Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 4K UHD Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Kino's disc makes Invasion of the Body Snatchers look out of time. Clarity and grain purity suggest something far newer than 1978. It's gorgeous material, restored to perfection and encoded better still. The amount of disc space given to the film itself is a record-shattering (for a two hour movie) 81GB; it shows. Compression is wholly transparent.

Generous color saturation jumps even from the shadows. Primaries erupt, also helping avoid the usually dreary, gritty aesthetic from the decade. Wide shots in the city produce significant intensity in paint styles or bricks. Interiors then perform equally from the decor, flowers, or other objects. Flesh tones glow, but not overly so as to lose their natural hues.

Spectacular shadows fill every corner, consistently pure, dense black. Overall dimensionality excels, bettering any previous home video release (and it's not even close). Highlights add a nice kick to lights, easily countering the oftentimes oppressive cinematography. Each bulb or glistening object jumps from the frame.

Audio

In either stereo or remixed 5.1, DTS-HD brings enough clarity to a rougher source. Dialog maintains an analog coarseness, but rarely wavering. There's enough boldness in the score to add a bit of depth, although bass is generally absent, even in the 5.1.

Directionality holds to the stereos, rarely using the surrounds for anything. Still, the wide front soundstage is given a decent workout, spreading the score outward.