Fan, The (1996) (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Tony ScottRelease Date(s)
1996 (February 25, 2026)Studio(s)
TriStar Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: D-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D
Review
[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian Blu-ray import.]
Robert De Niro is Gil Renard, a hardline baseball fan celebrating his team’s acquiring superstar player Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes). After a series of setbacks for Rayburn and the team, Gil decides to be a guardian angel of a sort and step in and fix some of Bobby’s issues. This includes fighting confrontational fans who seem to be throwing Bobby off after an injury and threatening rival player Juan Primo (Benicio del Toro), who controls Bobby’s favorite jersey number. The confrontation with Primo ends in murder and from that both Gil and Bobby hurtle towards each other in inexplicable ways that ends with a movie that is a lesser entry for all involved and the decade itself. The Fan, directed by Tony Scott (his only dud in my opinion) simply is not a good movie. It’s not a good suspense film, not a good stalker flick and very much not a good baseball movie. Honestly, rewatching it here was an actual chore.
This all-Region release from Imprint (#537) is not very special—even if you end up with the limited slipcase edition. The only extra is a trailer that looks to be archived from a news outlet’s EPK collection, complete with burned in title. The video presentation is so similar to the previous Region A Mill Creek release, my guess is that it’s the same transfer. It looks okay for what it is and based on the film’s status as an embarrassing flop there are probably not many clamoring to do a full restoration or 4K upgrade. Sound is English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with a Linear PCM 2.0 in support (and English subs). Much better than the video, but not a reason to chase this edition down. Unless of course, you are that lone The Fan fan, then have at it.
- Todd Doogan