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Comparison between the Arrow Video Director's Cut (first edition of Arrow's 4K UHD and Blu-ray set) and the Warner Blu-ray
Tarsem Singh's visually stunning The Cell has been a topic of discussion here before, of course: The differences between the theatrical version, which was censored for an R-rating were listed in detail in our corresponding report. The worldwide 4K premiere of Arrow Video has been available since January 20 (UK) and January 21 (USA) 2025. In addition to the US theatrical version and the Director's Cut, Disc 2 features an alternative open matte version (1.78:1 instead of 2.40:1). That alone, along with a lot of exclusive bonus material (including a new feature-length HD interview with the director), makes it an all-round carefree package... ...with the “small” caveat that Arrow unfortunately made an annoying mistake with the Director's Cut. As with Henry and 12 Monkeys, a short sequence is accidentally played twice, thus suppressing a scene that should actually be there. Both the 4K UHD version and the new Blu-ray are affected, but as said, the theatrical cut plays fine. This mistake only affects the Director's Cut. Clearly an unintentional production error, for which fans can hope (as with Henry and 12 Monkeys) there will be a replacement program. Unfortunately, this has not yet been announced, so we will provide a short update if and when it happens. A video by Twin Flicks on YouTube shows the scene described in the report in motion, with some comments. Of course, we also checked the complete film ourselves, but there are no further differences. Finally, a post in the Blu-ray.com thread is interesting, in which a comparison of the two Arrow image masters with two older open matte versions and two older 2.40:1 versions was presented. We also added an extensive comparison between the open matte and the theatrical version from Arrow in our report. Update: An official replacement program has not yet been communicated, but you can now contact Arrow support and request a replacement disc for orders of the release, even from other online shops. This is scheduled to be sent out starting in March 2025. As can be read in in the Blu-ray.com thread, Arrow is asking for proof of purchase as well as the SKU or Cat. No. This does not refer to the barcode, but to the information on the spine (UK edition: FCD2566 / US edition: AV633). 15:15-16:00 / 15:15-16:00
The deviation starts in the middle of a shot of Carl, which should actually run for another 2 seconds. Then the correct DC (and the theatrical version, also from Arrow!) changes again to Catherine, who is watching TV in bed. She looks at her pillow and (from 15:41) the camera pans up from her pillow, revealing desert sand and her dream sequence. This marks the beginning of a long tracking shot that (actually only at 16:26) ends with Catherine standing in the middle of the sand, now wearing a white dress. On the Arrow version, the tracking shot from the pillow into the desert begins immediately at 15:15. In the first 26 seconds, the actual sound effects from the TV Catherine's apartment can still be heard, obviously totally out of sync with the action in the desert. After the tracking shot (here at 16:00) has shown Catherine, about half of it is simply repeated. It starts again in the middle of the tracking shot over the sand, and the Arrow version thus shows the exact same material twice in a row from 15:34-16:00 and 16:00-16:26. The part with Catherine in the bedroom, which should correctly be from 15:15-15:41, is completely missing. First, the relevant part missing from the Arrow DC up to the shot of the pillow:
And for further orientation in direct comparison with the first and last images, in which the frames at 15:15 and then again from 16:00 are in sync:
After the identical credits, the Arrow version still has the MPAA rating card (which does not actually apply to the present Director's Cut).
Here is a look at the alternative scan of the theatrical cut in open matte, which is included as a bonus on Disc 2. As a separate comparison showed, this is identical frame-for-frame, but sometimes offers more image information at the top and bottom, sometimes a lot more. Depending on the case, the image detail is sometimes shifted. The colors also sometimes differ, although it should be noted that we did an HDR->SDR conversion using tone mapping for the screenshots of the 4K version, so they don't 100% represent the actual look on TV.
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