Blu-ray / 4K review roundup: Top Gun: Maverick, Bullet Train, Flatliners, Drive, and more

As we approach the holiday season, some of the biggest hits of the year are now hitting home video. In our latest 4K and Blu-ray review roundup, we look at new releases of blockbusters Top Gun: Maverick and Bullet Train, along with new catalogue reissues including Arrow Video’s Flatliners on 4K, 88 Films’ resurrection of the cult action film Drive on 4K, and more.

Top Gun: Maverick 4K UHD Review (Paramount)

Never doubt Tom Cruise.

Over 35 years after the original Top Gun, Cruise once again dons the aviators and that irresistible charm for Top Gun: Maverick. Smashing all expectations, Top Gun: Maverick is now one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and it’s not hard to see why. After two+ years of the pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick is the sort of rousing crowd-pleaser we rarely see any longer.

The rare sequel that outpaces the original film in nearly every way, Top Gun: Maverick is a thrilling throwback film that checks nearly every box; the action sequences (shot in actual planes) are thrilling and innovative, and the film’s emotional core feels earned and powerful.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion), the sequel finds Maverick (Cruise) working as a test pilot for the Navy; our boy just can’t seem to follow rules, which has stunted his career. Brought back into the fold to help destroy a dangerous uranian enrichment plant in some unspecified foreign country, Maverick is enlisted to train a new generation of pilots to help with the mission including Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s former partner Goose.

With strong performances from Cruise, Teller, Jennifer Connelly as Maverick’s love-interest Penny and an unforgettable appearance from the Iceman himself (Val Kilmer), Top Gun: Maverick delivers on every conceivable level.

Extra features on the disc include featurettes on the incredible aviation sequences and a rare extended interview with Cruise from the Cannes film festival. While we’ll more than likely see a beefed-up special edition release down the road, the film’s rewatchability and reference-grade audio and video presentation make Top Gun: Maverick a must-own disc.

Head to our Facebook page for your chance to win a copy of the film on Blu-ray!

Top Gun 4K UHD Extras

Cleared for Take Off Featurette
Breaking New Ground – Filming Top Gun: Maverick Featurette
A Love Letter to Aviation Featurette
Forging the Darkstar Featurette
Masterclass with Tom Cruise – Cannes Film Festival Interview
Music Videos: “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga, “I Ain’t Worried” by Onerepublic.

Bullet Train Blu-ray Review (Sony)

Alongside Top Gun: Maverick, this summer’s Bullet Train is another throwback action film starring one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2) and based on a novel by Japanese author Kōtarō Isaka, the film stars Brad Pitt as Ladybug, an assassin whose latest mission lands him on a high-speed train packed with deadly criminals from around the world.

David Leitch comes from the stunt world (he’s worked as Pitt’s stunt double five times) so the action sequences here are a thrill. Working within the tight confines of a train only adds to the creativity of these sequences, which are the highlight of what is otherwise a fairly uneven film.

While Pitt’s on-screen charisma is never in doubt, the wild tonal shifts in the film may leave viewers with a sense of whiplash as the large cast of characters (including Brian Tyree Henry and Michael Shannon) duke it out amidst a series of over-the-top one-liners.

Sony brings Bullet Train to home video in 4K and Blu-ray editions; we were sent the Blu-ray for review, and the 1080p presentation looks fantastic. A/V fanatics may want to spring for the 4K version, but the audio and video presentations on the Blu-ray look and sound incredible.

Bullet Train may not be for everyone, but this is just the type of film lazy Sundays are built for.

Bullet Train Blu-ray / 4K Extras

Mission Accomplished: Making of Bullet Train Featurette
All Aboard the Pain Train: Stunts Featurette
Outtakes & Bloopers
Audio Commentary featuring Director David Leitch, Producer Kelly McCormick, and Screenwriter Zak Olkewicz
Trained Professionals: The Cast Featurette
Catch What You Missed: Easter Eggs
Select Scene Stunt Previs Featurette
Bullet Train Goes Off the Rails Featurette

Flatliners 4K UHD Review

Given the film’s star-studded cast, it’s surprising that Flatliners still feels like a cult classic.

Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, and Kevin Bacon, and directed by the late Joel Schumacher, Flatliners is a stylish and surprising ’90s thriller just waiting to be rediscovered by new generations of film fans.

