Review: The 4K Collector’s Edition of CLUE is gorgeous with fun new bonus features

Last month, Shout Out! Studios have released a collector’s edition 2-disc 4K UHD+ Blu-ray set of the cult film Trace. I’m a big fan of Jonathan Lynnand I was excited to see how this remastered version compared to my DVD copy. Thankfully, shout out! was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the release to review, but all thoughts that follow are my own.

Here is the terribly funny movie based on the famous board game Clue. And now, with this special 4K version, you can see all three surprise endings! Was it Colonel Mustard in the study with a candlestick? Miss Scarlet in the pool hall with the rope? Or was Wadsworth the butler? Meet all the infamous suspects and discover all their disgusting toys. You will love their dastardly actions as the bodies and laughter pile up before your eyes.

There are two main things that make this Collector’s Edition a fantastic purchase for fans. First of all, it’s not just about cleaning up the old DVD version. UHD+Blu-ray uses a 4K scan of the original camera negative. This results in an incredible image. Everything looks crisp and clear but not fake. It’s also a little brighter and more saturated than the DVD copy. I continued to swap the DVD and Blu-ray copies on my TV for comparison and the Blu-ray version is far superior.

The second reason to take this version of Trace is the inclusion of three brand new bonus features. The first is an interview with Lynn, the screenwriter and director of the film. This was really interesting and reveals how he became a director, a little bit about how they shot the film and also the fact that there were very few moments of improvisation. Lynn shared that because they had three different endings and had to keep everything tight, he didn’t want the actors to improvise. That said, the infamous lines where Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) talks about flames (you know the one) was one of the very few improvised lines. The other quote Lynn shared is when Mr. Green (Michael McKean) talks about going home to sleep with his wife at the end of the final third. However, it is worth noting that this is a moot point as Lynn believes she wrote that line but McKean believes she improvised it.

The second novelty is an interview with Jeffrey Chernov who served as associate producer. One of the coolest things I learned was that the team was able to film the entire movie in sequence. Of course, this has since led my wife and I to consider what this means Lee Ving who played Mr. Boddy and Kellye Nakahara who played the cook probably had to be present for most of the filming, but had very little to do since they were dead bodies. A big part of this feature is examining how crucial and incredible it is Debra Hill it was as a producer.

Finally, historian of film music Daniele Schweiger talked about the score of John Morris. In my opinion, this was the least interesting of the three, most likely because it wasn’t Morris. Schweiger does a good job talking about things like how the theme is changed for a couple of characters using different tools.

Honestly, I love this 4K remaster. It looks stunning and would honestly be reason enough to recommend it. However, the new bonus features add even more icing to the cake. It costs about $36 (on sale from $40) from Shout! at the time of writing, but if you want Tracethe clear and vibrant image is really worth it.