Michael Osadciw
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2003
- Messages
- 1,460
- Real Name
- Michael Osadciw
ACrime is a disease. Meet the Cure. Sylvester Stallone plays Cobra, a tough cop trying to rid the city of the worst criminals. When a series of murders continues daily, the cops only have one lead - a girl who is being hunted, and Cobra is the only one to protect her and end the rise of the new order.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Packaging/Materials: keepcase, no insert
Year: 1986
Rating: R
Running Time: 88 minutes
THE FEATURE
Video 1080p 1.78:1
AUDIO
English DTS 5.1 Master Audio, 2.0 French, Italiano, Castellano, Portugues, Cesky, Polski, Russian
SUBTITLES
English SDH, French, Italiano, Caste, Nederlands, Japanese, Espanol, Portugues, Ceske, Dansk,
Suomi, Greek, Norsk, Polski, Russian, Svenska, and two other Asian languages I can't decipher.
The Feature: 2.5/5
After Rocky and Rambo, Sylvester Stallone writes the screenplay of man who is the cure to the disease of crime – Marion Cobretti, aka “Cobra”. In a city where crime is rampant, a new order is trying to emerge. Bodies are found day after day at complete random with no connection between people. They are brutally murdered and the police force is at odds as to who the serial killer is and where he will strike next. Failing to kill the most recent target, a fashion model named Ingrid, the police find that there could be more than one person involved. Villains kill mercilessly in an attempt to weed out the weak leaving only the strong to survive. This is the new order.
Ingrid is now an even greater target as the killers don’t want to be recognized. Cobretti wants to investigate further against the wishes of his superiors, but he knows that he’s the only one competent to protect Ingrid from being killed. Car chases, bullets, and motorbike madness completes the film’s action sequence to the climatic ending where we are to decide whether to spare those who kill and respect the justice system or to act upon our instincts and become murderers just like them.
Video Quality: 2/5
The dated image has been reformatted to 1.78:1. Black level is weak throughout lessening the overall contrast in scenes. The colour range is also limited compared to today’s films but has the look of many 1980s films. Compression artifacts and edge enhancement are absent and the presence of grain throughout the film gives this disc a good warm and fuzzy movie going experience. Resolution is quite good with sharp details and good depth. The only puzzling artifact I found was in a few dark shots. Black vertical lines, blacker than the black in the film, stretch across the screen momentarily and then disappear. This can be seen in the open shots of the film and in a few other instances. Still, this is undoubtedly the best this film has ever looked!
Audio Quality: 3/5
The film has been given an upgraded DTS 5.1 Master Audio lossless soundtrack from the original Ultra Stereo mix. It sounds surprisingly good, and while sounding dated, the effects are spread among all channels. Dialogue, gun shots, music, effects all sound a bit thin and lacking in dynamic range and the LFE channel gets a bit of a workout. But the soundtrack is good for what it is and doesn’t detract from the experience.
Special Features: 1/5
In addition to the commentary by director George P. Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Tombstone), there is a short 8 minute Making of Featurette that was shot with camcorders behind the scenes. Despite its short time, I enjoyed this little piece as a bit of film history. The movie isn’t complex; it’s short, action filled, and not too deep. This is what we see behind the scenes unlike the highly complex action films shot today. The theatrical trailer is also included. Both features are in 480i and 1.33:1.
In the end...
Stallone and the bad guys. Who will win? With a laser mount submachine gun and a pearl handled Colt .45, Cobra blasts his way through the genre and remains an icon of the 1980’s action flicks. Warner has kept the original cover art for this Blu-ray disc which is a smart move as it’s the one I’ve always remembered on video store racks. Appearing again on the racks in 2011, this is the best looking and sounding Cobra we’ve seen to date.
Mike Osadciw
11.08.04
COBRA
Release Date: August 16, 2011Distributor: Warner Bros.
Packaging/Materials: keepcase, no insert
Year: 1986
Rating: R
Running Time: 88 minutes
THE FEATURE
Video 1080p 1.78:1
AUDIO
English DTS 5.1 Master Audio, 2.0 French, Italiano, Castellano, Portugues, Cesky, Polski, Russian
SUBTITLES
English SDH, French, Italiano, Caste, Nederlands, Japanese, Espanol, Portugues, Ceske, Dansk,
Suomi, Greek, Norsk, Polski, Russian, Svenska, and two other Asian languages I can't decipher.
The Feature: 2.5/5
After Rocky and Rambo, Sylvester Stallone writes the screenplay of man who is the cure to the disease of crime – Marion Cobretti, aka “Cobra”. In a city where crime is rampant, a new order is trying to emerge. Bodies are found day after day at complete random with no connection between people. They are brutally murdered and the police force is at odds as to who the serial killer is and where he will strike next. Failing to kill the most recent target, a fashion model named Ingrid, the police find that there could be more than one person involved. Villains kill mercilessly in an attempt to weed out the weak leaving only the strong to survive. This is the new order.
Ingrid is now an even greater target as the killers don’t want to be recognized. Cobretti wants to investigate further against the wishes of his superiors, but he knows that he’s the only one competent to protect Ingrid from being killed. Car chases, bullets, and motorbike madness completes the film’s action sequence to the climatic ending where we are to decide whether to spare those who kill and respect the justice system or to act upon our instincts and become murderers just like them.
Video Quality: 2/5
The dated image has been reformatted to 1.78:1. Black level is weak throughout lessening the overall contrast in scenes. The colour range is also limited compared to today’s films but has the look of many 1980s films. Compression artifacts and edge enhancement are absent and the presence of grain throughout the film gives this disc a good warm and fuzzy movie going experience. Resolution is quite good with sharp details and good depth. The only puzzling artifact I found was in a few dark shots. Black vertical lines, blacker than the black in the film, stretch across the screen momentarily and then disappear. This can be seen in the open shots of the film and in a few other instances. Still, this is undoubtedly the best this film has ever looked!
Audio Quality: 3/5
The film has been given an upgraded DTS 5.1 Master Audio lossless soundtrack from the original Ultra Stereo mix. It sounds surprisingly good, and while sounding dated, the effects are spread among all channels. Dialogue, gun shots, music, effects all sound a bit thin and lacking in dynamic range and the LFE channel gets a bit of a workout. But the soundtrack is good for what it is and doesn’t detract from the experience.
Special Features: 1/5
In addition to the commentary by director George P. Cosmatos (Rambo: First Blood Part II, Tombstone), there is a short 8 minute Making of Featurette that was shot with camcorders behind the scenes. Despite its short time, I enjoyed this little piece as a bit of film history. The movie isn’t complex; it’s short, action filled, and not too deep. This is what we see behind the scenes unlike the highly complex action films shot today. The theatrical trailer is also included. Both features are in 480i and 1.33:1.
In the end...
Stallone and the bad guys. Who will win? With a laser mount submachine gun and a pearl handled Colt .45, Cobra blasts his way through the genre and remains an icon of the 1980’s action flicks. Warner has kept the original cover art for this Blu-ray disc which is a smart move as it’s the one I’ve always remembered on video store racks. Appearing again on the racks in 2011, this is the best looking and sounding Cobra we’ve seen to date.
Mike Osadciw
11.08.04