Set at a prestigious medical school, Flatliners follows a group of ambitious medical students who decide to probe what happens when a body dies. Subjecting themself to carefully-timed “deaths,” the group begins flatlining for longer and longer periods, pushing their bodies (and minds) to the limit, while opening the door for each of them to bring something dangerous back from the spirit world.

Lushly shot by Jan de Bont (Basic Instinct), Flatliners is a unique psychological horror film that wrestles with life’s biggest questions while remaining an entertaining thrill ride.

Over 30 years after its initial release, Arrow Video resuscitates Flatliners with a beautiful new 4K presentation that lets Jan de Bont’s striking imagery shine. Combined with a plethora of new interviews with members of the crew (did you really expect Julia Roberts to sit for a new interview for this?), Flatliners is another must-have 4K release from Arrow Video.

Flatliners 4K UHD Extras

Brand new audio commentary by critics Bryan Reesman and Max Evry
The Conquest of our Generation, a brand new video interview with screenwriter Peter Filardi
Visions of Light, a brand new video interview with director of photography Jan de Bont and chief lighting technician Edward Ayer
Hereafter, a brand new video interview with first assistant director John Kretchmer
Restoration, a brand new video interview with production designer Eugenio Zanetti and art director Larry Lundy
Atonement, a brand new video interview with composer James Newton Howard and orchestrator Chris Boardman
Dressing for Character, a brand new interview with costume designer Susan Becker
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Amanda Reyes and Peter Tonguette

Drive 4K UHD Review

Straight-to-video ’90s action films are now being lovingly rescued from obscurity and reissued by labels like Vinegar Syndrome, but it’s generally clear why most of these films were never released in theatres. Drive, on the other hand, is an outlier; a truly bonkers ’90s action film that seemingly had all the elements to make a lasting impression on action-starved audiences of the era (if only people had seen it at the time).

Drive (not to be confused with the Nicolas Winding Refn film of the same name that also recently received a deluxe 4K release) is a mash-up film of epic proportions. Starring Marc Dacascos (John Wick 3), Kadeem Hardison (I’m Gonna Git You Sucka), and the late Brittany Murphy (8 Mile) Drive takes the buddy cop genre and mixes in elements of kung fu and sci-fi to deliver a bewildering and rousing action spectacular you won’t believe you hadn’t heard of until now. 

Dacascos stars as Tony Wong, a special agent in Hong Kong who gets outfitted with an implant that gives him superhero powers. Fleeing the country for his safety, he arrives in the U.S. and quickly hooks up with a struggling singer (Hardison) and a sultry hotel worker (Murphy), while on the lam from a group of assassins.

Featuring mind-boggling fight sequences that seem to defy the laws of physics and breezy chemistry between the film’s stars, this Rush Hour meets Robocop by way of the Shaw Brothers gem is one of the discoveries of the year. With a killer new 4K presentation of the film’s extended cut and a rollicking Dolby Atmos soundtrack, 88 Films is doing the lord’s work here.

Drive 4K UHD Extras

INCLUDES FIRST PRESSING GLOSS SLIPCASE FEATURING NEW ARTWORK BY SAM GILBEY
INCLUDES A3 FOLD-OUT POSTER
Audio commentary by director Steve Wang, fight choreographer Koichi Sakamoto and stars Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison
Drive: Original Cut with optional English SDH
Drive: The Force Behind The Storm documentary
Highway to Nowhere – Jason Tobin & Drive
Six Deleted Scenes
Interview gallery with cast, director, and crew including stars Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison, director Steve Wang, Second Unit Director Wyatt Weed and Stunt Coordinator Koichi Sakamoto
Original Trailer
Reversible Sleeve

Also out now: Mean Girls Steelbook, Friday the 13th 4K, Wayne’s World 4K

Paramount continues to be the best major studio in terms of upgrading their deep catalogue of titles to Blu-ray and 4K. Recent catalogue titles worth tracking down include a new steelbook release of Lindsay Lohan’s breakout hit Mean Girls (so fetch), a 4K edition of the original Friday the 13th film, and a 4K version of the beloved comedy classic Wayne’s World. Schwing!

We have a copy of Mean Girls on Blu-ray to give away; email contests@badfeelingmag.com with the subject line MEAN GIRLS and your full mailing address for a chance to win (Canadian residents only).