Now I'm bummed. I've been holding off on buying the non anamorphic SD DVD and was going to add this one the front of the line of HD discs to buy when I finally get around to getting a player. However after reading your review I might not.
I watched it tonight, and it was visually disappointing. The best you can say is that at least the Blu-ray is anamorphic while the SD version isn't (or at least the one I had wasn't). I did think the sharpness and dimensionality improved a bit in the second half (basically after they get to the river), but for my money, this is the worst Fox transfer in my collection. The sound of the explosions is impressive, but I recall the sound on the SD version as also being very nice. I don't have it any more so I couldn't do a direct comparison.
The HD previews of some of their other upcoming releases like PHONE BOOTH and PLANET OF THE APES looked wonderfully sharp and really popped.
Well this bites the big one. I have the old non-anamorphic DVD which I have been itching to replace. Yes this isn't the greatest movie, but as a big John Woo fan I'll support almost anything he puts on film. And I have to admit, I get a kick out of the Travolta/Slater relationship. This came out before Travolta's schtick became tiring. And as a Raider fan, I've just gotta love Howie Long's horrid acting
I got burned buying Fifth Element (bad master source) and Stargate (no alien/Egyptian subtitles) on BD. I don't think I'll splurge for another $25 mistake. :frowning:
I picked this up last week mainly for two reasons: It was only $12.99 at Best Buy and its an anamorphic transfer. I agree with the review - its not the best-looking blu-ray I've ever seen. Some scenes look great while others are too soft for the format. I'm reluctant to purchase any of Fox's BDs of older films because of the poor transfers - why are they using what looks like Standard-def masters for Blu-ray?