5/5 Blu-ray: Very solid blu-ray release, older Criterion interviews included plus 20th anniversary reunion
  by Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
In 1988, an independent film directed by newcomer Steve Soderbergh (who would go on to direct the films "Erin Bockovich", "Traffic", "Oceans Twelve", etc.) would achieve prominence as the film was the spark that helped revolutionize the independent film movement in the 1990's. Winner of the Palme D'or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the indie film would also earn a nomination for an Academy Award and would be the beginning of a long, prosperous career for Steve Soderbergh but also the four main talents of the film: James Spader ("Stargate", "Boston Legal", "Pretty in Pink", "White Palace"), Andie MacDowell ("Groundhog Day", "Hudson Hawk", "Four Weddings and a Funeral"), Laura San Giacomo ("Pretty Woman", "Just Shoot Me", "Saving Grace") and Peter Gallagher ("The OC", "Short Cuts", "Californication").

The film which cost about a million dollars to make, went on to receive critical success and earn $24 million in the box office. "sex, lies, and videotape" became a big hit for independent film studio Miramax Films and the film was selected and preserved by the United States National Film Registry in 2006 as a film that is "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and in 2009, to celebrate the film's 20th year anniversary, "sex, lies and videotape" receives its first High Definition Blu-ray release.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"sex, lies, and videotape" is featured in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1). For the most part, the picture quality has a fine layer of grain but also shows quite a bit of detail as we can see the skin pores of Andie McDowell. You can see the details of the characters quite clearly. The transfer is not perfect as I did see a few instances of dirt and even artifacting. But I have to admit that this is the best I've seen of the film compared to its Criterion Collection LD and DVD counterpart.

As for the transfer, the same Interpositive Element from the original 35mm Camera negative which was used in the 1988 DVD was scanned 4K DPX Files, as a potential source for future remastering. The 2K files were color timed at Technicolor using the 1998 transfer as a color reference. Also, a substantial amount of dirt was cleaned up utilizing version 7 of MTI DRS and splice bump correction using Autodesk Inferno.

The audio of the film is presented in English and French Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The sound although lossless sounds very good. Dialogue is clear and understandable but at the same time, audio doesn't utilize the surround channels as much as I was hoping for it too. But this is explained through the restoration special feature that Soderbergh felt it important to present this film with its original 1989 mix. The goal of the audio restoration was to remove any snap and pops throughout the film but focusing on audio being a front and center channel for "sex, lies and videotape" and minimal utilization of subwoofers and surrounds.

Subtitles are featured in English, English SDH and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"sex, lies, and videotape" comes with several special features new and old (some from the original Criterion Collection LD release) and are featured in High Definition or Standard Definition and in English Stereo.

* Movie IQ - Real-time movie information about the cast, crew, music and production via BD-Live.
* Commentary with Writer/Director Steven Soderbergh and Neil LaBute - A very good commentary that filmmakers and commentary fans will definitely enjoy. From the setup of a scene and learning from Soderbergh about his mindset of what he wanted to accomplish for the film plus comparisons to an Eric Rohmer film.
* 20 Year Reunion at the Sundance Film Festival - (3:26) Featuring Steven Soderbergh, Peter Gallagher, Andie McDowell and Laura San Giacomo for a reunion 20 years later at the Sundance Film Festival. The group fields questions from the audience and more.
* Deleted Scene with Optional Commentary- (3:26) Director Steven Soderbergh sets up a deleted scene featuring Ann (McDowell) with her therapist.
* Steven Soderbergh on "sex, lies and videotape" trailers - (4:40) Director Soderbergh talks about shooting the theatrical trailer for the film. View Soderbergh's trailer and the Miramax trailer.
* Steven Soderbergh on "sex, lies and videotape" - (8:22) Soderbergh talks about his influences in creating the film. About not utilizing nudity in the film and more.
* Notes on Remastering and Restoration - Text info. on what was digitally restores for the Blu-ray release.

JUDGMENT CALL:

When "sex, lies and videotape" was released, I can remember that I was thinking that this would be a bold film that showcased a lot of nudity. Of course, the film is not anything like that. But I felt that watching it now 20 years later versus watching it when I was in my teens, I felt that I have much more appreciation for the film more now than ever.

Soderbergh has went on to create many wonderful films since "sex, lies and videotape" but what has captured my attention about this film is his how he kept the film simple and concentrated on the details around the four characters. He mentions in the commentary of his influence of Eric Rohmer (who created the popular films as part of his "Six Moral Tales") and the long dialogue between characters. Maybe it made no impression to me back then but now, any director who can have their characters engage in dialogue with meaning and profoundness is wonderful.

