******SPY SPOILERS!******

I’ve already taken a look at “True Lies” (and its short-lived 2023 Paramount+ reboot series) in a prior column, so I’m going to begin by reposting my earlier synopsis of the story, along with notes I made about the film then (and which I stand by now).  However, this column is not going to be a re-review of the movie. Instead, I will be taking a layman’s look at the long-awaited 30th anniversary 4K Blu-Ray release that became available on March 12th (along with the equally-anticipated 4K Blu-Ray releases of James Cameron’s 1989’s “The Abyss” and 1986’s “ALIENS”). 

Note: More on “The Abyss” 4K Blu-Ray release (a release I’ve personally looked forward to) in a future column. “ALIENS” has been previously released on Blu-Ray, and I will not be reviewing it (again) for this column. All three films have been in short supply since their 4K Blu-Ray releases, and I only received my preorder copies of them this week.

The Story

James Cameron’s “True Lies” is a remake of the 1991 French action-comedy “La Totale!” Cameron’s remake kicks the action quotient up quite a bit while remaining somewhat faithful to the overall concepts of the original. The 1994 movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Omega Sector spy Harry Tasker, and Jamie Lee Curtis as his wife, Helen, with Eliza Dushku as their teenage daughter, Dana. Harry pretends to be a boring Washington DC-based computer salesman, while his wife Helen is a truly-bored secretary. 

Harry returns from a death-defying mission to learn he’s missed his birthday party, thrown by Helen and Dana. Harry’s ‘dull’ job and routine absences drive adventure-seeking Helen to begin a clandestine relationship with sleazy Simon (Bill Paxton); a used car salesman posing as a spy to get women.  Fearing Helen might be cheating on him, Harry employs his Omega Sector teammates Al “Gib” Gibson (Tom Arnold) and Faisil (Grant Heslov) to surveil Simon—only to learn Simon’s a harmless poser.  After a phony sting operation designed to out and humiliate Simon, Harry anonymously interrogates Helen through a one-way mirror in order to learn the truth.  Satisfied she’s being honest about her fidelity, Harry and Gib then give Helen an ‘assignment’ to seduce an arms dealer (Harry, posing in silhouette). 

Real-life Middle East terrorists then crash the scene and kidnap the Taskers, whisking them off to the Florida Keys, where they reveal a stolen Russian nuclear warhead set to go off in a matter of hours. With Harry coming clean to her, Helen finds herself unexpectedly drafted by Omega Sector. Under a shower of gunfire, she and Harry forcibly escape the island—which goes up in a mushroom cloud—only to learn afterward that surviving terrorists have kidnapped Dana. The climax sees Harry rescuing his daughter in a Harrier jet while killing the last remaining jihadists.  A coda sees Harry and Helen locating and confronting the cowardly Simon, who’s still posing as a spy—before he wets his pants and runs away.

Note: The James Cameron-directed movie (which he also wrote the adapted screenplay for) gives Schwarzenegger a more debonair role, while catapulting horror/comedy veteran costar Jamie Lee Curtis into the realm of big budget action movies, in which she excels; delivering one of her most memorable roles. Comedian actor/writer Tom Arnold also delivers as Albert Gibson, Schwarzenegger’s wiseass sidekick.  Even today, the action sequences are still spectacular; produced on the cusp between the optical and digital FX ages, harnessing the best of both. However, the movie’s repeated depictions of most non-caucasian foreigners as automatically evil sours the film, particularly in light of post 9/11 Islamophobia. This pernicious racism of the film—something not really present in the French original—casts an unfortunate shadow over this otherwise dynamic, exciting and even romantic action-comedy.

Moving on…

The 4K-Blu-Ray

While waiting for my copy of the 4K Blu-Ray of “The Abyss” to come in (Amazon says this week), my preorder of the “True Lies” 4K BR beat it to the finish line, courtesy of my local Barnes & Noble retailer.  Having picked the disc up Monday morning, I sat down to watch to watch it only last night.  

For full disclosure, my Epson laser HD digital projector is not native 4K, but it does support 4K. However, I don’t have a 4K Blu-Ray player. Given that it’d make no difference with my system, I watched the optional Blu-Ray of the film, instead.  Struck from the exact same transfer as the 4K disc, I immediately noticed digital flaws with the image (on my nearly7 ft/2 meter screen) that were downright glaring at times.

While “True Lies” (and “The Abyss”) had been on Blu-Ray/4K wishlists for years (since their late 1990s DVDs), I have to admit; the new “True Lies” 4KBR is disappointing.  Early on, during the Lake Chapeau prologue sequence, I immediately noticed that the blue exterior hues and warmer interiors were more nicely color balanced, but there was also something kinda wrong with the actors’ faces.

