Straight Story, The (4K UHD Review)
Director
David LynchRelease Date(s)
1999 (January 22, 2026)Studio(s)
The Picture Company/FilmFour/Le Studio Canal+/Buena Vista Pictures (StudioCanal UK)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a region-free UK import release. The film review is by former Bits staff writer Dan Kelly, adapted from his look at Buena Vista’s 2000 DVD release. The 4K disc review is by Bill Hunt.]
On the surface, the story of Alvin Straight (ex-stuntman Richard Farnsworth) is a simple one—an elderly Iowa man heads across the state to make amends with his ailing brother Lyle, who he hasn’t seen in ten years. The last time they spoke, the argument that ensued made the two of them vow to never talk with one another again. Alvin lives at home with his daughter Rose (Sissy Spacek, Badlands, Coal Miner’s Daughter), and the two depend on each other for just about everything. But when Alvin learns that his brother has recently suffered a stroke, he decides to make the trip to Wisconsin to see him. The problem is, neither he nor Rose can drive. So with equal parts determination and stubbornness, he hitches a trailer to the back of his John Deere riding lawn mower and hits the road.
But what carries this story is the journey, both physically and emotionally, that Alvin takes as he makes his way to Wisconsin. His trip is a passionate one, a reclaiming of sorts, in which he confronts issues from his past that he hasn’t allowed himself to deal with. On his six-week trip, Alvin encounters quite a few people whose lives he will touch with his eagerness to share and willingness to listen. His exchanges with them are both lighthearted and heartbreaking. For example, when one young person he encounters asks him what the worst thing about getting old is, his reply is short but brutally honest: “Remembering what it’s like to be young.” This single sentence conveys more emotion than some writers accomplish with entire novels.
The Straight Story is a beautiful portrait of working-class Midwestern life, not to mention a wonderful and uniquely American story. This film lets its imagery do the talking, not unlike Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. Both movies are so filled with sweeping images, that the dialogue becomes secondary. There’s no idle chit-chat in The Straight Story; when Alvin sits down to tell a story, it’s because he has something important to say. And we in turn want to listen to him, because he’s not the typical Hollywood wise-old sage, doling out advice and worldly knowledge. So much of the late Richard Farnsworth’s performance comes from a simple look, a nod of his head, or an earnest reflection on his life. The fact that he gave this marvelous performance while living with a debilitating illness makes it all the more impressive and admirable.
At first glance, director David Lynch wouldn’t seem like an obvious choice to tell the story of Alvin Straight. After all, this is the man behind deranged masterpieces like Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, and television’s Twin Peaks. But if you look closer and really consider things, the idea isn’t as strange as it seems. What Lynch’s films all have in common is an appreciation for beauty in strange and unexpected places. And who else could find the obvious beauty in a tale about a man in his seventies crossing Iowa on a riding lawn mower? Lynch and cinematographer Freddie Francis (Dune, The Elephant Man) give us long, steady shots of the real life towns and prairies that Alvin traverses on his way to Mount Zion, Wisconsin. It’s a beautiful trip, and they film it with such care that viewers appreciate every mile of the journey.
The Straight Story was shot by Francis on 35 mm film (specifically Kodak Vision 200T 5274 and 500T 5279) using Panavision Panaflex Gold II cameras with Panavision C-Series anamorphic lenses. It was finished in a traditional analog photochemical process and released to theaters in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. For its release on Ultra HD, StudioCanal in the UK has taken advantage of a new 16-bit 4K scan of the original negative by Fotokem in the US, with image restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata in Italy, and HDR color grading by Fotokem (compatible with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision). The restoration was supervised by Lynch, and the project was overseen by StudioCanal’s Sophie Boyer and Jean-Pierre Boiget. The result was encoded for release on a 100 GB disc, with data rates averaging 95-100 Mbps.
