The Cell (Limited Edition) 4K UHD Review

Arrow Video

4K UHD Release: January 21st, 2025

Video: 2.39:1/2160p/Color

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH

Run Time: 109:18 (director's cut), 107:19 (theatrical cut)

Director: Tarsem Singh

Following a string of brutal kidnappings and killings, the FBI catches a major break in the case when they capture Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio). Stargher has recently taken his next victim, and has her held at an undisclosed location, where she will die within 24 hours if nobody rescues her. The only problem? Stargher has descended into a coma due to a rare brain condition, and will likely never regain consciousness. Desperate for answers, Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) gambles on a truly unlikely solution: a cutting-edge technology that allows a psychiatrist -- in this case, Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) -- to be transported into the mind of a subject...or vice-versa.

Having watched the extensive new interview with director Tarsem Singh on this new Arrow Video 4K UHD of The Cell, the positives and negatives of this visually stunning -- but, weirdly, somewhat conventional -- serial killer thriller make perfect sense. For Tarsem (whom I will refer to by and who is sometimes credited only by his first name), the movie represented an opportunity to draw on a studio budget for his stylish visuals, right at the moment when his star became a hot commodity. For the studio, it was an easy box office proposition: a reliable genre picture with a marquee name attached. The end result is a little of both: it's a visually dazzling effort that covers the screen with incredible imagery, and maybe little undercooked in the script department (something that falls more to Tarsem than screenwriter Mark Protosevich, who by Tarsem's own admission was more than willing to dismantle what he'd already written to accommodate more opportunities for Tarsem to put his own stamp on the material).

Were one starting The Cell from scratch, there's a case to be made that the biggest weakness is how long the movie takes in getting its pieces in order. There is no existing connection between the psychiatric lab where the head trips take place and the FBI investigation, so the film takes about a half hour to get to the point where its premise actually begins. It doesn't feel like much is gained from a subplot about how the lab is in danger of being shut down when its benefactor (who has a comatose child he hopes will be cured by the procedure), or Catherine's initial concern about diving into Stargher. Clearly, she will be convinced and agree to go into Stargher's mind, or there's no movie.

Once she's inside, the film becomes significantly more interesting...albeit in a somewhat limited way. Tarsem's background was in commercials and music videos, and The Cell was his first feature, and there are times -- something he admits in the aforementioned interview -- that he turns to simply ripping himself off in order to give the scene a visual hook. Other moments, famous moments, include a scene where a horse is suddenly lengthwise into multiple flat slivers, each chunk encased in glass (and still twitching), which are striking and surreal but maybe a little bit of a dead end. In general, that's the problem with the script, which vaguely suggests but doesn't really explain, like a scene that we know takes place in the past because Stargher's dog is merely a puppy. Does knowing that this scene is from years earlier make it more enlightening? Does it have anything to do with how his mind works? For many, it won't matter, especially with D'Onofrio giving such a bone-chilling performance, but those who prefer a more psychological or detective-driven mystery, The Cell operates more on vibes than details.

For those who do like vibes, though, there's no question that The Cell delivers. Few movie serial killers have been given a more unpleasant introduction than Stargher receives here, which involves the milky corpse of his latest victim (bathed in bleach to give her a doll-like complexion), sexual gratification (from a distance), and a series of metal rings in his back, arms, and legs. Throughout, D'Onofrio is a force of nature, causing the skin to crawl simply by appearing on screen. The film is also unsettling in a classic sense, with the action frequently cutting to Stargher's newest captive (Tara Subkoff), who is held in a small square room with two glass sides, which eventually starts spraying her and slowly filling with water -- talk about a ticking clock. Lopez is merely fine; The Cell is not as good a fit for her as Out of Sight or Selena, but it's interesting to see her give herself over to Tarsem's visual ideas. The film is worth watching just to see her and D'Onofrio all decked out in Eiko Ishioka's incredible costumes.