This all-new 4K transfer was supposedly overseen by James Cameron himself, and it is much improved in some respects; namely sound clarity and overall resolution. But it’s also smothered in AI-driven Digital Noise Reduction (DNR), giving some of the actors’ faces a waxy, ‘uncanny valley’ effect that is very distracting at times.  Having used AI myself to occasionally ‘fix’ small or grainy images for this column, I’ve come to recognize a few telltale signs of an AI-augmented image; the waxy skin textures, hand-drawn looking hair, and overly-shadowed facial contouring that looks almost cartoonish at times, like a 2000s Pixar movie.

While this super-smooth DNR is not a consistent problem throughout the movie, it’s bothersome enough when it appears, and it’s always noticeable.  That said, there are some closeups in the movie that look really good, even if there is a distinct lack of film grain throughout the remaster. Personally, I think film grain gives a movie image added texture and warmth, but maybe that’s just me…?

On the plus side, the aforementioned sound on the new 4K-BR was much more clear and natural on my Yamaha sound system, with appropriate oomph.  Also liked the new color balance, which is less garish with the extreme warm and cool tones than we saw in the 1999 DVD (more on that one below).  In most scenes, there’s considerably more detail than was ever visible before. For that alone, this 4K remaster is an eye-opener.  However, the AI-augmented DNR is a real sticking point, that might (understandably) send fellow image quality-nitpickers like myself reaching for their meds.

From what I’ve read, Cameron has gone kinda nuts with this new AI-DNR process, and he’s reportedly used it to lesser degrees with the 4K remasters of “The Abyss” and “ALIENS” as well, and I plan to review “The Abyss” 4K-BR for myself as soon as possible (after this weekend’s WonderCon convention). What bugs me is that this 4K edition was supposed to be a definitive edition of “True Lies,” (arriving on its 30th anniversary, no less) and with director James Cameron too busy making “Avatar” sequels that no one asked for, this is probably as good as this movie will ever look, especially in an ever-dwindling physical media market. 

The 1999 DVD vs. the 2024 Blu-Ray/4K

Many years ago, I shelled out a whopping $5 for a barebones DVD copy of “True Lies” that was pressed in 1999, and before that, I owned the movie on a gorgeous-transfer 1995 laserdisc (which was actually better looking than the DVD). 

For this review, I decided to have to give this new 4K transfer a bit of perspective by playing it back-to-back with my now 25-year old DVD, which was a non-anamorphic, 4:3 letterboxed transfer.  My Sony Blu-Ray player features digital upscaling, and it automatically blows up most letterboxed images to fit within a 16:9 screen, leaving the movie at roughly half of its native 480p resolution; this is especially noticeable when played on a 2-meter projection screen. 

Overall, the DVD looked surprisingly respectable, even if it only has a fraction of the 4K’s resolution. In medium shots, the DVD’s lack of resolution almost made those scenes resemble thumbnail images of the movie, and the color was sometimes garish and unnatural (with skin tones that sometimes resembled boiled hotdogs). The THX DVD sound quality (revolutionary in 1999) was a bit flat compared to the 4K BR’s more natural sound mix, but it’s still quite decent. 

In the DVD’s closeups, I was impressed by the detail I could still make out in the actor’s faces, and with none of that distracting DNR effect, either.  It was also nice to see a bit of film grain (more like video noise perhaps, but no matter), as well as a few flecks, and other filmic imperfections that made the DVD feel more like it came from an actual 35mm print, and not an overly augmented video.

While the 4K BR benefits (or suffers) from 25 years of ever-advancing video technology, the scrappy DVD isn’t exactly the worst thing I’ve ever seen.  Unless a truly definitive edition of the film comes out, film grain and all, I’m holding onto both copies. 

To Buy Or Not to Buy?

That is the question, isn’t it?  Since this 4K BR is likely the final word on “True Lies” for the foreseeable future, I would advise hardcore fans to pick up a copy (prices vary by seller). There are aspects to the new transfer, such as image resolution and color balance, that look terrific, despite the overuse of AI DNR.  There are also some great bonus features, including a 49-minute retrospective documentary called “Fear Is Not An Option,” along with scripts, storyboards, and all kinds of other unseen bonus content never previously available for this title.  That said, I wouldn’t use the old 1999 DVD for a drink coaster just yet, either.  At least the old transfer still looks like it came from actual film stock, despite its much-reduced resolution on larger screens. Unfortunately, the 4K remastered edition is flawed in its own ways, too. 

Such a shame; this new 4K remaster could’ve and should’ve been the definitive version of this movie.