’s place and what this could have been.

As is, Rings is an interesting addition to the series just not one that’s the homerun that it could have been.

The Transfer(s)

DISC ONE: THE RING (2002) (4K UHD):

The all-new 4K Scan of The Original Camera Negative Supervised and Approved By Gore Verbinski In Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) is a masterwork of what’s possible with a 4K UHD disc with the High Dynamic Range encoding in color and contrast levels. The film shot by Darius Wolski in 35mm at the peak of what was possible in 35mm – is itself a beautiful example of a controlled and consistent film image. The 4K restoration mimics the 35mm but boosts the luster of the image in its black and contrast levels. The result is an image that looks better than any previous home video version that rivals the original theatrical release and, in some ways, bests it.

DISC THREE: THE RING TWO (2005) (4K UHD):

The all-new 4K Scan of The Original Camera Negative in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) of the Theatrical Version is a trickier ordeal. In some ways, the 4K Scan of the OCN is too good. Too good because it has brought out some of the issues inherent within the actual production and its use of CGI. The 4K with the HDR encoding has brought out the “seems” in the FX/CGI work which wasn’t a problem in The Ring. That aside the image is beautifully representative of the film’s 35mm origins with a sharp beautiful image. Again, the highlight of the transfer is the contrast levels that make the image darker, yes but there’s more data in the deepest of blacks throughout the film, especially during the final 30 minutes.

DISC FIVE: RINGS (2017) (4K UHD):

The all-new 4K Master in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) of this film is the one film that was shot digitally – which does show throughout the film’s runtime. The image in UHD is stunning. The darker image is positively luminous in a way that the first two are not – which is aided by the HDR encoding. The transfer isn’t just sharp everything about it is an uptick in quality from the original Blu-ray. The added bitrate has created an image that’s less compressed allowing for more range in the color spectrum and contrasts. The black levels are astounding with the detail within those blacks being reference quality. Regardless of what one thinks of this film, the transfer is near perfect.

The Extras

They include the following;

NOTE: The special features are contained on the Blu-Ray disc of each set. The Blu-Ray disc not only contains the extras but the film itself with the new 4K restoration or master done by Scream Factory. Also, of note, the commentary track on The Ring Two is included on both the 4K and the Blu-ray.

DISC TWO: THE RING (2002) (BLU-RAY):

NEW “Ghost Girl Gone Global”
“Don’t Watch This”
Rings – Short Film That Uncovers The Terrifying And Secret Connection Between The Ring And Its Sequel
“The Origin Of Terror”
Cast And Crew Interviews
Theatrical Trailer

DISC FOUR: THE RING TWO (2005) (BLU-RAY):

Unrated Version Of The Film
NEW Audio Commentary With Film Critics Emily Higgins And Billy Dunham (Theatrical Version Only)
Rings – Short Film That Uncovers The Terrifying And Secret Connection Between The Ring And Its Sequel
Deleted Scenes
“Fear Of Film: Special Effects”
“Faces Of Fear: The Phenomenon”
“Samara: From Eye Of Icon”
“The Power Of Symbols”
The Making Of The Ring Two
Theatrical Trailer

DISC SIX: RINGS (2017) (BLU-RAY):

Deleted/Extended Scenes
“Terror Comes Full Circle”
“Resurrecting The Dead: Bringing Samara Back”
“Scary Scenes”

DISC TWO: THE RING (BLU-RAY):

“Ghost Girl Gone Global: How Sakado Took Tinseltown” (92:39) – in this all-new feature-length documentary the creators of both the Japanese and American versions of the Ringu/Ring series discuss its power and how it successfully transcended language and culture to become a global phenomenon. This handsomely mounted documentary tracks the origins of the Japanese original from a decidedly more Sci-Fi flavored novel into the J-Horror masterpiece and global success to the English Language Blockbuster and the following parallel series and where they respectively went. There’s a great amount of dissection of the series (both English and Japanese) and what connected with audiences and filmmakers. In addition, the doc does a great job of reviewing the cultural impact on other countries; the horror boom in many countries because of it; the making of the films themselves; the make-up FX in the films; the visual FX in the films; how Nakata got involved with the American Sequel; and much more. Featuring interviews with Director Norio Tsuruta; Screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi; Historian/Critic Kim Newman; editor Michael N. Knue; Japanese Cinema expert Matt Jacobsen; actor Bonnie Morgan; filmmaker F. Javier Gutierrez; and many more.

“Don’t Watch This” (15:26) – a series of extended, alternate, and unused scenes. Unfortunately, the scenes play without chapter stops or any reasons as to why they were cut. Some feel like they could have been included like the ones of Rachel (Watts) investigating the mystery, the video store scene, and others. This featurette is beautifully edited and composed together in a very Ring-esque way. This originally appeared on the DVD release of the film.

Rings (16:42) – as Scream Factory listed “Short Film That Uncovers the Terrifying and Secret Connection Between The Ring And Its Sequel”. As shorts go this one was produced with a certain amount of money and it does interconnect with the direct sequel (The Ring Two) and even a bit to the 2017 reimagination/sequel. Featuring the actors Ryan Merriman and Emily VanCamp from the first scene of The Ring Two. NOTE: The special feature is included in both the first and second films special features.

