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Preston Jones

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Julian Schnabel’s moving elegy for Jean-Michel Basquiat, aptly named Basquiat, makes a gorgeous 4K UHD debut in the Criterion Collection.



Basquiat (1996)



Released: 09 Aug 1996
Rated: R
Runtime: 107 min




Director: Julian Schnabel
Genre: Biography, Drama



Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro
Writer(s): Lech Majewski, John F. Bowe, Julian Schnabel



Plot: The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.



IMDB rating: 6.9
MetaScore: 65





Disc Information



Studio: Miramax
Distributed By: Criterion Collection
Video Resolution: 2160p HEVC w/HDR



Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English...

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Preston Jones

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Thanks for this review. I'm really looking forward to seeing it now - the only film of Julian Schnabel I've seen is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
You might also check out what I, at least, consider to be his masterpiece: Before Night Falls, which got a great Blu-ray release from Warner Archive last year.
 

TheMovieDude

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The revisionist Black and White 4k version doesn't make sense aesthetically or conceptually for the film and was a stupid decision by the director. Even worse, word is the included color version looks like crap. This is equivalent to what Lucas did with Star Wars. I'm going to call this the worst / most disappointing release of 2025 so far.
 

Jimbo.B

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I wonder how Schnabel would feel about a book retrospective of his artwork printed only in B&W because the editor chose to make an “artistic decision” that it was the appropriate way to showcase his catalog?
 

JoshZ

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The revisionist Black and White 4k version doesn't make sense aesthetically or conceptually for the film and was a stupid decision by the director. Even worse, word is the included color version looks like crap. This is equivalent to what Lucas did with Star Wars. I'm going to call this the worst / most disappointing release of 2025 so far.

Yeah, I'm definitely conflicted on this. I haven't seen the new transfer, but I really don't get the decision to change the movie to black & white. The movie was made in color, originally released in color, and is about an artist whose work is very colorful. Prior to this, we'd never heard a peep about Schnabel ever envisioning it in black & white or being prevented from releasing it that way.

If anything, there was a small resurgence of black & white movies released to the indie and art film circuits in the mid '90s: Dead Man, Man Bites Dog, The Addiction, and of course Clerks and Ed Wood, among others. If Schnabel had wanted this to be black & white, I don't imagine he would have had too much trouble finding distribution at that time.

This feels to me like Schnabel watched the black & white versions of Logan or Godzilla Minus One and thought, "Hey, that's so cool! I should do that to my movies!"
 

Wes Candela

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I’ll deal because I love the film.
Offer both please.

Either way
I have a friend that’s friendly with Julian. He tells me he is not surprised at all by the black and white release.

“He’s an artist Wes. Like you, some people probably want your pictures in color, but you shoot them in black-and-white…”

“ yeah but Joe if I shoot a picture in black and white, or if I shoot it in color, you will always be able to find that version of it. I won’t make a color version of it and take away the black and white or vice versa. “

“Yeah, but you’re not Julian. “

no, I’m not
Can’t wait to see it
 

Wes Candela

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Just caught 45 minutes of it at my cousin’s house, you’re more focused on the performances and the transfer is beautiful. Plus I love black and white so the clarity and detail is phenomenal.

That being said

I wish the 4K had a color version in Dolby Vision also

But it does look absolutely amazing
 

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