Plot: What’s it about?
Generally when I do reviews of movies that have gotten a 4K upgrade, I just take what I’d written for the Blu-ray and port it over. I think we can all agree that Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film Contagion is one that merits a second look. I’d say something along the lines of “No one could have predicted what would happen…” but, well, if you watch the supplements for the movie – it was predicted. It was always a matter of when and not if. Seeing people in masks, losing loved ones and hearing phrases like “Social Distancing” became the norm. It was, and as of this writing, still is a very scary (and changed) world. And, when you think about it, there’s not a lot that can be done if an airborne illness will kill one in every 12 people on the face of the planet. With air travel, things aren’t localized the way they were back in the days of, say, The Black Plague. Things can travel and spread. Well, think of it another way. Let’s say a friend forwards you a video on Facebook. Let’s say you share that video with five of your friends, and they with five of theirs. This is what’s called going “viral.” Get the picture? While movies like this are fiction, they’re based on real-life events. We know this all too well and as they say in the film “…all it took was for the right bat to meet up with the right pig.”
Mitch (Matt Damon) is expecting his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) back from a business trip. She’s arranged a stopover in Chicago to meet up with an old flame, but by the time she gets home she’s deathly ill. There are others all around the world that are experiencing similar problems. Before long the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is involved and actively looking for a cure to this nameless, faceless epidemic. Experts are brought in and taking the lead is Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne). He, along with a group of other doctors are actively looking for a cure while at the same time trying to remain unaffected themselves. As the days pass, paranoia rises. Streets vacate. Mob mentality starts to take over. Blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) proposes a holistic cure on the internet, while at the same time becoming rich. Will this be another pandemic or will the CDC manage to synthesize a cure in time to save humanity?
It’s scary how accurately this was depicted. It’s almost as if the powers that be used this movie as a script for what would happen with the Covid pandemic. Likely there isn’t a soul reading this who hasn’t or wasn’t impacted by the pandemic. And though the events of the movie are a bit more compact, the basic elements of things are right there. Steven Soderbergh has not only assembled a top-notch cast, but also had the ability to eerily and accurately predict what would happen if/when this were to happen. Yes, some of the elements are fictionalized, but the general them is intact. For those that saw this when it first came out, it’ll hit a lot differently now than it did in 2011. In this case, life imitated art – and that’s not a good thing.
Video: How does it look?
I remember being very impressed at how good the Blu-ray looked when it came out. Flash forward just over a decade and we’ve now got this in 4K. Warner’s transfer is, simply put, fantastic. If there was a bit of grain or any error in the transfer then I missed it. Soderbergh’s use of shallow and deep focus gives many of the scenes a very interesting and unique look. And, much like Traffic the different storylines seem to implore a different color palette for each. Detail is impressive, with grey hairs on Matt Damon and imperfections on Gwyneth Paltrow’s skin being immediately noticeable. Visually-speaking, this is amazing from beginning to end.
Audio: How does it sound?
Unfortunately we don’t get a new Dolby Atmos track, rather the DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack from the Blu-ray is what we’ve got here. It took me a few minutes to really discover what was missing and then it hit me…a score! Ok, there is a bit of a score but most of the scenes are entirely dialogue-driven. That said, the audio quality doesn’t lend itself to a bad soundtrack. Vocals are deep and rich and penetrate the room with ease. Surrounds are used, but sparingly, the movie itself carries the action rather than the music being a collaborator.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Contagion: How A Virus Changes The World – There’s a bit of a lighthearted tone with this one, but what was once slightly amusing now seems a whole lot different.
- The Reality of Contagion – I remember watching this supplement when I was reviewing the Blu-ray and being somewhat frightened of “what could happen.” As we all know, this spells out what would (and did) and the virus did, in fact, change the world.
- The Contagion Detectives – We know that there are no shortage of “disease experts” out there and we get a slew of them all chiming in on what can happen.
The Bottom Line
Movies like this are hard to shake off. And this film eerily predicted what we’d all come to know as Covid-19. Warner’s new disc brings the image quality up, though the audio and supplements are the same as the original Blu-ray. If you feel the need to have this in 4K and image quality is your thing – look no further.