Video

The nature of Tarsem's approach puts a ceiling on The Cell as a 4K showcase. Don't get me wrong, this is the best the film has ever looked, but both the dream world and the real world have their quirks that limit how much this pops. In the real world sequences, there's a softness to what I assume is the film stock that limits detail and flattens the image a little, outside of the occasional brightly-lit close-up shots where the film hits a more traditional level of depth and detail expected of a 4K UHD. Scenes in the dream world have their contrast pushed, with inky crushed blacks and glowing highlights that look other-worldly, which again limits the amount of depth and how much more rich or saturated the colors can look on this new presentation -- often, with a more conventional-looking film, I can be blown away by beautifully rendered grass or sky, whereas here, the pushed look essentially obscures the degree to which colors have been more richly saturated, because they already are. Obviously, none of this is a complaint about Arrow's work, which is outstanding (the booklet notes that contemporary technology allowed DP Paul Laufer to make color timing corrections that were impossible back in 2000), but it's still easy to imagine some people picking this up because this is a such a visual feast, only to find that the type of visual feast this is doesn't lend itself to a traditionally dazzling upgrade.

Audio

I would imagine that the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track on this disc is the same one that was included on Warner's 2015 Blu-ray, which sounds very good. Armed with Howard Shore's wonderful score (one of the best aspects of the movie) and the surreal nature of the dream sequences, the track has plenty of wild and unpredictable conditions and dynamics to capture, and it does so very well.

Extras

For this new edition of The Cell, Arrow Video has gone all-out with a stacked supplemental package, the crown jewel of which is a new interview with director Tarsem Singh that runs almost the length of the film itself. However, those looking for new insights from the cast may be a little underwhelmed, as this contains no new interview material from Lopez, Vaughn, D'Onofrio, or any other actors, even archival EPK materials added to the disc for the first time.

Disc 1:

• Audio commentary by film scholars Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson - The two authors deliver a track which feels like a blend of the rehearsed and pre-written scholar track and a traditional conversation. They engage in a sort of smooth tag-team commentator rapport where one will offer a conversation topic or point for a few minutes, and then smoothly offer a segue into the other taking over for a few minutes. Although it doesn't necessarily sound like the track is pre-written, the two do have various research materials pulled up, so that they can quote the cast and crew from contemporaneous or later interviews, or pull from articles and reviews. They both have a real passion for the film, and listening to them made me second-guess my middle-of-the-road position on the movie.

• Audio commentary by screenwriter Mark Protosevich and film critic Kay Lynch - Lynch, the founder of the Salem Horror Festival, hosts this interview-style track with Protosevich, who comes off incredibly honored to have the opportunity to look back at the first script he ever sold and the process of working with Tarsem to allow him to put his stamp on it. Discussion topics include the journey the script took on its way to finally being made, the whirlwind nature of production after Lopez was attached and Tarsem signed on, his relationship with Tarsem and the development of the script, being around Lopez as her career took off, and, of course, ideas discarded from Protosevich's original draft. Lynch asks questions to prompt discussion, but she is also more than happy to cede the stage to Protosevich when he has something to say.

• "Projections of the Mind's Eye" Interview with director Tarsem Singh (89:39) - I like The Cell, and I like Tarsem, and yet when I saw that this single video piece had a 90-minute running time, I wondered what he could talk about for that long that wouldn't have been covered by the two commentary tracks or older extras. Within ten minutes, I was on board. This is a wide-ranging and shockingly candid discussion about the making of the movie, with the overarching theme being Tarsem's willingness to think on the ball. Topics covered include: common ground with his one-time neighbor and fellow commercial director David Fincher wanting to make serial killer movies but needing "a take" after Silence of the Lambs, as well as using a studio paycheck as an opportunity to realize ideas one might never have another shot at; teaching moments and problem solving with Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio; what it was like working with Lopez in the middle of her skyrocket to superstardom; the late Eiko Ishioka's costumes; putting up an unnecessary fight against executive producer and future Universal chairwoman Donna Langley; flying Jennifer Lopez to Namibia for a single day of shooting; creating a new ending; reassuring the studio about a potential legal battle; and his upcoming projects. He also tackles the development of several notable moments or scenes in the film. Sometimes he comes off a little Hollywood glib, other times he seems sincere and willing to call out his own mistakes. In any case, it's hard to stop listening to him -- even when he seems a little self-aggrandizing, he is always sort of hypnotically charismatic.

