{"id":32411,"date":"2025-11-10T16:49:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32411"},"modified":"2025-11-10T16:49:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:49:17","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-the-mask-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32411","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: THE MASK (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow\nVideo will be released on November 11th (a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is also\navailable for purchase).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s hard for some to believe (myself included) that it has now been over 30 years since the release of The Mask<\/em>. For those who weren\u2019t around then, the movie studio landscape was much different. The big studios like Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th<\/sup> Century Fox and Disney (or Buena Vista) were at the top of the chain and usually made the biggest and most profitable pictures. But, as the 1990s began, smaller outfits like Miramax and New Line Cinema (known mostly for horror films) were making inroads. For those who don’t already know, New Line Cinema would become big enough to be acquired by Warner Bros. and become one of their film divisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The summer of 1994 offers a number of projects budgeted between $50 million and $100 million, including Maverick, True Lies, Clear and Present Danger<\/em>, and Forrest Gump<\/em>. But, one of the titles that made the biggest splashes was the $18 million dollar effort The Mask<\/em> from New Line Cinema, based on a comic book and starring a hot new performer named Jim Carrey. He had just come off of his first starring role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective<\/em>, and his popularity was about to explode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrow Video is delivering a stunning \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K\nUltra HD of the movie with an incredible picture. The original 35mm camera\nnegative has been scanned in 4K and is presented in Dolby Vision. This is a\npicture known for its impressively wild visuals, and the disc looks incredible.\nBut, after 30 years, how does the movie hold up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) is a lonely bank employee.\nDespite his pleasant nature, he is constantly taken advantage of by others. His\nonly friends are fellow employee Charlie (Richard Jeni) and his pet dog MIlo.\nAfter a particularly bad night, he ends up discovering a strange mask. As it\nturns out, it is a magical Norse item containing the spirit of Loki. When\nStanley puts it on, he is transformed into a green-faced, fast-talking\nprankster and plays exaggerated pranks on those who have tormented him. Of course,\nthere is more to the story. A vicious mobster Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene) is\nplanning on robbing the bank. He even sends his singer\/moll Tina Carlyle\n(Cameron Diaz) to scout out the bank, who finds herself attracted to the sweet\nStanley. Additionally, there is a curious reporter Peggy Brandt (Amy Yasbeck)\nwho also takes a liking to Ipkiss, and a gruff police detective (Peter Reigert)\nfrustrated by the bizarre shenanigans occurring across the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After 30 years, this is still a surprisingly entertaining\npopcorn picture with plenty of comedic spark. A young Carrey really lets loose\nhere. When he\u2019s the bank teller, he\u2019s kind and reserved, holding everything\nback, and when the Mask comes out, the performer explodes with his physical\ncomedy skills. The film really does play out like a Tex Avery cartoon, with\nmany situations (like Ipkiss\u2019s car literally falling apart on him) simply\nplaying out with live props. The visual effects when The Mask appears hold up\nvery well too, since they were always intended to appear exaggerated and\ncartoonish. When it attaches itself to Ipkiss\u2019 face, it isn\u2019t entirely\nseamless, but it does look stylish. And when The Mask\u2019s eyes pop out of his\nhead and the character acts out in a zany way (like when he unexpectedly pulls\nguns out of his pockets), it all looks wonderful to the eye. In fact, some of\nthe visual effects are as good, if not better, than anything you\u2019d see today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Star Carrey certainly manages to keep his own identity\ndespite having his face under a good deal of make-up, and other cast members\nare strong as well, with Diaz, Yasbeck, Reigert and Greene all managing to make\nan impression and get the most out of every comic situation. Even the pet dog\nMIla makes a big impression, getting into various comic situations while\nattempting to help out its owner. The prison bit is a real standout for the\nanimal. There are some unique scenarios, including a dance number, and plenty\nof other entertaining oddities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its energetic presentation, this ultimately is a very\nenjoyable picture and one can see how it became such a massive success. Despite\nbeing made for only $18 million and receiving an August release, it ended up\nbeing a smash hit, grossing nearly $120 in the US. It was even more popular\nabroad, eventually making $352 million worldwide and earning an Academy Award\nnomination for Visual Effects. The film officially made a superstar of Carrey,\nwith Diaz almost immediately becoming a box-office draw in her own right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As mentioned, the 4K presentation of the title is top-notch,\nand it\u2019s hard to see this picture looking any better on disc. In addition to\nthe fantastic image, the new and archival extras are equally impressive and\nilluminating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a new interview with director Russell who goes into\nthe long history of development with the project. It appears that when New Line\npurchased the rights to the comic book, the Elm Street<\/em> horror series was\nseemingly coming to an end and they were looking for a new genre icon in the\nmold of Freddy Krueger. Director Russell was offered The Mask<\/em> with a\ndarker and more graphic tone, but didn\u2019t want to make another horror picture.