Lifeforce Blu-ray delivers stunning video and reference-quality audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.
For more about Lifeforce and the Lifeforce Blu-ray release, see Lifeforce Blu-ray Review published by Dr. Stephen Larson on June 23, 2019 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
After he enjoyed considerable critical accolades and substantial box-office success with Poltergeist (1982), Tobe Hooper became an in-demand, bankable director. He received several offers from various studios before deciding to adapt Colin Wilson's 1976 novel, The Space Vampires, three years later. Equipped with a $25 million budget courtesy of Golan-Globus Productions, everything seemed to be go according to plan for Hooper's sci-fi/horror space opus. "This is my 'Ben Hur' of the genre," Hooper told Asbury Park (NJ) Press correspondent Nancy Mills in 1985. However, when producers Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan screened a rough cut of Lifetime, they thought deletions were needed to tighten up the pace. They also wanted a darker and scarier musical score. They trimmed the film by at least fifteen minutes and brought in composer Michael Kamen to both overlay and replace parts of Henry Mancini's classical score with a more pop-sounding vibe that added synths and other electronic sounds.
The is the second US Blu-ray release of Lifetime to go along with multiple editions available in Europe and Japan. Shout! Factory's SteelBook boasts cool artwork by Laz Marquez depicting the Space Girl sucking electromagnetic energy out of one of her first victims. This is a two-disc set comprising new 4K scans of the original film elements contained in the truncated Theatrical Cut and the longer Director's Cut (aka the Extended Version), which was first released on DVD by MGM in 1998. Each transfer derives from a separate master. It's important to note that the TC was previously issued using the archaic MPEG-2 encode. My BDInfo scans reveal that Shout! has employed the MPEG-4 codec for the transfer of the TC on this SB set. Presented in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of 2.35:1, the new scans look darker with better density and gradience than the transfers done six years ago. The lighting is generally toned down. As one critic put it back in 1985, "There is a fast, dimly lit desperation embracing everything in Lifeforce." Skin tones also look more natural and less pasty. The low-level noise on the prior transfers has been removed. The framing is tighter on the 4K with a tad more information all the way around the frame on the '13 transfers. I wouldn't call the very slight cropping/zoom-in overly significant, though.
On the Director's Cut, Shout! has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2212 kbps, 24-bit) and the original Dolby Stereo 2.0, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2038 kbps, 24-bit). For the theatrical version, we also get a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (1991 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (2024 kbps, 24-bit). Patrick Taggart, then a film critic for the Austin (TX) American-Statesman, was blown over by the stereo's decibel levels when he saw Lifeforce in a theater back in June 1985: "It might be helpful to take earplugs to the theater if you plan to see Lifeforce. Austinite Tobe Hooper's new film is without doubt the noisiest film of a high decibel season....Sound levels seem to have been boosted during the many scenes of destruction." I had a similar experience with the lossless sound tracks on these discs. The scene during the first reel in the US/UK spacecraft has more of a "Hi-Fi Stereo" kind of sound, though, which is typical of Dolby mixes in Eighties films. Henry Mancini's rich, orchestral score is heavy on strings and brass. It ranks high along with other sci-fi/horror classics written by John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith during the same era. It sounds absolutely spectacular on the ucompressed 5.1 remixes. Mancini employed the 100-piece London Symphony Orchestra, which performed magnificently. Music has tremendous resonance and directionality, bouncing off the satellite speakers with wonderful dynamic range. I also like Michael Kamen's score, which has more dissonant notes. Kamen alternates using piano and keyboard. Whereas Mancini wrote mostly all tonal beats, Kamen's chords don't resolve themselves to consonant notes.
I have mixed feelings on the pros and cons of the Theatrical Cut and Director's Cut. While it is great to have the excised footage added in for the latter, I prefer the pacing of the original release version and feel it moves better. Because I've seen numerous films of its ilk, I'm able to understand the plot points better than a lay viewer. On the other hand, while I appreciate Kamen's additional music, the continuity of Mancini's score is ruptured on the alterations in the TC. Peter Firth is one of my favorite British actors but I thought his Col. Colin Caine should have been introduced earlier. The prosthetic and makeup effects team did an incredible job and their efforts have held up well. If you own Shout!'s 2013 CE, I would upgrade to this SteelBook. The transfer exhibits superior black levels and has less video noise. I was even more impressed with the range of the lossless audio. Arrow Films UK has recently released its own 4K restored transfers and the material I've obtained on them is the color temperatures vary from what's represented here. This SB is limited to 10,000 units so get them while they last! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to fans of Hooper.
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Shout Factory has dated its upcoming 4K Blu-ray release of Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985), starring Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, and Patrick Stewart. The release will be available for purchase on May 24.
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