What Lies Beneath is a clever play on the Hitchcockian thriller. This supernatural mashup is director Robert Zemeckis at his most playful and technically brilliant. Shot between the year long hiatus of Castway to allow Tom Hanks to lose the massive amount of weight required for the role, What Lies Beneath feels like an old school buttery popcorn blockbuster. A palette cleanser of sorts but by no means a lesser film just not the self-serious grandiose epic that Castaway is.
Claire and Norman Spencer (Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford) have just sent Claire’s daughter off to college. Claire having given up her life as a Cellist becoming a devoted housewife has a serious cast of empty nester and is trying her best to deal. Her focal point becomes their new neighbors (James Remar and Miranda Otto) and their passionate and seemingly destructive relationship. When the wife appears to have disappeared strange almost supernatural occurrences begin to happen in Claire and Norman’s house. Norman shrugging off these things as silly nonsense. Claire beings to dive into what she things are true hauntings. Quickly, Claire begins to realize these hauntings are not tied to their neighbors but something sinister that happened inside their home.
One wishes that the script by Clark Gregg and Sarah Kernochan had one less narrative diversion/twist in it and revealed its intent later in the film. That major issue aside their script is a brilliant piece of clock work only compounded by the sharp brilliant direction by Zemeckis. The film is as visually brilliant as anything that Zemeckis has done. There’s an elegance to every composition and shot that is the right balance of integration to the story as a whole and brilliant stylistic showcase. Much like the earlier Zemeckis masterpiece Contact, the technical brilliance is an afterthought.
Zemeckis isn’t the lone craftsman in creating this film. He’s aided by the work of frequent collaborators like cinematographer Don Burgress, editor Arhtur Schmidt, Production Designer Rick Carter, and Composer Alan Silvestri. They each work in tandem with Zemeckis in the way a crew does with years and years of experience. Watching the work here one wishes Zemeckis’ work would go back to the balance of technical marvel and popcorn stories.
Pfeiffer and Ford are perfectly cast here as the married couple. There isn’t just charm and star power at work. The two super stars seem to have genuine chemistry. Ford has never been a great romantic lead but paired with Pfeiffer one wishes the pair found work together earlier and continued this working relationship. It’s almost a shame when the “plot” of the film kicks into gear because one would definitely watch a straight up romantic drama between these two characters. As with all Zemeckis films the supporting actors are perfectly cast with the likes of Remar, Otto, Diana Scarwid and Joe Morton doing great work.
What Lies Beneath stands the test of time as a truly great supernatural thriller because of the truly brilliant direction by Robert Zemeckis.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Transfer from the Original 35mm Camera Negative approved by Cinematographer Don Burgess presented in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) is an excellent upgrade in picture even besting the original 35mm release prints. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp, clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels because of the Dolby Vision encoding are both deeper in their details giving us a darker luminous and far more textured and beautiful image. There isn’t a scratch, blemish or issue with the picture. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove grain. What Lies Beneath has never looked better than it does here.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
Audio Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
Audio Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis
NEW “You Know: Uncovering What Lies Beneath”
“Constructing A Thriller”
Theatrical Trailer
The archival Audio Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis, and Producers Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey begins with introductions before diving into how this project came to be in the early days of Dreamworks and how Zemeckis wanted to make a good Hitchcockian thriller. Some of the other details include how he approached casting – moving forward with casting the husband first then casting the wife once they had Harrison Ford; the reasons why they went after Ford – casting against type and expectation; their casting of Michelle Pfeffer – and the surprising ease in how it came together; the construction of the home – the complexity of its construction, how it related to the screenplay; collaborating with actors on a production that has a complex camera moves and Visual FX as this film does; the way they approached casting the supporting roles and Zemeckis involvement; how they approached sound design to help accentuate the scares and moments of tension; and much more. The trio provided a highly informational commentary track that even twenty five years on is still a great resource on how big budget filmmaking is approached because Zemeckis’ films are always on the forefront of technology.
