Memento (Limited Edition) (Blu-ray SteelBook Review)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Before he gave us last year’s cerebral, thought-provoking thriller, Inception, even before directing other fantastic films like The Dark Knight or The Prestige, writer/director Christopher Nolan gave us 2000’s brain-exercise of a film, Memento.

A thoroughly unique experiment in filmmaking, Memento is a suspenseful thriller about a man, Leonard (Guy Pearce; The Hurt Locker), with a rare brain disorder that leaves him with no short-term memory, unable to form new memories. The last thing he can remember is his wife being raped and murdered. With his mind on revenge, Leonard sets out to find someone called “John G.,” who he believes is his wife’s killer. But without his short-term memory, Leonard is trapped in a world where he can’t remember anyone or anything beyond ten-minutes, and he becomes distrustful, paranoid, and even guilty without knowing why. He must use tattoos, Polaroids, and notes to himself to remember where he is, who he knows, and who he can trust.

To bring us into Leonard’s world, Nolan uses the interesting device of starting the film at the end and moving backwards in time through a series of almost stop-and-go, flashback-like events. In other words, the film doesn’t just move backwards, but it moves simultaneously forwards and backwards. Nolan proved his mastery of handling nonlinear storytelling of the kind he would once again employ to a lesser extent in The Prestige and fully in Inception.

The Video

There is no indication from 101 Films that this new Blu-ray steelbook release of Memento is a new restoration. Upon viewing, it appears to be from the same director-approved transfer that was used on the 10^th Anniversary Blu-ray release in the US from Lionsgate. It features an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement of the film’s 2.35:1 framing. The transfer still holds up very well, with textured detail, just the right amount of fine film grain, deep black levels and extended shadow details. The midtones are nicely saturated and warm and white levels are strong without clipping. Some minute specks and sparkle crop in from time to time, but nothing that brings down the overall clarity of the image.

The Audio

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is dynamic and atmospheric. The surround channels are used to good effect for ambience, atmospherics, and discrete sounds effects, dialogue is clean in the center channel, and there is a wide stereo spread across the front. Lows are tight and deep, but not necessarily resounding.

The Supplements

101 Films gives this Memento release premium packaging with a steelbook case and rigid box packaging. There are two booklets with writing on the film and Jonathan Nolan’s short story.

Limited Edition contents:

• SteelBook®
• Rigid box packaging
• Booklet one: Remembrance of things past: time and memory in Christopher Nolan’s Memento by James Mottram
• Booklet two: Jonathan Nolan’s Memento Mori short story
• Replica Polaroid art cards, printed notes and beer mat enclosed in Leonard’s folder
• Bonus second disc featuring the chronological edit (SD)

On Disc Bonus Features:

• Keepsake – Director Christopher Nolan on Memento (1080p; 00:19:37)
• Memories – Producer Emma Thomas on Memento (1080p; 00:16:36)
• A Leap into the Unknown – Producer Aaron Ryder on Memento (1080p; 00:24:26)
• Memento Mori an Interview with Writer Jonathan Nolan (1080p; 00:34:45)
• Remember – Actor Carrie-Anne Moss on Memento (1080p; 00:18:34)
• Musical Memories – Composer David Julyan on Memento (1080p; 00:17:58)
• Commentary with Film Critics James Mottram and Sean Hogan
• Director’s Commentary

The Final Assessment

What I once wrote was thinking man’s thriller is still such with the twisting narrative and cerebral explorations of memory, reality, and death. The 101 Films release makes this already great film even more collectible with its packaging and included contents and bonus features.

Memento (Limited Edition) is out on Blu-ray SteelBook in the UK October 16, 2023 from 101 Films.

• Rating Certificate: R (for violence, language and some drug content)
• Studios & Distributors: Newmarket Capital Group | Team Todd | I Remember Productions | Summit Entertainment | Newmarket Films | 101 Films
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Written By: Christopher Nolan | Jonathan Nolan
• Run Time: 113 Mins.
• Street Date: 16 October 2023
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Video Format: AVC 1080p
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Subtitles: English HOH