Thanksgiving (2023) (Steelbook) [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Eli Roth

Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim

Release Date: October 15, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays…or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?

Please note: This review contains reused segments and content from my ‘Thanksgiving’ Blu-ray Review which also offers a more in-depth write-up of the film itself; you can read the Blu-ray review in its entirety HERE!

‘Thanksgiving’ joins the local residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts where Thanksgiving is one of the biggest events of the year for the townsfolk, until a horrifying riot during a Black Friday sale one year results in multiple tragedies and terror throughout the community. One year after the tragic events of the riot, the town is trying to recuperate as best as possible, at least until a masked killer dons a popular Thanksgiving costume and begins eliminating a select group of residents while updating and taunting them on the murder and carnage via social media. As the killings continue and the mystery and terror builds, a group of teens who have been targeted will have to uncover the truth of these seemingly connected murders before they are all slaughtered.

Directed by Eli Roth (The Green Inferno, Hostel) from a screenplay written by Jeff Rendell and based on a story by Roth and Rendell, Roth does a magnificent job at the helm of ‘Thanksgiving’ guiding along the wildly gory and amusing fun with a style and edge that never falters or disappoints. The film’s cast includes Patrick Dempsey (Ferrari), Addison Rae (He’s All That), Milo Manheim (TV’s School Spirits), Jalen Thomas Brooks (TV’s Walker), Nell Verlaque (TV’s Big Shot) with Rick Hoffman (TV’s Suits) and Gina Gershon (Emily the Criminal), and each provide decent or at the very least fitting performances in their respective roles and help keep the fun and chaos working as smoothly as it does.

‘Thanksgiving’ is a ridiculously fun, funny and brutal horror film that plays out primarily as a standard slasher flick while still offering some dark humor and other slightly more goofy elements to the mix that honor its grindhouse roots, with enough clever, graphic and over the top kills and carnage to keep diehard horror fans from ever becoming disappointed or underwhelmed. ‘Thanksgiving’ is definitely highly recommended, especially for genre fans, slasher fans and anyone that’s already a fan of Roth’s work over the years. It’s a clever, wildly gory and surprisingly funny ride that any horror fan won’t want to miss out on.

Eli Roth’s modern slasher gem ‘Thanksgiving’ slices its way onto 4K Ultra HD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in a Limited Edition Steelbook release that includes the film in full Ultra High Definition with Dolby Vision as approved by Eli Roth and it improves upon the already stellar Blu-ray release. The impressive new UHD video presentation is only further boosted by a spectacular new Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that further immerses the viewer in the delightfully twisted chaos. Just in case the new video and audio presentations alone weren’t quite enough, the new release also offers a couple of brand new extras and a Blu-ray copy of the film (identical to the Blu-ray released in January) all packed inside of a fittingly rough and nicely simplistic Steelbook case that also includes a letter to the viewer from Eli Roth.

This 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release of ‘Thanksgiving’ is quite fantastic and shouldn’t leave viewers with any complaints, although for those that already own the Blu-ray release it will be up to each individual as to whether it’s worth double dipping for the upgrade. For those of you who held off and didn’t purchase the Blu-ray, this 4K UHD Steelbook is absolutely the way to go and is definitely recommended.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Steelbook release of ‘Thanksgiving’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition video presentation with Dolby Vision and HDR-10 presented in its original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio as approved by Eli Roth. The video presentation looks spectacular as a whole and delivers a clean, sharp and beautifully detailed presentation from start to finish. The new UHD presentation offers a nice upgrade to the already outstanding Blu-ray release from earlier this year that provides improved detail on numerous elements including character faces and clothing, indoor and outdoor settings and of course the gore and carnage itself, all of which is boosted by the Dolby Vision HDR which contributes some richer and more lifelike coloring on store signs and interiors, blood and more which is all nicely complemented by rich, deep and problem free black levels that never falter in the slightest. Overall, this is a wonderful new Ultra High Definition presentation that improves upon the already flawless Blu-ray and it will be up to fans who already own the movie on Blu-ray whether or not it’s worth double dipping, but for those that opt to rest assured it looks quite tremendous on the format.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This new multichannel soundtrack is another nice upgrade when compared to the Blu-ray release that offers a bit more space for the content to move around and breathe and delivers a clean, crisp and hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly utilizes all seven available channels in order to send dialogue and crowd chatter, along with action, vehicle and nature effects, plus a whole lot more consistently whipping throughout the various speakers, while never causing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or negatively affected. Overall, this is a spectacular Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers marvelously from start to finish and should absolutely thrill fans of the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Steelbook release of ‘Thanksgiving’ features a great collection of bonus content including all of the extras previously included on the Blu-ray disc in addition to a couple new special features on the 4K disc. I’ve broken down the extras by disc below for easier navigation.

Disc One (4K UHD) includes a pair of new extras that feature a great deal of behind the scenes footage filmed by the young stars of the movie during production and at the wrap of production; they include ‘Carve Diem’ (running approximately 25 minutes in length) and ‘Giving Shanks’ (running approximately 22 minutes). Also included on the disc are the film’s ‘Teaser Trailer’ (approximately 1 minute) and ‘Theatrical Trailer’ (approximately 2 minutes).

Disc Two (Blu-ray) includes the same extras and content featured on the initial Blu-ray released earlier this year and includes ‘Audio Commentary with Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell’, plus various ‘Deleted, Alternate and Extended Scenes’ from the film including some longer and gorier versions of a couple scenes (running approximately 34 minutes in length altogether). Also included are ‘Outtakes’ from the movie (running approximately 5 minutes), and a couple Behind the Scenes Featurettes: ‘Thanksgiving: Behind the Screams’ (running approximately 4 minutes) and ‘Gobble-Gobble: Gore Galore’ (approximately 3 minutes). Additionally included is a look at some of Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell’s old childhood home movies in ‘Massachusetts Movies: Eli and Jeff’s Early Films’ which also features optional commentary (approximately 12 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 9/10

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Eli Roth’s ‘Thanksgiving’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD as A Limited Edition Steelbook from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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You can purchase ‘Thanksgiving’ on 4K UHD Steelbook at Amazon HERE!

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