The Lost Boys appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. I don’t expect much from Eighties movies, but Boys looked quite good.
Sharpness seemed strong. A handful of slightly soft elements appeared in some wider shots, but those remained in the minority, as the majority of the film looked tight and well-defined. Jagged edges and shimmering created no concerns, and the image also appeared to lack noticeable edge enhancement. Print flaws never became a factor in this clean presentation.
Boys. While most vampire movies go for a subdued palette, Boys went with more vibrant tones. It focused mainly on reds, as one might expect, but it showed a mix of other tones, all of which came across as lively and full. Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows appeared smooth and appropriately dense. Overall, I found very little about which I could complain in this solid transfer.
While the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of The Lost Boys didn’t fare as well, it worked fine for a movie of this era. Compared to other films of its period, the soundfield came across as reasonably expansive and involving.
The synth-based score demonstrated nice stereo imaging, and effects were appropriately placed. Blending and panning seemed a bit awkward at times, but the audio usually meshed together well.
The surrounds added a good layer of reinforcement and kicked into higher gear during the various vampire scenes. They also contributed a good sense of ambience, and even a little split-surround information popped up at times.
Audio quality held up acceptably well but didn’t seem great. Speech remained concise and intelligible, with only occasional examples of edginess.
The score and rock songs were clear but failed to demonstrate much range. Low-end tended to be light, so although the music was tight, the dynamics seemed average at best.
Effects demonstrated somewhat better bass response, though that information could be a bit boomy during louder sequences. Otherwise those elements came across as slightly thin but generally accurate. Despite some minor deficits with the audio quality, the involving soundscape helped boost this track to a “B”.
How does the Blu-ray compare with the Special Edition DVD from 2004? Audio came across as fuller and smoother, while visuals appeared better defined and livelier. The DVD worked well but the Blu-ray improved on it.
The Blu-ray copies the DVD’s extras, and we get an audio commentary with director Joel Schumacher. He offers a generally decent running, screen-specific chat. Schumacher goes over how he got onto the project and changes made along the way, casting and working with the actors, effects, stunts, and the budget, the music, sets, locations, and the integration of various vampire legends.
Schumacher even gets into fun topics like the use of worm and fly wranglers on the set. Much of this seems quite good, but Schumacher goes silent more often than I’d like. The gaps aren’t extreme, but they’re enough to harm the track somewhat. Still, it’s mostly informative and entertaining.
The Lost Boys: A Retrospective fills 24 minutes seconds as it presents the usual array of movie clips and interviews. We hear from Schumacher, executive producer Richard Donner, director of photography Michael Chapman, and actors Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander, and Edward Herrmann. We learn about how Schumacher came onto the flick, casting and approaches to the parts, the film’s visual style, production design and costumes, and some general memories and reactions.
A smattering of useful new information appears here, mostly from the actors. However, more than a little of the material seems redundant after Schumacher’s commentary, as he covers much of what we get here. It’s a decent but unexceptional recap.
After this comes Inside the Vampire’s Cave, a series of four shorter pieces that run a total of 18 minutes and 31 seconds. We find more from Schumacher, Donner, Chapman, Haim, Feldman, Herrmann, Sutherland, and Newlander. We learn more about the re-imaging of the original screenplay and his take on the subject, the director’s style, balancing laughs and terror, the appeal of the vampire genre and the prospect of a sequel.
All the interviews come from the same sessions as those in the prior program, and “Cave” feels like an extension of it. The piece continues to suffer from some repetition with the commentary, and it doesn’t add a lot. Even the sequel discussion doesn’t tell us much, so don’t expect a lot of strong material here.
Vamping Out: The Undead Creations of Greg Cannom takes 14 minutes and two seconds to look at the movie’s makeup effects. We hear from creature creator Cannom plus Schumacher, Herrmann, Chapman and Sutherland. We get notes about Cannom’s origins in the field plus the specifics of the work he did for the movie.
One of the best supplements in this set, we learn tons about the material in this tight and informative program. The Vampire’s Photo Gallery also presents 77 shots of the various makeups and animatronics.
Next we go to a section called “The Return of Sam and the Frog Brothers”, which starts with Haimster and Feldog: The Story of the Two Coreys. It runs four minutes and 30 seconds as Feldman and Haim talk about their joint careers. We hear about how they first met and how they became a team. It sounds superficial but it proves surprisingly compelling.
More Corey goodness shows up in the Multi-Angle Commentary. It includes three separate looks at scenes from both Coreys plus Newlander. Unfortunately, it presents all three on their own and doesn’t reunite them.
Each segment lasts 18 minutes, 23 seconds. Haim gives us a few bland notes but mostly just narrates the shots; skip it. Matters get worse with Feldman’s discussion, as he prefers to play stand-up comic. He tosses out wisecracks and very little actual information.
While not excellent, Newlander’s track proves vastly more interesting than the other two. He offers lots of fun trivia bits and displays little ego as he discusses his goofs and other silly moments. Newlander offers the only useful commentary of the three.
For unused footage, we head to The Lost Scenes. The disc presents these as one long piece without chapters to mark them; we get 16 segments for a total of 15 minutes and 16 seconds of material.
Nothing scintillating appears here. We see more of Mike and Star, plus additional bits related to the family as well as Max’s wooing of Lucy. These expand existing threads but fail to provide much in the way of new information other than Mike’s thoughts about quitting school.
An interactive feature called A World of Vampires lets us learn a little about different areas’ vampire legends and facts behind them. This consists of short snippets that run a total of about 13 and a half minutes. Surprisingly informative and detailed, these pieces are short but useful, as they give us a tight little look at the history.
The set finishes with the flick’s trailer plus a music video for Lou Gramm’s “Lost In the Shadows”. It mostly consists of the usual movie clips and lip-synch singing, and it comes across as silly.
Although The Lost Boys never quite lives up to its potential, it still offers a fair amount of fun. At times it can’t match its comedic and dramatic sides well, but it occasionally soars as it provides a reasonably entertaining piece. The Blu-ray brings us strong picture and audio as well as a good complement of bonus materials. This becomes a nice release for a fairly entertaining film.
To rate this film visit the prior review of THE LOST BOYS