Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Warner Bros. Pictures

Video: Warner

 

Disc:

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:42:44.324 

Disc Size: 20,779,915,363 bytes

Feature Size: 20,594,067,456 bytes

Video Bitrate: 20.59 Mbps

Chapters: 31

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: July 10th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4037 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4037 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB / Dolby Surround

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), French, Spanish, none

 

Extras:

• Trailer (2:15 in 480i)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: In this 1980 sci-fi horror film, William Hurt plays Eddie Jessup, a scientist obsessed with discovering mankind's true role in the universe. To this end, he submits himself to a series of mind-expanding experiments. By enclosing himself in a sensory-deprivation chamber and taking hallucinogenic drugs, Jessup hopes to explore different levels of human consciousness, but instead is devolved into an apelike monster. Director Ken Russell helmed Altered States from a script by Paddy Chayefsky, who adapted his own novel of the same name. Unhappy with the finished product, Chayefsky had his name replaced with his pseudonym Sydney Aaron.

 

 

The Film:

Harvard professor Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) experiments with a peyote-like drug and an isolation tank. Interestingly, everyone who takes the drug experiences the same vision. Jessup theorises that this vision might be part of our collective unconscious, a sort of species memory. Intrigued by this prospect he continues his experiments, but pushes things too far, physically regressing into an ape-man and running amok.

Altered States is the sort of movie that a short plot synopsis cannot really hope to do justice to. No simple description could ever manage to convey the sheer visual assault of the film. It's a movie that has to be seen, experienced.

Excerpt from the Keith Brown of Edinburgh U Film Society located HERE

The movie itself has many of the qualities of its chief character, who is obsessive, exciting, scary, wildly energetic, and a very odd bird indeed. Actually his leanings are more to the ape-like than the birdlike, and to call them leanings is to put it very mildly. This is a movie with a hero who looks down, while taking a shower, to discover that he has grown hairy feet with thumbs on them. That's not the last of it, either.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Altered States seems to really benefit from Warner's Blu-ray transfer. The image is crisp, clean, depth is apparent and the multiple effects look more supportive and less 'goofy in 1080P.  Contrast is strong and there is no noise on the many darker sequences.  This is only single-layered but handles the colors well and provides an excellent presentation. This Blu-ray has a consistent appearance and it advances beyond the last DVD editions in several key areas - notably detail and contrast.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Audio comes in the form of a DTS-HD Master surround at 4037 kbps. This robust transfer handles the multiple effect sounds and John Corigliano's supportive score without issue. I can only suspect that this is a strong representation of the original. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

 

Extras :

Nothing but a trailer which is a shame because I think there are thing about Altered States worth discussing.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Altered States is a highly interesting film - especially on the visual-front. Russell adds his own inventive touch to the effects... and it works very well. The bare-bones Blu-ray is a good one and we can easily recommend at the reasonable price offered at Amazon.

Gary Tooze

June 23rd, 2012