• "Between Two Worlds" Interview with cinematographer Paul Laufer (43:16) - Much like Tarsem, Laufer is a great and engaging speaker who has plenty to say about the many challenges of working on The Cell. Among other stories, he has a great one about shooting in the big gold room where Stargher's cape is pinned to the wall, and he also speaks a little bit about having preserved an original version of The Cell, waiting for the opportunity to let viewers have a peek at it...

  
  

Disc 2:

• Alternate Theatrical Cut (107:09) - ...an opportunity which is offered on this very release. Preserved on an HD tape by Laufer himself, this version of The Cell offers a slightly different color timing scheme and is presented in a 1.78 aspect ratio instead of the final film's 2.39. Checking out a few scenes, the real-world sequences have almost no changes to their look or tone. The changes come in the mind sequences, in particular, the ones in Stargher's mind. The look here is a little less pushed, and in my mind, helps return a little bit of tactile feeling to the sequences that bring them back a bit from feeling completely unreal in a visual effects sense, ala the digital backlot quality of Sky Captain, which I liked. That said, the downside is the 1.78 ratio, which in my mind really robs the movie of some of its sense of grandeur; the taller ratio makes the movie feel sort of like a TV show. (There may, however, be a case to be made for a version that switches between ratios, like a contemporary film with IMAX inserts.)

• "Paul Laufer Illuminates" Interview (10:47) - Laufer explains the complex technical reasons that this alternate master exists. There's no great artistic reason that it exists, just a dissatisfaction with some of the compromises that he was forced to make that stem back to his choice to use different lenses depending on which part of the film he was shooting.

• "Art is Where You Find It" Visual Essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (12:32) - The commentary host returns for another look at the film, honing in on the references that Tarsem is drawing from fine art and integrating into The Cell.

• "The Costuming Auteur" Visual Essay by film critic Abbey Bender (10:37) - Eiko Ishioka provides the focus for this deep dive on the costumes in the film, which traces her work leading up to The Cell (such as Mishima and Coppola's Dracula) and after (continuing to work with Tarsem). The essay tracks their separate journeys through advertising and music to film, before settling into their collaborations on The Cell, diving into their inspirations and thematic meaning.

• Archival Extras - In addition to all of the new content outlined above, this disc comes armed with a full suite of archival extras as well, which were originally produced for the Platinum Series DVD back in 2000. They include:

  • Audio commentary with director Tarsem Singh

  • Audio commentary by director of photography Paul Laufer, production designer Tom Foden, makeup supervisor Michèle Burke, costume designer April Napier, visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, and composer Howard Shore

  • "Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem" featurette (11:50)

  • Deleted/extended scenes (w/optional commentary by Tarsem Singh) (20:32)

  • Multi-Angle Visual Effects Vignettes (69:04)

  • Two original theatrical trailers (3:49)

The two discs (be it the UHD reviewed here or a corresponding Blu-ray version) arrive in one of Arrow's smaller (no hardbox) Limited Editions. Retail editions will come with a slipcover featuring a new cover design by Peter Savieri, a fold-out movie poster with both the theatrical and newly-commissioned artwork, and a booklet featuring new writing by Heather Drain, Marc Edward Heuck, Josh Hurtado, and Virat Nehru. (No packaging was included with Genre Grinder's review copy, although a PDF of the booklet was sent over.)

Conclusion

In the interview, Tarsem talks about The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en as two defining examples of genre pictures that nonetheless bear the stamp of the filmmakers that made them, which elevates them above traditional "serial killer" fare. I don't know if The Cell truly transcends its station as somewhat silly genre fodder, but the world would also be a better place if more mixed-bag movies were this ambitious, this visually inventive, or featured a performance as good as D'Onofrio's. Although The Cell is a flawed and inconsistent film, it is also incredibly memorable, and Arrow's new stacked 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases are a great way to experience it. NOTE: Arrow is offering a replacement program for the American 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases of The Cell, which features a repeated POV shot of a bird flying down to pass by Lopez, standing in the desert at the 16-minute mark. Contact their customer service with the quantity of replacement discs being requested and the SKU/catalog number, as well as your delivery name, address, email address, and phone number in order to receive a replacement.

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.