Nikita

Nikita is an action movie that hails from before the genre's obsession with oriental martial arts or the ubiquitous use of CGI. It relied on subtle performances from the actors, changes of colour palette and the geometry of the scenes rather than just ramming the special effects up to 11 in post. This is why it really benefits from from its 4K restoration. The details of actors' faces and the contrast between colours are so much clearer. I remember seeing it first on TV chopped to 4 by 3 with CRT fuzz. It put a bullet in the head of most of its competition. Widescreen, DVD, upscale to HD and now in full cinematic glory, it gets better the more you can see.

The English subtitling for the film can be a little iffy in places, particularly the Americanisation of French swearing.

This release has the usual smattering of interviews. The real gem in it is At The Heart Of Nikita – Making Of, a sequence of vignettes documenting the filming of Nikita. There is a level of artistry that isn't normally seen in promotional material.

The Blu-ray's menus are all easily navigable and appear to be glitch free.

The artwork on the packaging leaves something to be desired. The front cover ignores the colour palettes Besson uses in the film and looks a bit like a trading card. The back cover has Jean Reno as Victor. The lighting and shadow is nonsensical and his long grey wool coat looks like cheap tan leatherette.