There’s just no way to go back to watching Steven Soderbergh’s medical thriller Contagion without pulling from our now real-world experiences of an actual global pandemic. I remember watching it theatrically in 2011 and becoming so aware of just how many people touch everything at all moments, and I can’t say if that’s where my germaphobia began, but it definitely couldn’t have helped. Even then it was clear that Soderbergh and writer Scott Z. Burns had a firm grasp at how things would unfold once the initial contagion began but watching it now after all we’ve been through, and you just see how much they hit right on target from start to finish.
One thing that surprised me was the length of the movie, as I felt like it’d be a bit over two hours given the subject, but it’s actually a pretty tight hour and forty-five minutes. That’s a good thing, as Soderbergh keeps the story moving at a brisk pace, which allows the tension to remain high. Things also move at incredible speeds, as the whole story takes place over roughly four-and-a-half months from the initial outbreak of the film’s MEV-1 virus.
The MEV-1 virus has a 25-30% mortality rate, as you want the threat of the movie to have truly dire stakes. The opening transmission sequences are incredibly well done, focusing on how germs are spread through the air and through surfaces at every waking moment – these few people being focused on just happen to be carriers of one of the deadliest viruses the world has ever known – or hasn’t known, to be more precise. That’s what makes the movie so compelling, in that this is a new virus with an unknown origin that needs to be studied, recreated, and tested on in various trials in order to create a vaccine – all while the world is coming apart at the seams thanks to the threat of the virus, as well as false news being spread about not trusting the government and alternate homeopathic medications that can potentially cure MEV-1.
Like I said, they really covered a lot of bases at a time when social media wasn’t as all-encompassing as it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jude Law’s character, Alan Krumwiede, is a freelance journalist who spreads his own narrative about how everything is going down, with complete disregard for the safety of others or who his words may be affecting. Knowing now how much we saw this same thing happen – especially on social media – over the course of the pandemic just makes the storytelling here that much more impressive, as well as sad that it was so easy to predict it’d happen.
In order to keep the fast-pacing and intensity going from start to finish certain concessions must be made, and those largely come in the form of things on the medical side falling into place in fairly smooth order. I’m not really knocking the film for this, as the choice to keep things moving so that the audience feels anxious about how quickly this virus is spreading is the right one; however, with so many characters and subplots being juggled, the actual solutions to the problem arrive – such as the initial growing of the virus in a laboratory environment – are built up to be incredible obstacles, only to be tackled incredibly quickly, and even off-screen.
The cast is star-studded, with Lawrence Fishburne, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Marion Cotillard, Elliott Gould, Law, and even a brief, yet quite impactful role by Gwyneth Paltrow. Having an all-star cast is on par for Soderbergh, and as per usual for his films the actors don’t rise above their characters, each happy to deliver on the level required, keeping it as real as possible, while not trying to bring all the attention onto themselves.
I do wonder if someone would be able to watch this now and be separated from it on the same level we were able to any time prior to the pandemic. It’s still an incredibly well-made film, but there’s just such a surreal aspect to it now, as it feels so predictive and close-to-home, instead of the pure entertainment it was back in 2011. To watch the special features and see the actors all talking about how the world isn’t prepared for a pandemic, and then know we’ve just been through one and how underprepared we really were feels crazy. Contagion is too good a movie not to recommend, but just know that while watching it you’ll likely be playing a subconscious game of pandemic bingo, comparing it to how everything went down in reality to how it plays out in the film, or simply be amazed by how on-point they were once it’s done.
Overall Movie Score: 4/5
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
Contagion has been remastered to a level we’d love to see all 4K releases hit, as this is just phenomenal work by the team. The remaster has been sourced from the original Digital Red Camera Raw 4K files, which delivers an incredibly high image quality. While the movie wasn’t made too long ago, the visuals here look as though it was released in theaters yesterday. There was a complete digital cleaning to remove pixel hits and other digital artifacts to help deliver the most pristine 4K presentation, and Warner Bros. has delivered on that front.
We’ve also got a colour corrected and High Dynamic Range graded colour volume, with Soderbergh himself being involved in the process, with final approval to make sure it delivered on his creative vision for the film. All this work allows for the movie to just look and feel as realistic as possible, and there’s no denying that. The characters who get a fever, or are stumbling around sick look deathly ill, but it looks and feels real, never giving the impression that it’s just makeup. There was also a new Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) Rec709 colour volume remastered into the native 4K UHD pixel resolution. It’s an engrossing film that benefits from the viewer being captivated at all times, and the realism that this remastering has brought to the table allows for that with ease.
On the audio side of things we’ve got a restored 5.1 digital audio mix, which saw the film’s sound editor and re-recording mixer, Larry Blake hands on for. With that, the film’s audio also got the remastering treatment from the film’s original sound supervisor, with approval by Soderbergh as well. Overall, if I had it my way, every 4K release we’d be handled this way, as Contagion looks and sounds absolutely fantastic and is a worthy addition to all home entertainment collections.
Special Features:
The one thing missing from this release is a post-pandemic special feature. It’s almost shocking that it didn’t come with one, especially with Soderbergh so involved with the remastering process. A commentary track going over the film after everything we’ve been through would’ve been a wonderful listen; however, for one reason or another it just wasn’t meant to be.
Included are the legacy special features from the previous Blu-ray release, though they’re still an interesting watch, especially with the actors talking about a potential pandemic back then and having lived through one now.
Legacy Special Features:
The Reality of Contagion – This feature comes in at 11-minutes in length, and we learn about pandemics, how they’d be handled in reality, the cast and crew talk about the idea of them, and experts walk us briefly through what steps would be taken should a pandemic happen. Again, an updated feature like this would’ve been great, with a lookback at how the film handled things and comparison. Alas!
The Contagion Detectives – This is a five-minute featurette that focuses on the CDC officials, scientists, and journalists that the actors touched base and worked with in order to bring a certain level of realism to the movie. They also talk about how these people are the unsung heroes when these situations happen, big or small.
How a Virus Changes the World – This is a quick two-minute overview of what would happen should a pandemic happen. There’s some weird humor mixed in, which doesn’t really fit the tone of the film or the message this little barrage of information is pumping out. It didn’t have to be dark and daunting, but the jokes just felt rather out of place given the subject material.
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Contagion. Directed by: Steven Soderbergh. Written by: Scott Z. Burns. Starring: Lawrence Fishburne, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Marion Cotillard, Elliott Gould, Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hawkes, Chin Han. Running time: 106 Minutes. Rating: 14A. Released on 4K Blu-ray: Feb. 27, 2024.
