Long before they faced off inAmerican Gangster,Denzel WashingtonandRussell Croweclashed in the 1995 science fiction filmVirtuosity. This 1995 cyber-thriller is coming to 4K Blu-ray this year, courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome. The two-disc set can be preordered now, and will ship later this month.
The set features an all-new 4K restoration of the film, scanned from its original 35mm camera negative, and is presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range. It features two commentary tracks; one from the film’s director,Brett Leonard(The Lawnmower Man) and cult film historianJim Branscome, and one from film criticWalter Chaw. It will also include several all-new featurettes, which feature interviews with cast and crew, including director Leonard, producerGary Lucchesi(Million Dollar Baby), and screenwriterEric Bernt(Surviving the Game). The set will also include a 40-page book with essays fromJustin LaLiberty,Elizabeth Purchell, andMatt Lynch. The set will retail for $46.99 USD, and can be preordered now onVinegarSyndrome.com.
What Is ‘Virtuosity’ About?
In the early 21st century, Parker Barnes (Washington) is a prisoner; he was a cop, before he killed a terrorist as revenge for murdering his wife and child. He’s still contributing to society by testing a virtual reality training program for police officers that pits them against an artificially intelligent composite of history’s deadliest serial killers, SID 6.7 (Crowe). When SID (which stands for “Sadistic, Intelligent, Dangerous”) overrides the program’s safety protocols, leading to a man’s death, he’s ordered to be shut down, but instead, his creator, Dr. Darrel Lindenmeyer (Stephen Spinella) transfers him into a regenerating android body. Now out in the real world, SID becomes a public menace; Barnes and criminal psychologist Madison Carter (Kelly Lynch) are sent out to track him down. Unfortunately, Carter’s young daughter Karin (Kaley Cuoco, in her big-screen debut) is SID’s next target… The film also featuresWilliam Forsythe,William Fichtner, and Oscar-winnerLouise Fletcher.
Virtuositywas a critical and commercial flop, earning a 32% Rotten score onRotten Tomatoes, and grossing $37 million USD on a $30 million budget; however, Crowe’s unhinged performance as SID 6.7 earned him good reviews, and primed him for his breakout role inL.A. Confidentialtwo years later. It was one of a number of 1990s films about the then-new technology of virtual reality in the 1990s, includingThe Thirteenth Floor,Johnny Mnemonic, andDavid Cronenberg’seXistenZ- and, of course,The Matrix.
Vinegar Syndrome’s 4K Blu-ray release ofVirtuositywill ship later this month, and can be preordered now. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Virtuosity
