In general, it seems (at least to me) that remakes are almost never a good idea. It’s quite hard to name a remake that is even able to hold a candle to the original version. But that doesn’t stop many studios and directors from taking on the challenge. And with Michel Hazanavicius’s latest project, Final Cut – a remake of cult classic One Cut of the Dead by Shin’ichirô Ueda – while it does fall into the category of not being as good as the original, it is, thankfully, a worthy, blood-filled, and wonderfully meta fun time that is nothing short of joyfully entertaining.

Like its predecessor, Final Cut’s first thirty minutes are a delightfully chaotic, B-movie budgeted, blood-soaked zombie flick. A cast and crew are trying the get the most profound and important shot of their zombie picture when the director (Romain Duris) yells cut. He goes ballistic on the actress (Matilda Lutz) for her unsatisfactory performance then cues the cast and crew to take a break. But this break doesn’t last long when members of the crew start turning into ACTUAL ZOMBIES. The cast runs around trying to fend them off, all the while, the crazed director only pops up with his camera, determined to capture the rawness of the reality for his movie. And this whole craziness is all captured in one single take. We get through the first thirty minutes, then for the rest of it, we see the conception and the production of the madness we just witnessed.

Nothing will make you appreciate the making of movies more than when you watch this movie (and One Cut of the Dead, of course). Rémi (Duris), a barely-making-it director is approached by a studio to a remake of a one-take zombie film to be broadcasted live on television. It was such a huge hit in Japan that they want to bring it to France and see if it’ll be received with the same love and excitement. Rémi has many doubts, but he’s persuaded by the producers, which cleverly includes the same Madame Matsuda (Yoshiko Takehara) who was a producer on the original Japanses production, to try and pull this ridiculous idea off. When it comes to the day of the shoot, everything must go perfectly. But of course, like with the Japanese one, nothing goes as planned, and we get to witness the chaos turn up to eleven behind of the scenes as the crew tries to somehow pull this mess off!

Though it might be a bit unfair, it is hard to not compare Final Cut to One Cut of the Dead, but it is also inevitable. But obviously knowing that was going to happen, writer/director Hazanavicius is at the very least clever enough to make the film as meta as it is. He doesn’t shy away from the fact that it is a remake with multiple references to that very fact, like making the director being forced to have the French characters sport the original Japanese names. But he does also manage to make his own interesting changes, like adding a sound effects/score guy as part of the production crew.

This version is no doubt a whole lot of fun, but there feels like a significant lack of urgency during the one-take opening, more-so clueing into the audience that it isn’t going as planned, as opposed to the original, which managed to cover that part up better. Yeah, the original is loads better, but Final Cut is still a great, giddy ride with over-the-top performances and enough stressful fun to make the whole thing entertaining at the very least, especially when you see the extraordinary lengths the cast and crew have to go to in order to somehow make it to the end of this zombie-filled ride that constantly borders on disaster.

Final Cut is now available on Blu Ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Home Video Distributor: Kino Lorber
Available on Blu-ray - September 12, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles: English
Audio:
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

The opening night selection of last year’s Cannes Film Festival was this wacky horror comedy, a remake of Shin’ichirô Ueda’s cult hit One Cut of the Dead. It follows a director (Romain Duris, L’Auberge Espagnole) making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies. Oscar® winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) milks the film’s hilarious and meta-to-the-max premise for all it’s worth, while also crafting a sly love letter to the art of filmmaking. What’s on screen unfolds in typical cheesy B-movie fashion, while the off-screen hijinks offer a celebration of the unpredictable and collaborative nature of film sets. Featuring a hysterically unhinged turn by Oscar® nominee Berenice Bejo (The Artist) and serving up blood-soaked high farce par excellence, Final Cut revels in its affectionate embrace of goofy genre fun.

Video

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, the 1080p transfer of Final Cut looks clean, sharp, and full of nicely graded color. Both the opening and the rest of the film, obviously shot on digital, though having differing qualities of camera, do both show off good definition and detail in the picture. Both indoor and outdoor scenes have good depth in terms of color and shadows. Nothing to complain about here.

Audio

With a 5.1 surround, you are fully immersed into the wild zombie flick. Dialogue, blood splatters, vomiting crew members, zombie growls, and an exciting score are all mixed well and can be heard crisp and clearly with no problems.

Supplements:

There’s not a lot to feast on here, but the behind-the-scenes documentary with cast and crew interviews is delightful to watch.

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• Making-of Documentary
• Theatrical Trailer

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 112 mins
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius; Shin'ichirô Ueda; Ryoichi Wada
Cast: Romain Duris; Bérénice Bejo; Grégory Gadebois
Genre: Comedy | Horror
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site: https://kinolorber.com/product/final-cut
Release Date: September 25, 2023 (U.S.)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: September 12, 2023
Synopsis: follows a director making a live, single-take, low-budget zombie flick in which the cast and crew, one by one, actually turn into zombies.