The Sleekest Nightcrawler

2014's Nightcrawler is such a smart, dynamic film.  The biggest criticism I could think of if pressed is that it follows a little too closely in Taxi Driver's footsteps.  But it's definitely its own, distinct film with its own things to say.  Jake Gyllenhaal gives a career best performance as a small-time, sociopathic criminal who works his way into the local news team as a stringer or "nightcrawler."  The whole cast is fantastic really, including Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo, who made something of a comeback here, and Bill Paxton.  But they're all united in service of a fantastic script, which is even further complimented by some stylish photography and a terrific score.  It's just one of those times where everything came together perfectly, albeit to tell a very dark, cynical story.  It turns out today's economy might be best suited for a criminal sociopath.

Universal originally released Nightcrawler as a new released BD/ DVD combopack in 2015.  They reissued the blu as a separate single disc release in 2020.  And apart from similar releases in other regions, that's been the whole story with Nightcrawler on home video until now.  The film has been restored in 4k, and Shout Factory has released that in a fancy, new BD/ UHD steelbook combo.

1) 2015 Universal DVD; 2) 2015 Universal BD;
3) 2026 Shout Factory BD; 4) 2026 Shout Factory UHD.

If you're a big movie nerd (and admit, why else would you be here?), you might've asked yourself, why release this film in 4k when this film was shot in digital 2k?  Well, because most of this film, which takes place at nighttime (hence the title) was shot on digital; but the daytime stuff was actually shot on 35mm film.  So theoretically, there's room to grow.  You'll notice I picked one daylight shot and one night shot for our comparisons, although honestly, there isn't a great deal of difference.  Grain is light to the point of being barely perceptible even in the 35mm footage (my guess: reduced during the filmmakers' post-production process, and not particularly related to the home video transfers). 

Anyway, getting down to disc v disc, we see the aspect ratio shift very slightly across releases.  Universal's DVD is 2.41:1, their blu is 2.40:1 (the DVD is matted just a couple of pixels more tightly) and both of Shout's discs are 2.39:1.  The most obvious boost in resolution is between the DVD and the blus, where a lot of fuzziness gets cleared up in HD.  Between Universal's blu and Shout's discs, the biggest change is really just the colors, which are a little more subtle in the new transfer.  The UHD's increased resolution (heftily encoded on a triple-layer disc) does give more naturally rounded resolution and less pixelation when you zoom way in, but not really any additional detail in the day or night shots.

Universal gives us the original 5.1 mix, in DTS-HD on the blu, with optional English, Spanish and French subtitles.  Shout drops the foreign subs, but keeps the English ones and the DTS-HD 5.1.  They've also a 2.0 in DTS-HD, which sounds virtually the same, and a new Dolby Atmos mix, which spreads things out to 7.1; but otherwise doesn't sound particularly different.

Universal's discs aren't quite "fully loaded," but they've got some decent extras.  One in particular really: an audio commentary by writer/ director Dan Gilroy, along with producer Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy (yes, of course they're related).  It's an enthusiastic and candid track, and with the three of them, energetic and they never run low to things to discuss.  Besides that, there's an all-too brief 'making of' with cast and crew interviews, B-roll and even a chat with two real stringers who advised on the film.  But that's about it besides a whole mess of bonus trailers (over ten, easily), unfortunately excluding Nightcrawler's.  Oh, and it comes in a slipcover.

Shout's discs carry all of that over (apart from the bonus trailers) and cooks up some new stuff, too.  Chiefly, there's a new audio commentary by film historian Joe von Appen, but it turned out to be a disappointment.  He just doesn't have that much to say, which is less his fault than the studio that hired him, honestly.  Boutiques are in a rush to slap new commentaries on everything, whether one is called for or not.  What information he does provide is basically lifted from the Gilroys' commentary... and someday I really wish DVD labels would take a moment to examine the systematic failure of creating commentary tracks that source their information from other commentary tracks available on the same disc.  Then, anytime Appen did get close to a unique analysis of the film's themes, he stops himself by saying, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves" and changing the subject.  Seriously, he says this like twelve to fifteen times throughout the commentary; it's a little maddening.  On the other hand, the other new feature, a Ballyhoo interview with composer James Newton Howard, is quite good and well worth the watch.  So we do get a little rewarded, at least, for double-dipping.  Shout Factory has also recovered the film's official trailer, which is a nice touch.

So this is the new, definitive edition of the film.  But is it worth upgrading if you already own the blu?  I think it depends whether you love this film or just like it.  Because the technical upgrade is a bit thin, and the special features got a small increase.  But if Nightcrawler's one of those films you've just gotta have on UHD in the fancy new steelbook, well, it really is a worthy film.