[Blu-Ray Review] ‘The Gate’: Available On Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray February 28, 2017 From Lionsgate

The Gate (Vestron Video Collector’s Series) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Tibor Takács

Cast: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp

Release Date: February 28, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis:

When best friends Glen and Terry stumble across a mysterious crystalline rock in Glen’s backyard, they quickly dig up the newly sodden lawn searching for more precious stones. Instead, they unearth The Gate — an underground chamber of terrifying demonic evil. The teenagers soon understand what evil they’ve released as they are overcome with an assortment of horrific experiences. With fiendish followers invading suburbia, it’s now up to the kids to discover the secret that can lock The Gate forever . . . if it’s not too late.

The beloved cult classic ‘The Gate’ finally arrives home on Blu-ray for the first time ever as the eighth entry in the ongoing Vestron Video Collector’s Series lineup of Limited Edition Blu-ray releases from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Originally unleashed upon audiences in 1987, ‘The Gate’ tells the tale of two young boys who discover a portal to the depths of hell in their backyard, and after a number of mishaps and unfortunate coincidences, they along with a group of teens over to party while the parents are on vacation are confronted with a horde of demons, along with their biggest fears brought to life. Now, amidst it all they must find a way to close the gateway to hell before it’s too late for them and our entire world. Directed by Tibor Takács (Spiders 3D) and starring a young Stephen Dorff (Blade) in one of his very first roles, ‘The Gate’ is a creepy, visually impressive and ridiculously enjoyable 80’s fantasy, horror film that still has no trouble holding up and delivering the goods so many years later.

Fans of this outstanding 80’s horror gem and the fellow genre fans making a point of collecting all of the Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray releases will both definitely want to strongly consider picking up a copy of ‘The Gate’ Blu-ray release. Marking the first time ever available on Blu-ray, the Vestron Video BD release offers outstanding high definition video and audio presentations on the feature film that are sure to thrill the fans, in addition to an impressive collection of supplemental material including many brand new extras created just for this Blu-ray edition of the movie; including 2 Audio Commentary tracks, numerous Interviews and Featurettes, plus more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). Altogether it should easily make this fantastic Blu-ray release of the genre favorite a definite must own for the majority of its fans out there, and anyone who hasn’t previously had the pleasure of this fantastic flick will want to look into the possibility of a rental option should it exist; I honestly can’t imagine a better way to experience it for the first time.

Overall, fans of the 80’s genre classic ‘The Gate’ and anyone else making a point of collecting each release in the continuing lineup of Vestron Video Collector’s Series Limited Edition Blu-ray releases will likely want to make sure they purchase a copy of this splendid Blu-ray which sports impressive high definition video and audio presentations on the movie itself, along with a notable collection of solid bonus features including many created for and exclusive to this edition. Having personally had the pleasure of exploring and reviewing all 8 titles released in the Vestron Video BD lineup thus far, I can quite confidently say that this Blu-ray of ‘The Gate’ marks one of their very best releases yet, if not possibly the best. Fans of both the film itself and the new Vestron Blu-ray titles in general should be immensely pleased with this one.

VIDEO:

The Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray release of ‘The Gate’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks outstanding and delivers a sharp, detailed and clean video presentation from start to finish that suffers no noticeable faults throughout, yet still retains plenty of grain, pops and other natural artifacts representative of its source material. It holds up remarkably even during the numerous darkly lit and fast moving sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become distorted, let alone rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a phenomenal high definition video presentation that delivers in every way and should easily thrill fans of the film.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 2.0 Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless stereo soundtrack provides a crisp, clean and often quite aggressive audio presentation throughout. The two channels share the entirety of audio content without any trouble, with action and terror related auditory effects never conflicting with any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously, and always sounding clean and sharp around every turn. Overall, this is a top notch 2.0 DTS-HD MA stereo soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint fans in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-ray release of ‘The Gate’ includes a notable collection of worthwhile extras, featuring many that were created specifically for this Blu-ray edition of the film. Included on the release are ‘2 Audio Commentary’ tracks: the first is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Tibor Takacs, Writer Michael Nankin, and Special Effects Designer & Supervisor Randall William Cook’, and the second is an ‘Audio Commentary with Special Effects Designer & Supervisor Randall William Cook, Special Make-Up Effects Artist Craig Reardon, Special Effects Artist Frank Carere, and Matte Photographer Bill Taylor’; a third optional audio track is also included consisting of ‘Isolated Score Selections and an Audio Interview with Composers Michael Hoenig and J.Peter Robinson’. We are also treated to numerous Interviews/Featurettes with various individuals involved with the film reflecting on it, the Interviews/Featurettes are: ‘The Gate: Unlocked’ featuring Tibor Takacs and Randall William Cook’ (running approximately 28 minutes in length), ‘Minion Maker with Craig Rearden’ (running approximately 23 minutes), ‘From Hell It Came with Andras Hamori’ (approximately 13 minutes), ‘The Workman Speaks! with Carl Kraines’ (12 minutes), ‘Made In Canada’ (28 minutes), ‘From Hell: The Creatures and Demons of The Gate’ (15 minutes), ‘The Gatekeepers with Tibor Takacs and Michael Nankin’ (16 minutes), and an archival ‘Making of The Gate’ Featurette (23 minutes). A Teaser Trailer (1 minute), ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (2 minutes) and ‘TV Spot’ (30 seconds) for the movie, along with a ‘Storyboard Gallery’ (9 minutes), and a ‘Behind the Scenes Gallery’ (10 minutes) are also included.