'Audition' 4K UHD Review
- Connor Petrey
- Jun 16
- 5 min read
Physical Media Release Date: 06/30/26.
Label: Arrow Video.
Form of Release: 4K UHD Limited Edition.
The Verdict: A Must-Buy
She always gets a part.
One of the most notorious J-Horror films ever made, Takashi Miike's Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the 21st century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film catapulted Miike to the international scene and paved the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and 13 Assassins.
When recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi, American Yakuza) is advised by his son to find a new wife, he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. The two men decide to take advantage of their position working at a film company to stage an audition to find the perfect partner. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu soon becomes enchanted by Asami (Eihi Shiina), a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. However, events quickly take a very dark and twisted turn as we find that Asami isn't what she seems to be...
Pulling the audience into a story that will lead to one of the most harrowing climaxes in cinema history, Miike twists and turns us through delirious editing and shocking visuals for one of the most depraved nightmares of all time, now presented in stunning 4K UHD.
Technical Review + Personal Opinion:
Audition really found its audience on DVD, first via Tartan in the UK in 2001, then in 2002 in the US from Chimera Video. The first stateside Blu-ray came from Shout Factory in 2009, followed by a 2K remastered BD from Arrow in 2019. The Arrow transfer has slightly better details, a brighter palette, and is framed in a superior 1.85:1 aspect ratio (as opposed to Shout’s slightly zoomed 1.78:1). Given the mediocre condition of the elements, there was still room for improvement, especially given the 16mm source.
This 4K UHD debut features a new restoration of the original Super 16 camera negative, approved by cinematographer Hideo Yamamoto. I really wish I was able to get screencaps from 4K discs, because the images on this page are from the old Arrow BD and are only here for editorial purposes. The UHD’s transfer is significantly better and easily the best I’ve ever seen the film look. The grainy 16mm source and Yamamoto’s foggy, dark photography prevent the kind of clarity some viewers might expect from the 4K format, but Audition is designed to put viewers off balance, contrasting murky, dreamlike scenes with grotty horror visuals and the sanitized brightness of fluorescent-lit locations.
The Dolby Vision/HDR boost is tastefully applied, bumping up brightness and clarifying darkness without losing the intended vibe. The significant upgrade in detail and texture seems like a given, based on what they were working from, but the brighter, more eclectic palette is also impressive. Some hues bleed a bit, as is typical for 16mm prints, and grain is constantly buzzing, unlike previous HD versions, which appeared lumpy and noisy.
Audition comes fitted with three audio options: the original 4.0 theatrical and 2.0 stereo mixes, alongside the 5.1 DVD remix, all in uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio. Having only previously heard the 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, I opted to listen to the majority of the film in 4.0, but did sample all three tracks. To my ears, the 5.1 mix is too soft, so, if you want a discreet center channel, I’d suggest sticking with the 4.0 track. All three mixes are purposefully thin and uneventful for the bulk of the runtime, keeping the audience on edge during seemingly uneventful sequences and leaving room for the occasional jump scare and composer Kōji Endō’s diverse musical soundtrack.
The film itself…
Watching Audition for the first time nearly 25 years after its original release, it’s hard not to feel the connection between the horrors of this world and the modern reality of dating apps. Despite the medium being different and the film being heavily dramatized, there isn’t a huge difference in how we use dating apps like Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder. A swipe is essentially an audition; people tend to focus on the visuals first, followed by brief descriptions that hint at their ‘personality’ (in the film, this is represented through mandatory essays that auditionees must submit). That sense of anonymity—meeting someone in real life who you have no connection to, that none of your friends have vetted—can be genuinely frightening. It makes watching Audition all the more unsettling.
Though you expect things to go off the rails as soon as Aoyama and Asami meet, Miike takes his time unraveling the complexity of the two’s dynamic. The result is a second half that is much more deliberately paced than you might expect, avoiding cheap thrills in favor of a deeper dive into the complex psyches of its principals. The film becomes somewhat hallucinatory, moving through different spaces and periods of time in a way that feels difficult to follow and keep up with, but effectively so. The film’s last 30 minutes are even more grisly as a result of that pacing style. Torture scenes are slow and deliberate, which makes them even more difficult to watch.
Special Features:
Introduction by director Takashi Miike
Audio commentary by director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan
Audio commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes
Callback, a brand new interview with actor Ryo Ishibashi
Ties that Bind, an interview with director Takashi Miike
Damaged Romance, an appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns
Archive interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi
Deeper Deeper Into Audition, an audio essay by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
Trailers
Image gallery
Rotten Tomatoes Scores:
Tomatometer: 81% (as of 06/16/26)
Popcornmeter: 80% (as of 06/16/26)
Physical Release Specs & Other Details:
MPAA: Rated R
Runtime: 115 minutes
Original Release: 1999
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (80.13 Mbps)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Subtitles
English
Discs
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD-100)
Digital
Not Included
Packaging
Slipcover
Reversible Cover
Physical Bonuses
Collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel, Jennie Kermode and Jamie Graham
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Dark Inker - Sampson and original UK artwork by Graham Humphreys
Playback
4K Blu-ray: Region free
Positives and Negatives
+ Positive Critical and Audience Reception
+ FIRST TIME on 4K UHD
+ Brand new 4K restoration from the original Super 16mm camera negative by Arrow Films approved by director of photography Hideo Yamamoto
+ x02 Physical Bonuses
+ x10 Special Features
+ x2 Audio Commentaries
- NO Digital Code Included