Image quality is superb, with a boldly-saturated, accurate, and warm-biased palette befitting the film’s rural Midwestern locations. Blacks are deep, yet retain nice detail, something that’s obvious in a very early shot of Alvin’s sunlit home—take a look at the grass detail in the shadows of the house. Highlights are naturally bright, lending the image a pleasing and lifelike appearance. The HDR grade is exactly as it should be, adding realism to overcast clouds, visual drama to lightning storms and sunsets, and a realistic sheen to gleaming metal. And the detail is outstanding—textures are refined and beautifully rendered. You can see this in wood siding, Alvin’s plaid shirt and suspenders, rust, foliage, and frankly almost every visible surface. Photochemical grain is light but ever-present and organic at all times. Bottom line: This is an absolutely gorgeous 4K image that impresses with its abundant subtleties.
The film’s primary English audio is included here in 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo, each in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio format, with restoration by the film’s original sound supervisor and mixer, Ronald Eng. The 5.1 mix is straightforward and effective, with a medium wide soundstage, pleasing atmospheric immersion, and firm bass. Dialogue clarity is excellent, and Angelo Badalamenti’s melancholic guitar and string score is staged naturally and with excellent fidelity. English Audio Description is also available, as are English SDH subtitles.
StudioCanal’s single-disc 4K release includes only the film on Ultra HD. (Blu-ray versions are available separately.) In terms of special features, the film’s original DVD release included only a trailer, a decision that Lynch explained in a handwritten note on an insert inside the case. But in 2021, Via Vision Entertainment’s Imprint Films released The Straight Story as a Blu-ray special edition that included a number of then new features. StudioCanal has essentially licensed the best of these from Imprint, and added a couple more as well (that were first released on a 2024 Arthaus German 4K edition). Included on this 4K disc are:
- Audio Commentary by Peter Tonguette
- Mark and Bob Tell It Straight (HD – 19:57)
- Straight & Narrow: Inside the Film (HD – 11:28)
- Far & Wide: Inside the Score (HD – 10:33)
- Straight Talking: A Making of Interview with David Lynch (HD – 19:11)
- The Straight Story: On Set with David Lynch (HD – 38:19)
- Image Gallery (HD – 21 images)
- Original Trailer (SD – 1:55)
- 2025 Trailer (HD – :54)
The audio commentary and first three video features (above) are carried over from the Imprint disc, while Straight Talking, the On Set with David Lynch piece, and Image Gallery are new, as is a new trailer for the 4K restoration. The Original Trailer is from the DVD release. Missing from the Imprint Blu-ray is Ian Mantgani’s Found Highway: The Lynchian Redemption of The Straight Story (HD – 19:05), so be sure to keep that disc if you have it.
The commentary by Tonguette—a conservative journalist and film critic—offers a wealth of trivia and historical information as he details the production process, Disney’s unique relationship with the film’s director, the real Alvin Straight on whom the film is based, and more. Mark and Bob Tell It Straight features the film’s Minneapolis-based location managers discussing their work on project and sharing amusing anecdotes from the production. Straight & Narrow is an audio essay set to video featuring author John Thorne discussing the origins of the project, which was co-written and produced by Mary Sweeney, Lynch’s former wife and longtime collaborator. Likewise, Far & Wide presents audio of film music historian Daniel Schweiger discussing Angelo Badalamenti’s score. The “new” material begins with Straight Talking, which is essentially SD video of Lynch and Sweeney discussing the project while out on location. And On Set with David Lynch is a “fly on the wall” style piece shot behind-the-scenes during the making of the film, also in SD video. Considered in total, this is a pretty terrific collection of bonus content for a film that was never really meant to have any—go figure.
The Straight Story is a magnificent and heartfelt tale that is certainly unconventional for David Lynch but is also one of his finest works. What’s more, as anyone who’s ever lived in this part of the country would be quick to confirm, the film is soaked in authenticity. The Straight Story is darned close to a masterpiece, and StudioCanal’s 4K restoration is a gem. Don’t miss it.
-Dan Kelly and Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)