I went to the cinema for this Netflix movie, but now its 4K disc is possibly even better than that
Frankenstein is a stunner on disc
I can't quite believe it's been a year (almost to the day) since I went to Picturehouse Central to watch a Netflix movie in the flesh – Frankenstein was enticing to me in a way that Netflix's 2026 slate can't quite match. It was also one of a few films in a row that Netflix put into cinemas to hype up the quality of its additions.
Well, a year has indeed passed, and that makes it a pretty great time for The Criterion Collection to have released the movie in a loving, high-quality 4K version, complete with oodles of extra features and even an extended director's cut. It's a great reminder of why Netflix's model can feel limited – it made the film with Guillermo del Toro, yet these features are nowhere to be found on its streaming platform.
I've got the disc, and watched it this past weekend, and it underlined the fact that Criterion's partnership with Netflix is a deeply valuable thing for fans of cinema. After all, getting to hear from the creators of these movies about the amount of work that went into them is always a reward in and of itself.
Even by Criterion's lofty standards, this is a really premium release, too. The 4K version comes with four discs – the film as originally released (one 4K disc with Atmos soundtrack, and one standard Blu-ray) and then the new Reborn Cut version (also in a 4K version and a standard version).
That cut adds another eight minutes of footage to the movie, giving us a little more time to live with Elordi's monster and to see some more details in the stupendous sets and props that went into this sumptuous film.
It's also a great reminder of how even the top of Netflix's subscription tiers can't match a 4K disc played properly – the soundtrack, in full Atmos mode, sounds frankly brilliant through my Sonos Beam Ultra, while the beautiful light and moody visual design of the film really shine, too.
When a filmmaker like del Toro underscores his commitment to practical effects, sets and costumes like this, it really pays off in the form of a 4K release, and I'd recommend this heartily to anyone looking to cap off the spooky season with a bit of a modern cult classic.
That said, while it's always relevant that Criterion's new releases are fairly pricey on 4K, this one's particularly expensive at £45 here in the UK. That might come down over time (and during sales), but it does raise a point I've thought about a few times. Every time you buy a 4K set, you get a standard Blu-ray in the package (or two, in this case).
Is that necessary? I'd happily forego the standard Blu-ray if it saved me a little money on the sticker price. I appreciate the fact that special features can often only fit on an extra disc, but in this box set that could still mean two 4K discs and then one Blu-ray for the extras, saving on one disc.
Perhaps that question just underscores the fact that I'm not in a pay bracket to make such decisions, but I'll be interested to see how much longer these packages keep standard Blu-rays as part of the mix.
Regardless, though, and getting back to the movie in question, this is a real collector's item of a release, and if you either enjoyed Frankenstein a lot or want to see it at home in the best possible quality, it's a bit of a no-brainer. For those without the budget, though, there's always Netflix, where you can watch it as part of any subscription.
