The Hitcher (1986)

 

Director Robert Harmon and writer Eric Red's debut feature gets a stunning 4K restoration release on a disc packed with extras from Second Sight.

In danger of falling asleep driving from Chicago to San Diego, Jim Halsey (C Thomas Howell) picks up hitchhiker John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) during a thunderstorm in the hope the company will keep him awake. That act of charity quickly proves to be a disaster as Ryder reveals what he has just done to the last man who gave him a lift, and explains he plans to do the same to Halsey.

There then follows a ninety minute game of cat and mouse, all played out against the backdrop of the Texas landscape, with both Ryder and the police in pursuit of the hapless Halsey, who is now believed guilty of Ryder's crimes. The only person who believes him is Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh) but that just lines her up as a target for Ryder, too.

Essentially a series of bravura set-pieces, THE HITCHER doesn't really stand up to close examination from the point of view of logic. We never see how Ryder escapes situations, acquires items such as weapons and vehicle keys, or how he seems to know everything about everyone that he needs to. However, far from its detriment, it's this that serves to elevate THE HITCHER to the status of art film. One can imagine Bergman making a variation on its theme with Max Von Sydow in the Ryder role, a crazed, unstoppable symbol of death, or perhaps the dark side of our own personality. It's extremely well put together and Second Sight's 4K transfer only serves to show just how beautiful many of the compositions here are.

Second Sight's package comes with both UHD and Blu-ray discs. Unlike with some cases of 4K 'upgrades here, while the Blu-ray looks great, the image on the UHD 4K disc is something else again, enough so that if you don't have a UHD player and are a fan of THE HITCHER you may want to think about investing in one.

As usual, Second Sight have packed their discs to the gills with extras, which are the same on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. These include what are essentially four (!)  commentary tracks - a new one from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (who wrote the Arrow book on the film), plus an archival one with Robert Harmon and Eric Red, another with the cast and crew, and yet another that's a podcast on the film and features Rutger Hauer.

There are a stack of new interviews including director Harmon (41 minutes), Eric Red (41 minutes), C Thomas Howell (28 minutes), DP John Seale (10 minutes), and composer Mark Isham (15 minutes). Leigh Singer offers an entertaining 20 minute video essay that looks at the film and compares it to Spielberg's DUEL, there's an archival making of (38 minutes) plus short films from Harmon (CHINA LAKE) and Red (TELEPHONE), with a 15 minute Harmon interview about CHINA LAKE.

Finally, Second Sight's limited edition comes with a 200 page hardback book, the original screenplay, six art cards, and a box to keep it all in.

Robert Harmon's THE HITCHER is out in both limited and standard edition UHD / Blu-ray sets on Monday 30th September 2024