Taxi Driver 4K Ultra HD SteelBook

"Taxi Driver" is a film about the pathology of loneliness and isolation and the lonely melancholy of an individual alienated from his environment. Twenty-six-year-old ex-Marine and Vietnam War veteran Travis Bickle (De Niro) is a psychotic cab driver who tries to solve his insomnia by driving a Checker yellow cab on the night shift. He cruises the miserable, hellish streets of Manhattan 12 to 14 hours a day, watching the women he can't have, including the angelic presidential campaign worker Betsy (Shepherd)—who rejects him when he takes her to the hard-core sex film Karlekens språk. He tries to save a 12-year-old prostitute (Foster) from her pimp (Keitel). As he wrestles with his ever-deepening alienation and mounting hatred, he develops a goal that becomes a dangerous obsession—to help wash all the scum off the streets and make the world a better place. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked "Taxi Driver" as the Number 52 Greatest Movie of All Time. (Gary Reber)

Special features on the 4K Ultra HD disc include "Making Taxi Driver Documentary", Storyboard to Film Comparisons with Martin Scorsese Introduction, animated photo galleries and 20th Anniversary re-release trailer and a Movies Anywhere digital copy.

Previously made available as part of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's 4K Columbia Classics Collection: Volume 2 box set, Taxi Driver has been issued as a stand-alone 4K release. Superior to the most recent 35th Anniversary Blu-ray edition before it (reviewed in Issue , the 2160p UltraHD version is stunning. The 1.85:1 2160p HEVC/H.265 4K Ultra HD Dolby Vision/HDR10 picture, reviewed on a VIZIO Quantum X P85QX-JI UHD/HDR display, was photographed on 35mm Eastman film stock using Arriflex 35 BL camera system and sourced from a remastered 4K Digital Intermediate restored from the original camera negative.

For the 35th Anniversary Blu-ray Disc release, a full "4K" workflow restoration, including color correction, with no downrezing, was employed. Scanning was completed using a specially designed wetgate 4K scanner at Cineric in New York. The resulting files were then color-graded at Colorworks, matching the director-approved prints by colorist Scott Ostrowsky, along with guidance from Cinematographer Michael Chapman. During the grading process, the 4K files were transferred to MTI Film, where an extensive digital cleanup removed embedded emulsion dirt and meticulously repaired torn frames and scratches, one frame at a time. Once the restored frames were completed, the 4K files were re-inserted into the Baselight 4K workflow at Colorworks for final completion. After additional consultation with Scorsese on grading, framing, and repair, the restoration was completed in January 2011. The HD master used for the Blu-ray MPEG AVC 1.85:1 mastering was derived directly from the final 4K digital files, with bit resolution that exceeds 22 megabits per second and often over 30. The entire procedure assured that the resolution of the original 35mm negative was preserved. As noted, Scorsese and Chapman were both involved in the restoration process, to ensure that the original creative intent was realized. Thus, there was no attempt to modernize the look or the color palette, which was originally produced in Metrocolor. No attempt was made to "pump" the color up in the shooting scene at the end of the film, which was desaturated, using a Chemtone process, in order for the MPAA at the time of the picture's release to issue an "R" rating, instead of an "X" rating. Noteworthy is that the original negative with the original color for this portion of the film has never been found; only the substituted desaturated negative portion exists. Chapman, in the Special Edition DVD supplements, regretted the decision but not only is the original negative lost but no print with the unmuted colors exists either. While previous home video releases all exhibited degrees of noticeable scratch, noise, and dirt spec artifacts, the restoration succeeds at minimizing such artifacts and even lost frames, due to a torn negative. The major issues in the technical restoration were dirt and scratches, especially with the optical sequences, including the opening title sequence and the shooting scene toward the end of the movie. The original grain structure and natural essence of the film appeared to remain authentically present and true to the vision of the filmmakers, which imparts a gritty emotional feeling.

This new 4K native edition retains the original grain structure and is faithful to the original 35mm elements and convincingly replicates the 35 mm cinema vérité experience.The Metrocolor palette is rich and warm with vividly saturated hues, especially reds and greens. Flesh tones are naturally hued. HDR contrast is well balanced, with deep blacks and revealing shadow delineation. White levels appear natural. The imagery fares especially well during daytime scenes, with sharp edges and detailed textures. As there are numerous night scenes, to view optimally requires a display device capable of deep black resolution and a dark viewing environment. This dedicated 4K edition is the best that Taxi Driver has ever been presented on home media. It is certain to please ffilm collectors and fans of Director Martin Scorsese. (Gary Reber)

The 35th Anniversary Blu-ray Disc release containd the audio restoration that was completed by Chace Audio by Deluxe in Burbank, California. For the restoration the original monaural magnetic master with separate dialogue, effects, and music was used, as well as the original isolated four-track stereo tape recordings of Bernard Herrmann's score. The beautiful score pervades the jazz idiom. Scorsese had his own team create the re-purposed discrete 5.1-channel soundtrack from the restored elements, which was encoded in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio format. This 4K edition delivers this same soundtrack. Herrmann died in his sleep on Christmas Eve of 1975, just hours after conducting the final recording sessions for the film. Uncredited Ronny Lang delivered the dominant, haunting alto saxophone solo motif over Herrmann's Academy Award®-nominated score. Lang, who played with the bands of Les Brown, Harry James, Stan Kenton, the Dave Pell Octet, and Henry Mancini, as well as on hundreds of film, TV, and record studio sessions, delivers one of the most beautifully melodic saxophone solos in recorded history. Jazz saxophonist Tom Scott is credited on the Original Soundtrack Album but plays only on the "Additional Interpretations" arranged by David Blume, Hermann's music director. The smooth, jazzy tones of Lang's saxophone set the theme, which varies in tempo as it follows Travis in his Checker cab, driving his often-sordid passengers around the city. Herrmann uses dissonant chords played by trumpets over rhythmic snare drums, and a harp, to portray Travis' psychotic tendencies, whose theme ultimately dominates the score. In the end, the two themes clash with one another, signifying Travis' transformation from a lonely taxi driver into a murderer. The recording quality is superb, with the entire instrumentation of the orchestra clearly discernible. In fact, the soundtrack's surround enhancement of the music score is preferred to the otherwise excellent fidelity of the 20-bit mastered Original Soundtrack Album CD released on the Arista (Germany) label entitled The Vinyl Classics: Music From The Motion Picture Taxi Driver. A number of the film's music tracks include Travis' monologue of his thoughts, including the ad-libbed "You talking to me?" dialogue into a mirror. The sound quality of the monologue is perfectly intelligible, with a forward presence that is surreal. The music projects a wide and deep soundstage that extends deep into the surrounds, to create a spacious soundfield experience. Dialogue is production sound and sounds "recorded," with spatial integration that at times is wanting. Still, the slightly distorted character is characteristic of the time that the film was made. Some of the interior cab scenes sound less distorted and better integrated. Dialogue is center-channel focused. Atmospheric sound effects are "stereoized" and distributed to the surrounds as decolorated signals, but subdued in level. One of the most effective segments is the noticeable "ticking clock" background to Travis' weapon practice in his apartment. This is an effective mix that opens up the soundfield and projects a more realistic soundscape, to accompany the visuals. The .1 LFE channel is subtly used but provides effective bass enhancement during music segments and, in some instances, gunshots. The music score is, without question, the element that conveys the emotional communication in the storytelling and is the element that succeeds the most in this restoration. Overall, this is a wonderful re-purposed soundtrack that delivers a spatial dimension that was never effectuated in the previous home video releases or the theatrical releases. (Gary Reber)