Drugstore Cowboy (Criterion Collection) 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Drugstore Cowboy is a 1989 dark comedy-crime drama directed by Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting), the director’s second feature film. Based on an autobiographical novel by James Fogle, it follows a drug addict named Bob (Matt Dillon) in 1971 Portland, Oregon, and his wife Diane (Kelly Lynch), who lead a crew of “junkies” who rob pharmacies looking for drugs and live in various seedy houses and motels. With a cop, Gentry (James Remar) on their tail, the crew quickly realize how difficult it is outrun not just the law, but fate. The film also stars a young Heather Graham as a member of Bob’s crew and features William S. Burroughs as an old recovering drug addict.

Van Sant’s wry look at the underbelly of the Pacific Northwest and the gritty side of drug use was at the time misunderstood by many as glorifying drug addiction and crime, seen as making it look glamorous. Anyone who truly watches this film and sees the situations Bob and his crew go through cannot honestly reach that conclusion. Cinematographer Robert Yeoman and Van Sant combine a mixture of documentary style filmmaking with handheld, home movie style footage for a realistic feel, and he also includes some surreal visual effects, such as when Bob shoots up and the pills and bottles float in the air during a crossfade.

The 1989 indie was one of the standouts of the late 80s and early 90s era that helped to herald the boom in indie filmmaking in the upcoming decade and it continues to grow in stature as an underground favorite and one of Van Sant’s best pieces of work.

The Video

This 4K restoration of Drugstore Cowboy was overseen by director Gus Van Sant and director of photography Robert Yeoman, taken from a 4K scan of a 35mm interpositive.  The film is presented in a 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) SDR encodement. This is a film that has always looked a bit gritty and coming from an interpositive the graininess is heightened even more, but this has been cleaned up very well, especially in comparison to my old Artisan DVD copy. The scratches and sparkle are gone, and the grain structure looks natural. Color grading looks similar to the Artisan DVD, but flesh tones are now more natural with less red push. This is obviously a film that would look great if scanned from the original camera negative and graded in Dolby Vision.

The Audio

The original stereo mix for Drugstore Cowboy was remastered from a 35mm magnetic track. It is included here in LPCM 2.0. The sound is clean and punchy with no issues concerning clipping or noise.

The Supplements

Criterion Collection does not include too much in the way of new material with this release. There are two new interviews, one with Kelly Lynch and one with Robert Yeoman, but everything else is older material, including the 2001 audio commentary with Van Sant and Dillon.

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentary by director Gus Van Sant and actor Matt Dillon, recorded in 2001.
• The Making of “Drugstore Cowboy” (1080i; 00:27:52) – This 1999 documentary – shot by John J. Campbell during production in Portland, Oregon – features interviews with director Gus Van Sant, actors Matt Dillon and William S. Burroughs and other members of the cast and crew.
• Kelly Lynch (1080p; 00:20:50) – In this interview, conducted by the Criterion Collection in 2024, actor Kelly Lynch talks about playing the role of Dianne in Drugstore Cowboy and her real-life experiences with addiction.
• Robert Yeoman (1080p; 00:18:44) – In this interview, conducted by the Criterion Collection in 2024, cinematographer Robert Yeoman talks about shooting Drugstore Cowboy.
• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 00:51:33)
• Trailer (1080p; 00:01:35)
• Essay by author and screenwriter Jon Raymond

The Final Assessment

This is a solid release from Criterion Collection and a long overdue release on Blu-ray and 4K in the United States. There is a 2024 Blu-ray release in Australia from Imprint, but I have not had the pleasure of viewing that, so I cannot comment on how it looks in comparison to the old Artisan DVD or to this release. This release, however, even coming only from an interpositive, is recommended.

Drugstore Cowboy (Criterion Collection) is out on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray February 18, 2025

• Rating Certificate: R
• Studios & Distributors: Avenue Pictures | Criterion Collection
• Director: Gus Van Sant
• Written By: Gus Van Sant | Daniel Yost | James Fogle (novel)
• Run Time: 102 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: SDR
• Primary Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH
• Street Date: 18 February 2025