The 4K Ultra HD of David Fincher’s Panic Room arrives today. And while reviews by and large are praising the stunning transfer and color grading (there’s even a special feature devoted to just that), some are pointing out other changes that only someone like Fincher would even bother to “fix.”
As Film Twitter has been quick to point out, David Fincher has made some interesting – yet very Fincher-esque – changes to Panic Room for this 4K release. The two that are garnering the most traction and head scratches involve curtains and Coke cans – and you just know these have been bugging him for 20+ years!
As you can see, the original version of Panic Room has curtains that are a bit more casual, like pretty much any set you’d have in your home, whereas the 4K shows them more pressed and pristine (that is, very much how they would look in a modern Fincher movie). Other images go full product placement, with once-partly obscured Coca Cola labels now completely on display. And these are just two examples of what has been done to the Panic Room 4K; only more scouring will uncover Fincher’s other changes.
Odd, sure. Unexpected? Hardly. David Fincher did similar things to the transfer of Seven, with those who have studied that transfer compared with the original theatrical version pointing out plenty of other examples of Fincher tweaking so-called imperfections, like a strand of Gwyneth Paltrow’s hair or adding a door where there was once a curtain…This guy and his window treatments!
David Fincher is known to be a perfectionist and this Panic Room 4K is just the latest example. But he was pulling this sort of thing while filming, too, prompting a pretty amusing moment between the directors and his star. After one day of doing take after take after take, he asked star Jodie Foster which was best. Her response? “Honestly, you’re a very sick man. There is nothing different between those last three takes.” No word on if Foster has picked up her 4K of Panic Room…
What do you think of Fincher’s tendencies to make such changes? Will you be picking up the Panic Room 4K release?
