I often wonder what criteria Kino Lorber uses when they choose movies to remaster in 4K for sale. It would make sense to choose beloved classics that will certainly attract plenty of sales. Or perhaps they choose movies that have a cult-like following. Of course, remastering movies that will bring generations of families together is generally a safe bet. So one has to wonder why they chose a 1999 film based on a novel that was critically panned upon release. Nonetheless, The Bone Collector, starring Denzel Washington (Training Day) and Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted), has been remastered and is available for purchase this month.
Police detective and author Lincoln Rhymes (Washington) is a quadriplegic who helps the department solve crimes. When a body is staged with clues left behind and the victim's wife is missing, his colleagues bring the evidence collected at the crime scene to him. Impressed by the thoroughness of the collection, Rhymes asks that the beat officer be brought to meet him. When Amelia Donaghy (Jolie) arrives, he insists they work the case together, but she isn't interested. He eventually persuades her, and she becomes his eyes at the crime scenes for a case that eventually becomes the work of a serial killer.
With evidence found with the dead body, the team realizes the missing woman is underground in a steam vent. Unfortunately, they are too late to save her, but the killer has left additional clues. Next is a young man who gets into a cab after a night of partying, but his girlfriend sees him being beaten by the cab driver when he tries to escape. Rhymes and Donaghy work the clues and realize he is probably at an old slaughterhouse. Once again, they arrive too late. Finally, an old man and his granddaughter are taken from the airport, and the police find them in time to save the girl. As Donaghy follows another clue, she realizes the killer is after Rhymes.
Washington and Jolie lead an all-star cast that includes Queen Latifah (Hairspray), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), Ed O'Neill (Modern Family), and Luis Guzmán (Punch-Drunk Love). The cast work well together, and Latifah is a standout, but the powers that be decided that Rhymes and Donaghy should flirt made a big mistake. Those moments are awkward, and Washington and Jolie don't have enough sexual tension between them to make that scenario believable.
The 4K remaster is presented in Dolby Vision with 2160 resolution and a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The scenes are very clean; it is evident that some work and time went into making the film look as good as possible. Details are sharp and lines are clean, which is all you can ask from a 26-year-old movie.
The Bone Collector is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and sounds relatively good for the most part. Dialogue seems a little soft at times, but the ambient noise seems layered and busy. The extras leave something to be desired with three separate commentaries, a previously released, 20-minute "spotlight on location," and the theatrical trailer.
The Bone Collector eventually tripled its original budget at the box office, making it a successful film in the eyes of the studio, but critics didn't like the movie. The Cast was great, but the screenplay wasn't, and didn't seem to really utilize the very talented cast. The ending was also not that great, again with the screenwriting to blame - though the movie seemed to follow the source material closely.
The movie itself was somewhat hit or miss, especially where the ending was concerned, but overall it wasn't a terrible film. I felt it held my interest and kept me guessing until the point of revealing the killer's identity.
Grade: B-
