‘The Long Kiss Goodnight: Limited Edition’ 4K Ultra HD movie review

Director Renny Harlin teamed up with his then-wife and celebrated actress Geena Davis (“Thelma and Louise”) in a cult classic, action thriller back in 1996 now available as a rejuvenated 4K disc format special release in The Long Kiss Goodnight: Limited Edition (Arrow Video, rated R, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 120 minutes, $49.95).

The frightening and oddly amusing journey of Samantha Caine (Ms. Davis) plays out eight years after she was found on a shore, devoid of her memories and pregnant with daughter Caitlin (Yvonne Zima).

Samantha is now living in a small town as a schoolteacher and preparing for the winter holidays with her daughter and boyfriend Hal (Tom Amandes). Her joyful life gets shattered after a car accident with a deer triggers a flood of memories from her previous life as a clandestine assassin named Charly.

A violent encounter with an escaped convict breaking into her house and looking for deadly retribution for a past encounter begins her descent into a fuller realization of her skills and former occupation.

Shady private detective Mitch Henessey (Samuel L. Jackson), hired by Samantha earlier to find out who she was and what happened to her on that beach, shows up and delivers a suitcase containing the final clues to jog her memory.

The revelations eventually lead the pair to team up on a dangerous mission to uncover a high-level, national security government conspiracy, all played out in extreme action scenes that ramp up to an overtly explosive, jaw-dropping finale.

“The Long Kiss Goodnight” mixes some of the more entertaining and humorous elements of films such as “The Bourne Identity” and “True Lies” and makes for a yearly Christmas treat comparable to Mr. Harlin’s other holiday opus, “Die Hard 2.”

4K in action: Viewers get a pristine presentation created by scanning the original 35mm camera negative in 4K, 16-bit resolution at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging and then restored in 4K resolution and color graded at Duplitech, all approved by Mr. Harlin.

The result finds colors popping, especially blood-reds and explosive-yellows, and clarity in details such as billowing smoke coming out of a sniper bullet hole in a wall.

Scenes that especially take advantage of the 4K magic include a deer crashing into a windshield; the grayed and textured Jersey Correctional Facility exterior architecture that looks like Arkham Asylum; a hallway engulfed in flames following Sam and Mitch’s crash through a second-story window; and some epic flyovers of Niagara Falls.

Best extras: Arrow Video offers viewers a bevy of new optional commentary tracks, interviews and analyses of the films.

Of course, begin with the pair of commentary tracks, one with film critic Walter Chaw (from filmfreakcentral.com) and the other with film critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel (co-hosts of the Bloodhaus horror podcast).

Both are nonstop, conversational, enlightening and an easy listen packed with nonstop facts with very little overlap.

Mr. Chaw focuses often on a deep exploration of the cast and crew including Mr. Harlin’s origins, and discussing Ms. Davis’ film catalog, her action heroine status and declining career. He adds analyzing the keys to the film including its poor box office as the critic theorizes it was due to a potential fan backlash with the romantic relationship between Mr. Harlin and Ms. Davis (recently divorced from Jeff Goldblum).

In the second track, Ms. Adeline and Mr. Conkel are easy to chuckle at each other and often comment on the onscreen action. They also offer a bit more pointed look with facts such as screenwriter Shane Black was paid $4 million for the script, the character Sam Caine was an anagram for amnesiac, and Mr. Jackson was an usher at Martin Luther King’s funeral.

 

 

Moving to the new interviews, they start with an all-grown-up Ms. Zima taking 16 minutes to reflect on her experience on the set and how much support she received from the cast and crew during her work on the film.

Stunt co-coordinator Steve Davidson then covers more than nine minutes working on the hardest film of his life, shooting in freezing weather as well as stunts such as the deer accident; Sam and Gina jumping out of a window; the water torture scene; and a truck sliding on its side.

Finally, makeup artist Gordon J. Smith spends 12 minutes mainly talking about the origins and uses of silicone in his craft such as for prosthetics and in particular for creating a lifelike corpse of Brian Cox to submerge in water.

Three visual essays follow and feature film scholar Josh Nelson exploring the history of amnesia-themed films and scripts with dual identities as well as espionage stories while reflecting on the film (19 minutes); film historians Kevin Marr, Howard S. Berger, and Angela McEntee deliver an exhaustive retrospective centered on Samantha’s extreme midlife crisis (38 minutes); and film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas covers the empowered female action hero, the older actress dilemma, gender duality and feminist ideals (14 minutes).

I’ll also mention the tossing in of vintage promotional interviews with Mr. Harlin. Ms. Davis, Mr. Jackson and actor Craig Bierko (the villain Timothy) as well as some archival behind-the-scenes footage (15 minutes total).

The immersive, well-rounded limited edition also shines thanks to a selection of goodies in the packaging, starting with a reversible sleeve for the disc case featuring newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley.

Next, a generous, 40-page, full-color collector’s booklet features color photos throughout brand-new essays on the film by critics and authors Clem Bastow, Richard Kadrey, Maura McHugh and Priscilla Page.

Topping off this release, viewers get a “Skating Prohibited, Thin Ice” sticker based on the sign seen in Chesterman Parks outdoor ice rink and a full-color holiday postcard with Mitch Henessey chopping wood in the snow and a profane “Merry Christmas” greeting written on the back.