This is one of my all-time favorite comedies and I was distressed to read all the bad reviews of the Blu-ray transfer prior to receiving my copy. After sampling most of the chapters, I'm happy with the results. Is it reference quality? Nope. However, there's also very little tampering present and a nicely detailed image that retains a film-like appearance.
There is some print damage, grain, and dirt present, but I don't realistically expect every film I like to receive a complete restoration or digital clean-up prior to a Blu-ray transfer. That's not realistic based on the likely sales volume of titles like Wanda.
The detail present on Wanda is so much better than any previous video version (and I've owned them all) that I have a hard time not being pleased with the results. This was (amazingly) a low budget production shot quickly and economically. The fact that it became an enormous hit in the 80s has little to do with the fact that it's never going to look all sparkly and new unless someone invests a pile of cash to do it and I don't see MGM doing that.
There is no main menu, the film starts right after the copyright warnings. There are 29 chapters and all of the extras from my previous 2-disc DVD have been ported over in SD. Best of all is a running commentary from John Cleese recorded several years ago. It's very informative and has a ton of great inside pieces of information about AFCW that I found hugely entertaining.
This was definitely a low-cost transfer probably done from a 10 year old or older master. Do I wish a complete clean-up had been done? Sure. Barring that, though, this Blu-ray will do for a long, long time. For $10, this was an absolute no-brainer to me.
