Experience Matinee (1993) in Stunning 4K UHD – A Charming Family Comedy

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Writer/director Joe Dante (Innerspace, Gremlins) crafted this love story to the B-movie horror films that informed his youth, and his art. Matinee spins a tale of a film-within-a-film, set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fifteen-year-old Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) is a superfan of the B-movie horror schlock produced by Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), and is excited to see Woolsey’s latest atomic, red scare horror, Mant!. It will be an even more special event given Woolsey will be coming into Gene’s small Key West town for a personal appearance to premiere the film and unveil his new interactive theater experience that will involve rumbling seats and more. But real tensions rise as the Soviets send atomic missiles to Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.

Dante’s film will be a nostalgic thrill for anyone old enough to remember the era and the crisis it portrays, and for anyone who grew up going to the matinee to take in the latest sci-fi/horror films from the Cold War era, usually a selection of creature features and B-movie westerns.  The seamless integration of the Woolsey film Mant! with the “real world” events is an achievement and the subplot of childhood crush between Gene and young Sandra (Lisa Jakub) adds a lot of charm to Matinee. John Goodman is also excellent in his role as the showman-cum-conman putting it all on the line for a buck and to entertain at all costs.

Purchase Matinee 4K Ultra HD Combo on Amazon.com

The Video

Matinee is taken from a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative supervised by director Joe Dante. The film is presented in a 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. It is a very natural and pleasing transfer with a good layer of grain and fine detail. The film varies between black-and-white for the film within a film sequences and color, and both look excellent. The black and white sequences have a heightened level of grain in some instances as they are meant to be a projection of another film. The colors take on a vibrant but somewhat unrealistic tone to capture the feeling of being in the past. Dolby Vision provides good pop, especially on the “Atomovision” theater effects.

The Audio

At first it seemed an odd choice to have Matinee remixed into Atmos, but once the Mant! sequences started up, it all made sense. The sound effects for that horror film in the theater explode in the speakers and have good height awareness and low and boom, while for the rest of the film the score from Jerry Goldsmith gets a good bit of atmospherics and some height to it.

The Supplements

This Shout Select release of Matinee comes with an excellent selection of bonus features including an audio commentary and numerous interviews with the cast and crew.

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by Drew McWeeny and Eric Vespe

Blu-ray Only Bonus Features:

• Florida Daydream: Interview with Actress Kellie Martin (1080p; 00:10:39)
• Cold War Thing: Interview with Actor David Clennon (1080p; 00:13:14)
• Master of the Matinee: Interview with Director Joe Dante (1080p; 00:20:28)
• The Leading Lady: An Interview with Actress Cathy Moriarty (1080p; 00:12:01)
• MANTastic: The Making of a Mant (1080p; 00:25:11)
• Out of the Bunker: An Interview with Actress Lisa Jakub (1080p; 00:16:16)
• Making a Monster Theatre: An interview with Production Designer Steven Legler (1080p; 00:15:33)
• The Monster Mix: An Interview with Editor Marshall Harvey (1080p; 00:11:37)
• Lights! Camera! Reunion!: An interview with Director of Photography John Hora (1080p; 00:21:12)
• Paranoia in Ant Vision: Joe Dante Discusses the Making of the Film (1080p; 00:32:36)
• Vintage Making of Featurette (1080p; 00:04:27)
• Behind the Scenes Footage (1080p; 00:08:20)
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p; 00:02:21)
• Still Gallery (1080p; 00:04:03)

The Final Assessment

Matinee is a film that flew under my radar, but having finally seen it, I found it to be a charming comedy that is wholesome fun for the family. It looks great, sounds great, and is another entry from Shout! Studios’ Shout Select imprint well worth adding to your collection.

Matinee is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo June 25, 2024 from Shout! Studios

Purchase Matinee 4K Ultra HD Combo on Amazon.com

• Rating Certificate: PG (for language, and for mild violence and sensuality)
• Studios & Distributors: Universal Pictures | Renfield Productions | Falcon Productions | Shout! Studios
• Director: Joe Dante
• Written By: Charles S. Haas | Jerico Stone
• Run Time: 99 Mins.
• Street Date: 25 June 2024
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 917 nits
  • MaxFALL: 558 nits
  • Max. Luminance: 1000 nits
  • Min. Luminance: 0.0001 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 | English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: English SDH