Lost Highway [DVD] [1997]

Bill Pullman stars as Fred Madison, a man with a marriage that is falling apart and a crumbling psychological state. Convicted of the murder of his wife (Patricia Arquette), he is put on deathrow, where he goes through the most uncanny transformation...

Much has been said before about the impenetrable nature of Lost Highway's story. And while it is not an easy film at times, there is a strong narrative which makes sense if you engage with it. However even if you don't fully 'get' it, Lost Highway is still so rich. One of the few films I can think of which is actually just as enjoyable if you don't know what's going on. The tone achieved by Lynch in the opening 40 minutes is awesome and remains just about the best sequence in cinema of recent times.

This is a film where all the elements are alive for the viewer. The sound design is meticulously thoughtout to help build the mood and every single shot is just gorgeously framed. The three leads are terrific, and rewatching this edition I continue to be surprised that Balthazaar Getty hasn't broken through since.

But how does this edition compare to the one before it? Very well. The picture has been cleaned up quite a bit (the deep blacks of the opening credits made me wonder exactly what ratio the film was in for a moment). This being a David Lynch DVD the extras aren't exactly overflowing, but the second disc has some nice interview segments and is in keeping with the level of depth Lynch fan's will have come to expect from other recent special editions.

Lost Highway. A modern classic. Definitely worth your attention.

Just watched this new edition, released in UK 6 Feb 2006, last night on 80" screen. Looks and sounds fantastic!

No cigarette burns (as per old R2 & R4) or any film blemishes or artifacts at all. Anamorphic 2.35:1.
Daylight scenes looks fabulous, but in some of the darker scenes (mainly in their house) there is some grain but not distractingly so.
The DTS is very good, extremely wide ranging and very deep when it needs to be - gave my M&K 350 sub a good workout.
Marilyn Manson & Rammstein sounded excellent as well as Angelo Badalamenti's score.
No sync problems ala the German version.
The menu's are moving and very "David Lynch" and include a 'who's who' which when you select a character name it plays a small clip of them from the film.

The second disc totals 90+mins and has 2 interviews with David Lynch 2005 & 1996, and 1996 on set interviews with Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Robert Loggia.
A modern making of, a 1996 featurette (which features the rest of the 1996 David Lynch interview)the teaser trailer and the October Film Distributers Theatrical trailer (which seems slightly out of focus?)

It comes in a digipak with a clear slipcase which has the writing on it (ala the first R1 version of SAW) and is even reversible!!!

But one thing is for sure, whether it is about reincarnation, mistaken identity, parallel lives, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it is certainly a tour de force on the senses. With the exception of a very eerie scene at a party, not much happens in the first half, and it is not until the arrival of Balthazar Getty that anything really starts to happen. But you have to keep watching none the less. Lynch employs some unusual and out of character camera effects that cast a strange atmosphere over everything, and as for the score, well Angelo comes up trumps again.

What ever you do though, don't put it on if you are feeling sleepy. It is so dark and brooding that you will be in the land of nod in no time at all.

As far as content on the DVD goes it is pretty shocking... not even a trailer, but perhaps the film would be ruined if you did know what was going on, so the absence of a "making of" featurette is welcomed. A commentary would have been nice but I suspect it would have been mostly silence.