The Stuff appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Though it showed its age, this became a largely positive Dolby Vision presentation.
For the most part, sharpness worked well. Some soft shots cropped up at times but the majority of the movie gave us appealing delineation.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural, and I detected no print flaws.
The palette of Stuff favored a fairly natural palette, and the 4K UHD reproduced the hues well. Its HDR added zing and punch to the colors.
Blacks seemed deep and tight, while low-light shots offered positive delineation. HDR gave whites and contrast extra impact. Nothing here made the image a showcase, but it reproduced the source well.
As for the LPCM monaural soundtrack of The Stuff, it was perfectly adequate for its era but not much better than that. Speech sounded intelligible and clear, though the lines sometimes suffered from a somewhat boxy sound.
The movie offered a perky score, and these elements came across reasonably well. While the music lacked great range, it seemed clear enough.
The effects represented the source elements in a competent manner. These elements offered reasonable accuracy without great punch. All of this was good enough for an age-adjusted “B-“.
A mix of extras appear here, and we find two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from writer/director Larry Cohen, as he offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, effects, cut footage, release and reception.
Cohen doesn’t make this the most scintillating track I’ve ever heard, so don’t expect a particularly vivid chat. Nonetheless, he covers a good array of topics and offers more than enough insights to make this worth a listen.
For the second commentary, we hear from critics David Flint and Adrian Smith. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific discussion of cast and crew as well as some production elements and their view of the film.
That latter domain works fine, as Smith and Flint bring some decent observations about Stuff as a movie. However, other parts of the track fare less well.
Some of that occurs due to repetition with notes already stated by Cohen. However, the British critics come with a bigger problem: a poor understanding of US culture.
They make weird factual misstatements like the assertion Stuff came out as President Reagan gave way to President Bush, whereas the film early in Reagan’s second term, nearly four years before Bush took over the presidency.
Other odd misunderstandings of American life and history pop up as well, and these seem so obvious that it becomes tough to swallow any other material they present as fact. When Smith and Flint stick with movie criticism, they do fine, but the rest of the track seems less useful.
As we head to video features, 42nd Street Memories provides a documentary that runs one hour, 21 minutes, five seconds. Here we find info from Cohen, distributors/producers Samuel S. Sherman and Terry Levene, historian "42nd Street Pete", adult film actor Veronica Hart, author John Skipp, magazine editor Joe Kane, filmmakers Frank Henelotter, Richard W. Haines, Joe Dante, Matt Cimber, William Lustig, Buddy Giovinazzo, Tom Holland, Lloyd Kaufman, and Greydon Clark, and actors Lynn Lowry and Debbie Rochon.
Like the title tells us, the program looks at the status of New York's 42nd Street in the 70s and 80s. Anecdotal in nature, the show offers some interesting observations.
Another documentary, Can’t Get Enough of the Stuff spans 52 minutes, nine seconds. It brings remarks from Cohen, producer Paul Kurta, mechanical makeup effects artist Steve Neill, critic Kim Newman and actor Andrew Marcovicci.
The show examines the flick's origins and development, aspects of the shoot, cast and performances, effects, the film's satire and commentary, other aspects of Cohen's career, and the movie's release/reception. "Can't" doesn't follow the most coherent path across its subjects, but it nonetheless includes useful notes most of the time.
Enough Is Enough goes for 16 minutes, 44 seconds. This one involves Cohen and Kurta.
Here we look at the movie's push to the screen, story/characters, the depiction of "the Stuff", and the movie's release. A few insights emerge but we already heard a lot of this content elsewhere.
In addition to four trailers and one TV spot, we get an Image Gallery that provides 11 photos. These feel dull and forgettable.
On a separate Blu-ray Disc, we get a pre-release version ofThe Stuff. Whereas the theatrical cut runs 1:26:30, this one lasts 1:58:49.
What does that extra 32 minutes buy us? For the most part, we get longer versions of scenes like the introduction to the Stuff as well as other expository sequences.
The “pre-release” Stuff includes more TV ads for the product and delivers them to us earlier, one choice that accentuates the film’s comedic/satirical side more than the theatrical cut does. We also see more of the romance between Mo and Nicole and additional material from Chocolate Chip Charlie as well as some minor alterations to the ending.
Does this added footage make a difference in the way the movie lands? Not really.
While the extra material does highlight the satire better, the “pre-release” Stuff can feel too long and it drags more. Both versions work about equally well, as both come with various pros and cons.
Note that the “pre-release version” of The Stuff doesn’t represent a true “director’s cut” of the film. Cohen indicates this elsewhere in this set, though he also makes it clear he remains dissatisfied with the movie that ran on screens 40 years ago. I suspect a true “Cohen Cut” would involve parts of this longer edition but not all of it.
A mix of thriller, horror and satire, The Stuff dabbles in a lot but doesn’t quite click. Though the movie keeps us moderately engaged, it never hits the mark as well as it wants. The 4K UHD boasts generally positive picture and audio as well as a slew of bonus materials. This turned into a quality release for an inconsistent movie.