\nInstead, Russell commented that the project might work better as a big comedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Everyone went their separate ways, but after a few years, it\ncame back around to Russell. No one had been able to crack it, and the director\nand new screenwriters emphasized humor over horror. There were more battles\nwith casting. Russell wanted Carrey, but he was only in the middle of filming\nhis debut feature, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,<\/em> and executives weren\u2019t\nsure that he could open a film. They eventually relented. And there were other\nissues. Many actresses considered for the female lead weren\u2019t available or\nsimply said no to the screenplay. Eventually, they went with model Diaz, who\nhad no acting experience but impressed the filmmaker when he met her during the\nlengthy casting process. Figuring out how to accomplish the visual effects on a\nbudget also caused headaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, a movie that spends this kind of time going\nthrough so many changes doesn\u2019t result in a great final product. But, it seems\nby the time the tone, screenplay, casting and effects decisions were finally\nnailed down, everything went swimmingly on what was described as a very fun\nshoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two archival commentaries, including one with Russell and a\nsecond with Russell, New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye, screenwriter Mike Werb,\nexecutive producer Mike Richardson, producer Bob Engelman, ILM VFX supervisor\nScott Squires, animation supervisor Tom Bertino, and cinematographer John R.\nLeonetti all offer remarkable insight into the production process and the\nchallenges everyone successfully contended with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a new interview with screenwriters Mike\nRichardson, Mike Werb and Mark Verheiden, all of whom worked on the picture in\ndifferent stages of development. One was very happy when they came up with the\nidea of the musical number, and you\u2019ll also hear stories about how important\nthe inclusion of the dog Milo was to getting the script across the finish line.\nAdditionally, a recently recorded discussion with visual effects supervisor\nScott Squires goes into more detail about achieving the look of the effects and\nhis favorite gags from the film. A new talk with the editor goes into the\nprocess of assembling the film, and there is an amusing new segment with the\nchoreographer. It not only goes into how the dance sequence was created, but\npresents never-before-seen rehearsal footage from the number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amy Yasbeck also appears in a new video, talking about\ngetting cast in the film and how she and her husband, John Ritter, would help\neach other practice for auditions. She also goes into the story of her final\nscene in the movie, which was cut after a test screening. This is a SPOILER, so\nwatch out and skip ahead two paragraphs if you don\u2019t want to know right now. In\nthe final cut the character disappears. However, in the original assembly,\nafter she\u2019s revealed to be working for mobster Tyrell, she ends up being thrown\nin a printing press in a cartoon-like fashion and squashed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see this and another moment in the deleted scenes\nsection that contains optional commentary. Most of what was shot ended up in\nthe picture, but a few test audience members didn\u2019t seem to like the flattening\nof the reporter (even though the end result is merely a printed run of papers\nwith the character pressed up against a lens under a headline. Truth be told,\nit\u2019s a good gag that should have been in the final cut. There is also an\nopening that shows how the mask arrived in the US. It\u2019s amusing, but not\nentirely necessary to the story. The final cut bit involves a moment from the\nvery end of the picture that had to be reshot so that a different character\nends up with the ancient mask. In various extras, the director and others talk\nabout feeling terrible for one cast member, who had to come back and redo the\nscene in uncomfortable conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a new video essay on the film that goes into\nextreme detail on Ipkiss\u2019 pet dog MIlo (a Jack Russell Terrier), it\u2019s part in\nthe movie and other appearances from this breed in other movies and TV shows of\nthe era. Archival featurettes on the production are also plentiful and the disc\nis rounded out with a trailer and an image gallery. It all comes with a booklet\nfeaturing new writing on the movie and a double-sided fold-out poster with two\noriginal artwork options (the reversible sleeve contains the two works as\nwell). Six postcard-sized reproduction artcards are also included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, Arrow Video has delivered another extras-filled 4K Ultra HD release that really impresses. And as informative as the bonuses are, the most striking thing about it is the incredible picture quality that will wow any fan or first-time viewer of the movie. The Mask<\/em> holds up surprisingly well and is still a comedy that will entertain entire families. This is an exceptional release that can\u2019t be recommended enough. If you like the film or Jim Carrey titles in general, pick it up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video will be released on November 11th (a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is also available for purchase). It\u2019s hard for some to believe (myself included) that it has now been over 30 years since the release of The Mask. For those who weren\u2019t around then, the movie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[128,1836,3792,3955,4404,4660,4668,4669,7314,10689,14718,15977,15998,16995,19785,21547,21549,21550,21551,21552],"class_list":["post-32411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-128","tag-arrow-video","tag-cameron-diaz","tag-cartoon","tag-chuck-russell","tag-comedy","tag-comic-book","tag-comic-book-adaptation","tag-fantasy","tag-jim-carrey","tag-new-line-cinema","tag-peter-greene","tag-peter-reigert","tag-richard-jeni","tag-tex-avery","tag-the-mask","tag-the-mask-4k-review","tag-the-mask-4k-ultra-hd","tag-the-mask-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-the-mask-film-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}