“The Origin of Terror” (3:58) – an archival EPK-style look into the film’s “urban legend” (and others as well) that manifest in the film. Featuring interviews by producers Walter Parkes and Laurie McDonald; director Gore Verbinski; “internet expert” Jim Evans, and others.

Cast And Crew Interviews (7:58) – archival interviews from star Naomi Watts, director Gore Verbinski, producer Walter Parkes, co-star Martin Henderson, and Brian Cox. The interviews are combined to make an EPK-style overview of the characters and themes of the story.

Theatrical Trailer (2:10)

DISC FOUR: THE RING TWO (BLU-RAY):

Unrated Version of the Film (2:07:52) – more than adding bits of intensity this also adds to the story itself. The longer version is the preferred version though it loses some of its urgency in the longer form because it adds more than 15 minutes to the runtime.

The all-new Audio Commentary with Film Critics Emily Higgins and Billy Dunham (Theatrical Version Only) opens with the fact that the sequel was directed by Hideo Nakata and how different it feels from the original. Some of the details include the opening mirroring the originals but how it is different it is; the fact that this isn’t a remake of the second Ringu film and an original sequel idea; a larger discussion about horror sequels and this film – centralizing the main “villain”; the work of young actor David Dorfman here and the original; a discussion of the character Rachel and what makes her such a compelling lead – a discussion of wondering why they have not done a legacy-sequel or requel to the series with Watts coming back; the location of the sequel – moving from Seattle, Washington to Oregon; the deer attack scene and its link to Samara and her pull; a discussion of the mid-film reveal and set piece; the work of Simon Baker; and much more. Higgins and Dunham deliver an entertaining and informative track about the film that holds a good source of information about the three films in the series.

Deleted Scenes (18:37) – a collection of 9 scenes that were cut from the film. Pulled off of an Avid feed this feature’s still in SD. The scenes vary from extensions of existing scenes (like a full 10-minute extended version of the opening reintroduction of Aiden and Rachel) to full-on pulls (there’s a moment with an uncompleted VFX of a Deer that’s fun and funny) but all were rightfully pulled from the film. There are chapter stops for each of the scenes, unlike the original’s deleted scene section.

“Fear Of Film: Special Effects” (5:45) – an archival featurette that focuses on the film’s make-up and visual FX. The featurette looks at “the well”, “the deer scene”, and “the water scene” are all covered in surprising detail with Pete Chesney (Special Effect Coordinator for the film) as our guide. Some great behind-the-scenes b-roll footage from the production.

“Faces Of Fear: The Phenomenon” (6:12) – is an archival featurette discussing the cultural impact The Ring had left on film. There is a great comment by Dorfman (who was nine at the time) about the best horror film (which he’s not wrong). The featurette includes interviews with actors Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, and Simon Baker, make-up FX supervisor Rick Baker, director Nakata, and producer Walter Parkes.

“Samara: From Eye of Icon” (5:48) – is an archival featurette looking at the creation of Samara from the eyes of the director Nakata, special make-up FX supervisor Rick Baker, producer Walter Parkes and the detail they brought and challenges as the sequel had bigger challenges like waterproofing, the wigs, the makeup and more.

“The Power of Symbols” (5:20) – is an archival featurette looking at the symbology focused in an English Language version (specifically the sequel) that both match the Japanese original and differ. The featurette includes interviews with producers Laurie McDonald and Walter Parkes, Screenwriter Ehren Kruger, and director Hideo Nakata.

The Making of The Ring Two (13:02) – this archival EPK-style rather thorough making-of that discusses the sequel both in terms of the story and the challenges of bringing something new to the story and the fact that Nakata decided to direct this sequel (the man directed the Japanese original). The featurette includes interviews with actors Naomi Watts, David Dorfman, Simon Barker, producers Laurie McDonald and Walter Parkes, Screenwriter Ehren Kruger, director Hideo Nakata, Make-up FX supervisor Rick Baker, and others.

Theatrical Trailer (1:30)

DISC SIX: RINGS (BLU-RAY):

Deleted/Extended Scenes (18:35) – a collection of 14 deleted/extended scenes. Many of the scenes do add some much-needed character-based context/moments (like them cutting Julia’s mom entirely from the film), and there is a cameo that shouldn’t have been cut. Much of it the “shoe leather” and was rightfully excised from the film.

“Terror Comes Full Circle” (12:37) – this archival EPK-style rather thorough making-of that discusses the legacy of the series and what the third entry in the series brings to the film into a modern social media/smartphone world. Interviews with actors Matilda Lutz, Alex Roe, Bonnie Morgan, Johnny Galecki, director F. Javier Gutierrez, and others.

“Resurrecting The Dead: Bringing Samara Back” (9:19) – another archival featurette looking at the evolution of Samara and what it took to actress Bonnie Morgan and the FX artists to bring Samara to life and what went into the Make-up FX and the strides they made in the FX work.

“Scary Scenes” (6:35) – another archival featurette with actors and cast discussing if they like “scary movies” and discussing the various scenes in the film that are “the scariest”. This featurette is definitely spoiler-filled and if you’re not familiar with the film don’t watch this featurette until after you have seen the film.

The Final Thought

Scream Factory has done an amazing job with the restoration of picture and sound for all three films. The Ring Box Set can be proudly set right next to your Halloween Box Set and Friday the 13^th box set as they’ve, again, excelled with giving fandom what they want. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!