Leviathan is a movie that has evaded me over the years due to it’s availability. It isn’t on streaming or digital. It also had a limited amount of releases on Blu-Ray. The region A Scream factory Blu-Ray has been out of print for a while, and goes for silly money. When Kino Lorber announced their 4K UHD, I knew this was going to be the best way possible to view this classic sci-fi horror classic.
The narrative is relatively simple yet intriguing. A crew on an underwater ninety day mining expedition are approaching the climax of their mission when Sixpack, played by HOME ALONE’S Daniel Stern, uncovers a sunken vessel named Leviathan. The crew accidentally bring a parasitic creature into their base resulting in devastation. The set pieces in LEVIATHAN are impressive and the creature is an Alien esque menace which absorbs its victims and consumes them whole. The film has great lines and the acting is to a good standard. Especially Peter Weller’s character Beck, nicknamed Becky for comedic effect. The ending scene is hilarious, the film as a whole is a blast to kick back and enjoy. To some it up it’s a solid eighties creature feature.
The New 4K disk
The transfer was very good and you can get lost in the action. The darker scenes barely have grain and have good levels of clarity. Obviously with a 4K transfer, it can be how good your eyes are or how you prefer your movies to look. Although being true to a movies original state, I am not personally a fan of heavy grain on 4K scan. Sometime grain cannot be avoided. Overall I think this a adequate release if not very good. It’s a solidly good 4K transfer, the audio is clear and sounds full. I do think this movie could have done with a more premium and fancy boxset release for big fans and collectors, although the slipcover provided by Kino is of a fair quality and the inner sleeve has alternate artwork. It’s a two disk set so you do get the movie on Blu-Ray as well as the special features/extras on that same disc. I have waited to own this underwater action classic for a long time. I am happy with this 4K release and would urge collectors to give it a purchase if and possible. The 4K is completely region free therefore it is playable on any 4K compatible machine. The release is for the American market so you will need to import it. I paid under £30 which is a fair price for a 4K import in my opinion. I can this movie getting a big UK release sometime in the future too which would be fantastic.