“Who is Darkman?” the posters asked. They were scattered everywhere – on billboards, the sides of busses, in magazines in the early summer of 1990. But they didn’t provide an answer. It was a viral marketing campaign before viral marketing was a buzzword. Sam Raimi had invented his own superhero and the studio needed a way of getting people interested before it was released in August. I was 14 at the time and I remember the ads being omnipresent. Then there were trailers and TV spots. I was excited about it.
This was before comic book movies had become their own monoculture. It was a year after Tim Burton’s Batman had made a fortune. Everyone was looking for the next superhero. My memory says Darkman completely bombed at the box office. I know I hated it as did all my friends. Looking at the numbers now, I can see it actually did make a profit ($48.8 million off a $14 million budget) but it didn’t do nearly the business Batman did and was lauded as a failure.
I haven’t seen it since. But in all of those years, it has become something of a cult favorite. Looking at Letterboxd, all my friends have rated it quite high. I think I need to give it another chance.
Buy Darkman 4K UHDNow is the perfect time to do that as Shout Factory is giving it a fabulous boxed set treatment. It has a new 4K transfer with both 4K UHD and regular Blu-ray discs included, there are multiple audio commentaries, featurettes, interviews, trailers, and TV spots plus you get a poster, lobby cards, stickers, and a pin. Read Greg Hammond’s review.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Beverly Hills Cop: 3 Movie Collection 4K UHD: If you are of a certain age, then you are hearing Eddie Murphy’s distinctive laugh right now. The man was an absolute legend through the 1980s and these films are his touchstone. I haven’t seen them since I was a teenager, but I bet it will be fun revisiting them.
The Heroic Trio / Executioners: Anita Mui, Michelle Yeoh, and Maggie Cheung, three of the biggest Hong Kong stars teamed up for this Johnny To directed supernatural martial arts extravaganza and its sequel. Criterion fills it with their usual extras and cleaned up audio/visuals.
Nothing But a Man: Criterion is releasing this historical drama about a black man trying to maintain his respect in 1960s Alabama.
