Import Corner: Four Rooms (Via Vision) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

After what seemed like forever, we finally have a blu-ray of the Allison Anders / Alexandre Rockwell / Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino anthology film, Four Rooms.

Studio: Via Vision
Release Date: December 25th, 1995 (theatrical) / July 5th, 2023 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 37 minutes 53 seconds
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 1
Picture: 1080p (1.85:1 aspect ratio)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Slipcover: Yes (slip box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Beals, Paul Calderon, Sammi Davis, Valeria Golino, Madonna, David Proval, Ione Skye, Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei, Tamlyn Tomita
Written by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
Directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

Rating: ACB: MA15+

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Poster

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What's It About?

This movie features the collaborative directorial efforts of four new filmmakers, each of whom directs a segment of this comedy. It's New Year's Eve at the Mon Signor Hotel, a former grand old Hollywood hotel, now fallen upon hard times. Often using physical comedy and sight gags, this movie chronicles the slapstick misadventures of Ted, the Bellhop. He's on his first night on the job, when he's asked to help out a coven of witches in the Honeymoon Suite. Things only get worse when he delivers ice to the wrong room and ends up in a domestic argument at a really bad time. Next, he foolishly agrees to watch a gangster's kids for him while he's away. Finally, he finishes off the night refereeing a ghastly wager.

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Video/Audio

FOUR ROOMS is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and looks great. The film is a Miramax film from 1995 and looks it. Colors are pretty muted with brown being a prominent color but they do look good. Skin tones look good and detail can be high at times. This is a nice-looking transfer that will make fans happy.

We get two tracks here with 5.1 and 2.0 tracks. Both tracks are nice sounding with clean dialogue and great surrounds.

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Extras/Packaging

Four Directors, Four Friends, Four Rooms - Featurette (21m 10s, SD, 1.33:1)

Making of Featurette (6m 19s, SD, 1.33:1)

Theatrical Trailer (2m 12s, SD, 1.33:1)

All three of these extras are from when the film was released but they are fun nonetheless. I love the making of featurette as these things don't get made anymore and it's always nice looking back at how films were advertised back in the 90s.

The packaging is pretty damn nice. We get a nice side-loading slipcase featuring the film's video artwork. The blu-ray case features the same artwork along with some artwork inside the case. The disc artwork is plain black with the film's title and company logos.

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Overall

FOUR ROOMS is a decent anthology despite having two great stories. The first story concerns witches and sperm and is terrible. I have no idea why anyone thought this was a good story to tell. I am sure there are those who would get a chuckle or two out of it but not me. The second story is pretty much dead zone as well. The only thing good about that segment is that it brought Tim Roth and Jennifer Beals together for the first time (they would go on to appear in the awesome tv show LIE TO ME.) The third story is where the film starts to come alive. This is a story of two kids who cause a ton of trouble and then there is a surprise. This story is really funny. The last segment is the Tarantino one. You know, the one that was the center of all the advertisements. As I was watching this story, I wondered if the Tarantino role is an exaggerated version of himself. The Bruce Willis role is definitely based on him. The punchline to this scene is awesome. I will say this: I would love to see a whole film with Marisa Tomei's character here. She has one scene and she is great ("An over full of witches?". Tim Roth is great in this. I had forgotten how good he is here.

Via Vision does the film justice with this blu-ray. As of this writing, we have yet to see a stateside release, so we have to rely on companies like Via Vision to get the film on blu-ray. The picture quality is really good with some really nice detail

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Extras/Menus