UHD Review Leviathan – UHD Blu-ray Review (2 Viewers)

[t1g3r5fan]

Leviathan. In 1989 and 1990, a series of thrillers set beneath the surface of the Seven Seas washed up in theaters in waves. The most famous of these – of course – was James Cameron’s blockbuster The Abyss while the remaining majority of these underseas thrillers were modestly or low budgeted affairs; one of the most notable of these lower tiered films was George P. Cosmatos’ Leviathan. Previously released on DVD by MGM and on Blu-ray by Scream Factory, Kino has licensed the movie for its UHD Blu-ray debut.



Leviathan (1989)



Released: 17 Mar 1989
Rated: R
Runtime: 98 min




Director: George P. Cosmatos
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Mystery



Cast: Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays
Writer(s): David Webb Peoples, Jeb Stuart



Plot: Perched on the hull of a wrecked Soviet freighter, a team of deep-sea miners led by...

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[Jeffrey D]

Thank you for the review. Will add this one to my collection.

 

[Bartman]

You had me at The Abyss (I had the laserdisc boxed set). I saw Leviathon on Prime in HD a year or so ago, good flick. What's the track record of Kino 4K's being released to streaming services (other KIno channels not available on LG TVs)?

 

[JimJasper]

Great review, Mychal, I'm down here in Eugene! Always wanted to see this film, and it seems like the 4K would be terrific.

Just curious about your thoughts on the 5.1 audio regarding
* .1 LFE? ← Much depth or what was the impression to you?
* And the surrounds ← could you tell if they were discrete? Were surrounds very active throughout? Did they have much depth? Despite the vintage of the film, while these components can be thinly used, but sometimes they are surprisingly thrilling with a richer, wider frequency than expected. Curious about your thoughts?

 

[t1g3r5fan]

My impression was that the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track here is similar to the one on Shout/Scream's 2014 Blu-ray, but the UHD blu-ray offers a little extra depth here.

 

[Wayne Klein]

An entertaining sort of b-movie, Watched the 4 k version streaming. Looks good. Nice extras. I would consider it for a sale but otherwise I’m good. Great review. Good movie. love the ending but wish it was a bit less cliched at the end.

 

[Bartman]

An entertaining sort of b-movie, Watched the 4 k version streaming. Looks good. Nice extras. I would consider it for a sale but otherwise I’m good. Great review. Good movie. love the ending but wish it was a bit less cliched at the end.

Where did you watch it 4K streaming? Justwatch & Reelgood just show HD available.

 

[dpippel]

Where did you watch it 4K streaming? Justwatch & Reelgood just show HD available.

Maybe he's in Canada or something? It's HD only on all the major streaming platforms in the States.

 

[Wayne Klein]

Where did you watch it 4K streaming? Justwatch & Reelgood just show HD available.

It’s Possible it was HD only. I think it was on Amazon or Apple. My wife was already watching it and I came in during the first five minutes. I assumed it was the latest 4K version. Either way, it looked really good but keep in mind it was streaming with all the limitations that apply. If it was a lower rez transfer, it looked really exceptional.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Received my copy on Sunday; seems like I've been waiting for this release forever...

In my humble assessment, this was typical Kino, so far as the picture quality is concerned -- definitely passable and better than it's ever looked on any other format, but not reference. The audio was another issue altogether; the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track was on the low side in terms of mastering volume (probably what they had to work with), and dialogue was buried in the mix to the point that I needed to crank my system's master volume way up just to make out what Weller, Crenna and others were saying in certain spots. Even then, the dialogue was thin and difficult to discern, not really responding to the amplification that well. Again, though, typical Kino in this regard.

It was fun to revisit this under-the-radar cult favorite, though, and I applaud the studio for bringing this title to the latest greatest format. In retrospect, this was far from the graphic body horror of The Fly or The Thing -- which I remember it being when I used to watch it as a kid -- landing it more in the category of "Alien underwater."

I reckon this will be the best Leviathan will look, at least in our lifetimes.

 

[Wayne Klein]

My copy finally arrived from Bullmoose. It looks pretty good overall and is a nice upgrade from the Blu-ray. Anything with Peter Weller, Ernie Hudson, Amanda Pays and Richard Crenna can’t be all bad!

 

[Wayne Klein]

Continue reading...

nice write up and review! Thanks!

 

[Malcolm R]

I remember being thrilled in 1989 with all these undersea monster movies on the release schedule. Then I watched them and it was mostly one disappointment after the other. I think Leviathan is probably the best of the group that set a pretty low bar. But with FX by Stan Winston and a decent cast, it was a pretty fun creature feature.

The Abyss was the better film from this genre in that period, but I recall being disappointed that there weren't really any "monsters" in that film. At that age, I was all about horror movies and monsters.

 

[Kaskade1309]

After watching Leviathan twice now since owning the UHD release, I got inspired to go ahead and order...