“You Know: Uncovering What Lies Beneath” (82:30) – is an all-new feature-length retrospective documentary that covers everything from the script development, casting, preproduction, production, and post-production on this uniquely made film. The level of detail that this making of goes into is astounding – giving us a glimpse into the fairly complex production. Some of the details they cover the production being in the middle of Castaway – during Castaway hiatus while Hanks lost weight; the construction of the house – and how much the design mattered to the story of the film and how they brought that to life; how the house was built twice – once on location and once in a studio and the reasons why; the visual style and the collaboration between Burgess and Zemeckis to create those iconic shots that the director is known for – and how they were accomplished in this film; their building of the bridge that features in the film – and how it was built in the Long Beach hangar that used to house the Sprouse Goose; how they accomplished the bathtub sequences; a discussion into the approach and difficulty in costuming – including during FX heavy sequences; a discussion of the VFX work they did and how it was accomplished in some of the more complex sequences; the work of Alan Silvestri and his Hitchcock inspired compositions – and how Zemeckis approaches the collaboration with him; and much more. This may be the best making-of documentary produced in recent memory as the level of access they have with the talent involved is amazing and rare for even an A-list boutique label like Shout/Scream. Bravo for all the hard work in producing this special feature. Featuring all-new interviews with Robert Zemeckis, Producers Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke, Writers Sarah Kernochan and Clark Gregg, Cast Member Amber Valletta, Director Of Photography Don Burgess, Production Designer Rick Carter, Costume Designer Susie DeSanto, Composer Alan Silvestri, Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Legato, Special Effects Supervisor Shane Mahan, and Puppeteer Jason Matthews.
“Constructing A Thriller” (15:01) – is an archival featurette is an epk-style look at the making of the film that was originally included on the DVD release of the film.
Theatrical Trailer (2:28)
The Final Thought
Scream has giving What Lies Beneath a truly wonderful 4K UHD upgrade with new special features. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
Robert Zemeckis goes full Hitchcock in the ghostly thriller What Lies Beneath. Scream Factory brings the film to 4K UHD with a new transfer and special features.
The Film
What Lies Beneath is a clever play on the Hitchcockian thriller. This supernatural mashup is director Robert Zemeckis at his most playful and technically brilliant. Shot between the year long hiatus of Castway to allow Tom Hanks to lose the massive amount of weight required for the role, What Lies Beneath feels like an old school buttery popcorn blockbuster. A palette cleanser of sorts but by no means a lesser film just not the self-serious grandiose epic that Castaway is.
Claire and Norman Spencer (Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford) have just sent Claire’s daughter off to college. Claire having given up her life as a Cellist becoming a devoted housewife has a serious cast of empty nester and is trying her best to deal. Her focal point becomes their new neighbors (James Remar and Miranda Otto) and their passionate and seemingly destructive relationship. When the wife appears to have disappeared strange almost supernatural occurrences begin to happen in Claire and Norman’s house. Norman shrugging off these things as silly nonsense. Claire beings to dive into what she things are true hauntings. Quickly, Claire begins to realize these hauntings are not tied to their neighbors but something sinister that happened inside their home.
One wishes that the script by Clark Gregg and Sarah Kernochan had one less narrative diversion/twist in it and revealed its intent later in the film. That major issue aside their script is a brilliant piece of clock work only compounded by the sharp brilliant direction by Zemeckis. The film is as visually brilliant as anything that Zemeckis has done. There’s an elegance to every composition and shot that is the right balance of integration to the story as a whole and brilliant stylistic showcase. Much like the earlier Zemeckis masterpiece Contact, the technical brilliance is an afterthought.
Zemeckis isn’t the lone craftsman in creating this film. He’s aided by the work of frequent collaborators like cinematographer Don Burgress, editor Arhtur Schmidt, Production Designer Rick Carter, and Composer Alan Silvestri. They each work in tandem with Zemeckis in the way a crew does with years and years of experience. Watching the work here one wishes Zemeckis’ work would go back to the balance of technical marvel and popcorn stories.
