The Remains of the Day UHD Review

4.5 Stars Exquisite
The Remains of the Day Screenshot

Sony brings the 1993 Merchant Ivory film The Remains of the Day to 4K UHD Blu-ray in a stunning new transfer supervised by the director.

The Remains of the Day (1993)
Released: 19 Nov 1993
Rated: PG
Runtime: 134 min
Director: James Ivory
Genre: Drama, Romance
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, John Haycraft
Writer(s): Kazuo Ishiguro, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Plot: A butler who sacrificed body and soul to service in the years leading up to World War II realizes too late how misguided his loyalty was to his lordly employer.
IMDB rating: 7.8
MetaScore: 86

Disc Information
Studio: Sony
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution: 2160p HEVC w/HDR
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1
Audio: Dolby Atmos, English 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, English 2.0 DTS-HDMA, English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, Other
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Rating: PG
Run Time: 2 Hr. 14 Min.
Package Includes: UHD, Digital Copy
Case Type: UHD keepcase with slipcover
Disc Type: UHD
Region: All
Release Date: 02/21/2023
MSRP: $38.99

The Production: 4/5

In 1958, Lord Darlington (James Fox) has passed away at his estate in the English countryside. Considered a traitor leading up to World War II, developers are looking to demolish the lavish home for redevelopment, but retired US Congressman Jack Lewis (Christopher Reeve) rescues much of the estate at auction with plans to move his family into the mansion. He also decides to keep on much of the staff, including head butler Stevens (Anthony Hopkins). Around this time, former housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson), recently separated from her husband, writes a letter to Stevens, reminiscing about her time of employment at Darlington, leaving her letter rather open-ended with hopes of meeting up with Stevens sometime soon. Short-handed and in need of a housekeeper, Stevens writes her back to plan a meetup, hoping to offer her the position.

As Stevens travels to meet Miss Kenton in Congressman Lewis’ loaned Daimler, he begins to reminisce himself of his time working with Miss Kenton at the Darlington estate in the years leading up to World War II. Stevens begins to realize how completely repressed he is, and how his mis-guided allegiance to his employer shaped his life, causing him to miss out on a chance to be with the one woman he ever really loved and allowed to get away – Miss Kenton.

The Remains of the Day is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro, and the film, although not a box office hit by any means, did manage to receive eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Thompson), Best Director (James Ivory), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score (Richard Robbins). This was a 1993 release, and thus lost most of those awards to Schindler’s List. Both Hopkins and Thompson deliver one of their career-best performances in the film, and I found the movie much more interesting now in my late 50s than I did when I first saw it theatrically thirty years ago. The movie also features early roles by Hugh Grant and Lena Headey.

Video: 5/5

3D Rating: NA

Sony once again proves they really know what they are doing when bringing catalog titles to 4K with this release. The Remains of the Day was shot on 35mm film in the Super 35 format, completed on film in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The studio made a new 4K transfer of the film with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 high dynamic range which was then approved by director James Ivory. The results are rather breathtaking, featuring lush greens of the countryside as well as the colors and textures of the painted walls of the estate’s interior and fabric textures of the costumes. Contrast is excellent, as there are many darkly lit scenes in the movie that are still discernable while retaining the deepest of blacks. Fine film grain is evident but never obtrusive.

Audio: 5/5

The default Dolby Atmos track may seem like overkill for a film of this type, but where it excels in is recreating the acoustics of the many rooms within the estate, with reverberation coming from various points of the listening area. Sounds are located with pinpoint accuracy and move seamlessly. LFE adds some nice low-end to the score and various sound effects. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout. The film’s theatrical 5.1 and 2.0 stereo mixes are included in DTS-HD MA.

Special Features: 3/5

In what has become more common for Sony catalog releases in 4K, all of the special features have been included on the 4K disc, and no Blu-ray disc has been included.

Love and Loyalty: The Making of “Remains of the Day” (upscaled 1080p; 28:36): A typical 1990s era made for TV documentary promotional piece on the making of the film, and it’s actually pretty good, featuring interviews with many members of the cast and crew.

The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker’s Journey (upscaled 1080p; 29:52): An interesting look at adapting the novel for the big screen, featuring interviews with director James Ivory and the novel’s author Kazuo Ishiguro.

Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England’s Fatal Flaw (upscaled 1080p; 14:51): Another interesting featurette, looking at the historical events featured in the film, such as Nazi Germany’s taking advantage of British aristocracy leading up to World War II.

Audio Commentary with Director James Ivory, Producer Ismail Merchant and Actress Emma Thompson

Deleted Scenes (upscaled 1080p; 14:32): Seven scenes are included with optional Director’s Commentary.

Trailers (1080p; 5:07): includes the Theatrical and International trailers.

Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem a digital copy on Movies Anywhere. As of the date of this review, none of the retailers have Remains of the Day available with any sort of HDR or Dolby Atmos.

Overall: 4.5/5

Sony once again does not disappoint with their new 4K release of The Remains of the Day.

Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.

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Sultanofcinema

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Watched Remains Of The Day last night as it is one of my favorites. The 4K is nothing short of spectaular and goes into the "reference disc" category. As Clu Gulager says at the end of Into The Night, "I believe this falls into the or what category" as he takes a wad of cash from Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer.
 

Todd Erwin

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Watched Remains Of The Day last night as it is one of my favorites. The 4K is nothing short of spectaular and goes into the "reference disc" category. As Clu Gulager says at the end of Into The Night, "I believe this falls into the or what category" as he takes a wad of cash from Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Cannot say the same, unfortunately, about the 4K digital.
 

Sultanofcinema

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Todd,
I do agree, as is the case with most 4K discs, they are darker. But 4K is the closest thing we have to 35 MM prints. As my son says the " 4K for Suspiria is the poster child for 4K". I saw Thunderball when it opened in 1965, nothing like it. That Bond film is the pinnacle for Technicolor of the Bond series. Even a bad print of Thunderball knocked your eyeballs out! When I saw the film in many other theaters, some sub run, some revivals, over many decades, it didn't hold a candle to the way the Paramount opened it in NY. I would give up everything in the way of home video if I could have the guarantee of seeing my favorite films in 35/70MM every couple of years. The fact is we just can't compare any kind of home video format to what we witnessed theatrically, we can only hope for that medium to come close so we have a record of the past..
 

Bartman

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The laserdisc was reference quality, the DVD was riddled with artifacts, the UK Blu-ray was a big improvement over the DVD. I believe the Blu-ray came out earlier in the UK? I think I'll stop there!
 

Todd Erwin

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Todd,
I do agree, as is the case with most 4K discs, they are darker. But 4K is the closest thing we have to 35 MM prints. As my son says the " 4K for Suspiria is the poster child for 4K". I saw Thunderball when it opened in 1965, nothing like it. That Bond film is the pinnacle for Technicolor of the Bond series. Even a bad print of Thunderball knocked your eyeballs out! When I saw the film in many other theaters, some sub run, some revivals, over many decades, it didn't hold a candle to the way the Paramount opened it in NY. I would give up everything in the way of home video if I could have the guarantee of seeing my favorite films in 35/70MM every couple of years. The fact is we just can't compare any kind of home video format to what we witnessed theatrically, we can only hope for that medium to come close so we have a record of the past..
I never said the disc was darker. I said the current (and older) 4K digital was.
 
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