Andie MacDowell was the surprising star because in the beginning, I thought she would be the typical jilted housewife but we see her character emerge as one that is confused to one that finally gains perspective. Laura San Giacomo did well in portraying the free-will Cynthia (which she would go on to do again in "Pretty Woman"), John Mullany (Peter Gallagher) was the ultimate sleezeball and for Graham (Spader), his character was mysterious and although the viewer doesn't know exactly what had happen to him, it's how the character was changed after changing the character he videotaped.

As the film itself, one can see how this independent film helped revolutionize indie films and allowing media coverage. Sure, we see independent films, arthouse films receive media coverage today but in the context of independent films getting seen by a wide audience, "sex, lies, and videotape" was definitely instrumental in being part of that small group of films that Hollywood would give a chance to. And of course, without this film, we wouldn't have awesome films by Steven Soderbergh such as "Erin Brokovich", "Traffic", "Out of Sight", "The Good German", "Che" and "Schizopolis" (although we can leave Soderbergh's "Oceans" films out of the list).

As for the Blu-ray release, this is the best the film has ever looked and the restoration was definitely important for this 20th Anniversary release. The only problem that I have with this release is that if they were going to show that 20th Anniversary reunion, why not show the entire Q&A session? They show bits and pieces of it and that is my main peeve of this release. We are seeing more and more films given the anniversary treatment on Blu-ray with the reunion Q&A sessions featured in its entirety, I would have loved to see this Q&A at Sundance in full. Also, some of the features are from the original Criterion Collection LD from nearly 20 years ago, so quality is not exactly that great. But nevertheless, it was good to see Sony include that on this Blu-ray release.

Overall, for those who enjoyed the film or Soderbergh's work will definitely want to add "sex, lies and videotape" to their Blu-ray collection. Although the film was once a Criterion Collection release (on LD), it was great to see this release have almost a Criterion feel with is restoration technique explanation and also amateur filmmakers will enjoy Soderbergh's audio commentary as well. Definitely a solid Blu-ray release worth owning!




5/5 talk, acting and agreatscript
  by A Customer (L.A.)
Power of drama, filmmaking and a great production create a talky but supercharged rollercoaster ride! Talk, great acting and directing are all you get. So, I'm all choked up about how you cant see a plane crash or the destruction by a photon blaster; but, you're gonna like it. It's own blast!
Sony BD is great and the quiet movie can be loud.

3/5 no longer ground-breaking
  by AIROLF (USA)
In 1989, this movie might've been way ahead of its time, but in 2009. the film hardly stands out among movies dealing with relationship crisis. The movie has good. solid performances from the cast, particularly Andie MacDowell, but no one performance is extraordinary.

5/5 Provocative and intense film about intimacy
  by Nathan Andersen (Florida)
This is not really a film about sex. It's about intimacy, which can be physically sexual or not. It's about the possibility of connection, of making contact, and of taking responsibility for the impact of one's life upon another. Mere "sex" becomes a surrogate for intimacy, what we search for when we are unable to be honest with ourselves and our significant others and acknowledge that our self is bound up with these others. Mere "sex" - as in the "casual" fling John carries on with his wife Ann's sister - is then a lie, in a double sense: it has him cheating on his wife, and it manifests his refusal to admit the manifest truth that his desires, his needs, are bound up with those of others.

Graham (in a brilliant performance by James Spader), has organized his life precisely to avoid the lie that John embraces. He is brutally honest with others, but to avoid any hint of deception he also refuses to be intimate with anyone. He uses the video camera as a distancing technique, creating an objective filter between himself and the women in his life - pitting them as objects of study rather than subjects in a dynamic relationship, whose parameters he could not ultimately control. Of course, his little experiment doesn't work out as he plans, and everyone in his life is affected. The story is simple and direct, the dialogue pitch perfect, the acting top notch, and the direction quite appropriate. One of my favorite films, and certainly deserving of its status as one of the most important American independent films. I also found the commentary track, in which Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) interviews director Steven Soderbergh, to be quite fascinating. Highly recommended.

4/5 Brief yet thought-provoking story
  by Viva (So. Cal.)
The running time isn't too long on this, yet it conveys a great deal of material involving two men and two women--specifically, one married couple, the wife's sister (who is having an affair with her brother in law), and the man's friend who comes around for a visit and decides to stay. His presence becomes disruptive, even though he is not aggressive. His hobby is making tapes of women talking about sex and related issues and then watching the tapes.

The mousy wife becomes more aggressive herself when she turns the tables on the tape-maker and forces him to face himself and his motivations. She also discovers more about herself and her husband and sister in the process.

This is a quiet film with a lot of talking, so it will not appeal to those looking for a sex romp or lots of action. This is more of a thought-provoking film.

I just wondered at the end if the wife confronted her sister, and if the husband would continue to spiral down.