1980s Sci-Fi Thriller Being Saved And We Can’t Wait
leviathan
Everyone has been talking about the 4K release of James Cameron’s The Abyss, but what about the other 1989 film full of undersea thrills and alien dangers? We’re talking, of course, of the perennially overlooked Leviathan. Thankfully, the underrated sci-fi thriller is also getting a new 4K release, so now it can scare the pants off a new generation of viewers in ultra-high definition!
Peter Weller And Ernie Hudson Star In Leviathan
Leviathan stars RoboCop himself, Peter Weller, and Ernie Hudson, who trades in his proton pack for an oxygen tank. The movie’s biggest star, however, is the creature effects produced by makeup and SFX legend Stan Winston. If you’re unfamiliar with Winston’s work, he designed The Terminator‘s signature endoskeleton look, as well as the Predator suit from Predator and a slew of other creatures and sci-fi antagonists from your favorite ’80s and ’90s films.
The Sea Monster
For Leviathan, Winston pulled out all the stops and created a mutated sea monster that’s absolutely horrifying. The creature results from unethical genetic experiments conducted by Russians on an unwitting crew. Acting slightly like the alien in The Thing, the creature changes shape occasionally before evolving into a cross between a human and a sea lamprey with some octopus DNA thrown in.
Now thanks to Kino Lorber, Stan Winston’s undersea abomination can be seen in 4K. The company is expected to release the 4K UHD Blu-ray of Leviathan sometime in early 2024. The Blu-ray will feature a brand new HDR/Dolby Vision Master of the movie as well as new audio commentary and more.
The Abyss Released The Same Year
Leviathan was directed by George P. Cosmatos, who also helmed one of the ’90s’ best westerns, Tombstone. The film was overshadowed by two other aquatic sci-fi thrillers released in 1989, The Abyss and the also largely forgotten DeepStar Six. It’s quite possible that Leviathan and DeepStar Six are like a positive and a negative in the pop culture landscape, canceling each other out in the minds of people old enough to actually remember the two films’ releases and leaving The Abyss to get all the nostalgia.Or it could be that The Abyss is simply a better movie than the one some critics considered nothing but an aquatic ripoff of Alien and The Thing.
The Importance Of Physical Media
Either way, the Stan Winston effects alone make Leviathan worthy of preservation, something that is now possible with the upcoming 4K release. With physical media rapidly falling out of favor with consumers who prefer the convenience of streaming, it’s important for movies like Leviathan to get physical releases of the highest quality to preserve them for future generations. Prior to Kino Lorber’s upcoming 4K release, the best way to watch Leviathan was on a standard Blu-ray released in 2014.
When Does The 4K Edition Release?
Given that home media has gained quite a bit of fidelity in the ten years since that release, it only makes sense for a 4K version of Leviathan to exist. Kino Lorber is coincidentally the company behind the standard Blu-ray release of rival water-horror film DeepStar Six as well. If the 4K release of Leviathan does well, can a UHD transfer of DeepStar Six be far behind? Expect Leviathan’s 4K release sometime in the beginning of 2024.Source: Kino Lorber
