For many of us, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s peak period ran about fourteen years, beginning with Conan the Barbarian in 1982 and ending with Eraser in 1996. While not the last action movie Arnold Schwarzenegger would make (not by a long shot), it was the last one released during a time when he was arguably the biggest star on the planet, with the first half of the nineties having been especially good to Arnie with Total Recall, Terminator 2, and True Lies. After Eraser, Arnie — outside of a role in the awful Batman & Robin — would be sidelined for a few years, returning with End of Days in 1999. By that point, his stardom had waned a bit, and none of his follow-up movies would ever perform the same way with audiences that his nineties classics had.
For those of us who grew up in this era, it’s humbling to note that Eraser turns thirty this year, and as such, it’s getting a new 4K Blu-ray release from WB. While I’m sure the transfer will be great, it’s always a bit of a letdown when WB does a re-release themselves, as they don’t go all out like Arrow Video does, to whom they’ve licensed much of their catalogue. WB’s 4K releases are so infrequent, with many classics, including all the Lethal Weapon sequels, waiting for their moment in the sun. Oh well, at least it’s coming out at all.
The disc is slim on extras, but here are the specs:
- NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
- DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
- DOLBY ATMOS AUDIO TRACK, plus additional options
- Reinventing the Modern Action Hero – The Evolution of Arnold – Featurette
- ’90s Action Thriller Reimagined – Featurette
- Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature
To note, Eraser was actually one of the first movies to ever get released on DVD, having been released by WB on one of their old flipper discs. I remember a friend of mine got an early player, and that was one of the discs he picked up. It’ll be cool to see how it looks in 4K.
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