Pfeiffer and Ford are perfectly cast here as the married couple. There isn’t just charm and star power at work. The two super stars seem to have genuine chemistry. Ford has never been a great romantic lead but paired with Pfeiffer one wishes the pair found work together earlier and continued this working relationship. It’s almost a shame when the “plot” of the film kicks into gear because one would definitely watch a straight up romantic drama between these two characters. As with all Zemeckis films the supporting actors are perfectly cast with the likes of Remar, Otto, Diana Scarwid and Joe Morton doing great work.
What Lies Beneath stands the test of time as a truly great supernatural thriller because of the truly brilliant direction by Robert Zemeckis.
The Transfer
The all-new 4K Transfer from the Original 35mm Camera Negative approved by Cinematographer Don Burgess presented in Dolby Vision (HDR-10 Compatible) is an excellent upgrade in picture even besting the original 35mm release prints. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp, clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels because of the Dolby Vision encoding are both deeper in their details giving us a darker luminous and far more textured and beautiful image. There isn’t a scratch, blemish or issue with the picture. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove grain. What Lies Beneath has never looked better than it does here.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY):
The archival Audio Commentary with Director Robert Zemeckis, and Producers Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey begins with introductions before diving into how this project came to be in the early days of Dreamworks and how Zemeckis wanted to make a good Hitchcockian thriller. Some of the other details include how he approached casting – moving forward with casting the husband first then casting the wife once they had Harrison Ford; the reasons why they went after Ford – casting against type and expectation; their casting of Michelle Pfeffer – and the surprising ease in how it came together; the construction of the home – the complexity of its construction, how it related to the screenplay; collaborating with actors on a production that has a complex camera moves and Visual FX as this film does; the way they approached casting the supporting roles and Zemeckis involvement; how they approached sound design to help accentuate the scares and moments of tension; and much more. The trio provided a highly informational commentary track that even twenty five years on is still a great resource on how big budget filmmaking is approached because Zemeckis’ films are always on the forefront of technology.
“You Know: Uncovering What Lies Beneath” (82:30) – is an all-new feature-length retrospective documentary that covers everything from the script development, casting, preproduction, production, and post-production on this uniquely made film. The level of detail that this making of goes into is astounding – giving us a glimpse into the fairly complex production. Some of the details they cover the production being in the middle of Castaway – during Castaway hiatus while Hanks lost weight; the construction of the house – and how much the design mattered to the story of the film and how they brought that to life; how the house was built twice – once on location and once in a studio and the reasons why; the visual style and the collaboration between Burgess and Zemeckis to create those iconic shots that the director is known for – and how they were accomplished in this film; their building of the bridge that features in the film – and how it was built in the Long Beach hangar that used to house the Sprouse Goose; how they accomplished the bathtub sequences; a discussion into the approach and difficulty in costuming – including during FX heavy sequences; a discussion of the VFX work they did and how it was accomplished in some of the more complex sequences; the work of Alan Silvestri and his Hitchcock inspired compositions – and how Zemeckis approaches the collaboration with him; and much more. This may be the best making-of documentary produced in recent memory as the level of access they have with the talent involved is amazing and rare for even an A-list boutique label like Shout/Scream. Bravo for all the hard work in producing this special feature. Featuring all-new interviews with Robert Zemeckis, Producers Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke, Writers Sarah Kernochan and Clark Gregg, Cast Member Amber Valletta, Director Of Photography Don Burgess, Production Designer Rick Carter, Costume Designer Susie DeSanto, Composer Alan Silvestri, Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Legato, Special Effects Supervisor Shane Mahan, and Puppeteer Jason Matthews.
“Constructing A Thriller” (15:01) – is an archival featurette is an epk-style look at the making of the film that was originally included on the DVD release of the film.
Theatrical Trailer (2:28)
The Final Thought
Scream has giving What Lies Beneath a truly wonderful 4K UHD upgrade with new special features. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
Scream Factory’s 4K UHD Edition of What Lies Beneath is out May 6th
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