Bull Durham (1988)/Escape
From New York (1981)/Kalifornia
(1993/MGM Blu-rays)
Picture:
B & B-/B & B- & C+/B- & C+ & C Sound: B & B-/B/B & C+ Extras: B/C-/D Films: B/B/C
MGM has
issued three of their catalog titles in Blu-ray with older DVD copies so
consumers can enjoy both. This new trend
is not bad, but some may find it redundant, yet it is a way to appeal to buyers
just the same. Two of the titles are
winners, the other a disappointment from a brief-lived studio. The first two films are films we have covered
before:
Bull Durham
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/834/Bull+Durham+(MGM+S.E.)
Escape From New York
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/806/Escape+From+New+York+-+Special+Edi
Bull Durham and Escape From New York continue to entertain and hold up, with Durham
still the target of certain political interests and Escape still one of the better action films from the overrated
1980s. While Durham
includes all the extras from its DVD edition, Escape sadly has only its trailer, which is a big, unfortunate
mistake. Still, they make good Blu-rays.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 MPEG-2 @ 19.2 MBPS digital High Definition image on Durham and 1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 30 MBPS
digital High Definition image on Escape
are pleasant surprises, looking better than they ever have on DVD and despite
some softness, grain and flaws, delivering some fine shots throughout each
presentation. Yes, they could each use a
little more work, but only Criterion-licensed editions would ever look better.
That
brings us to Music Video director Dominic Sena’s first feature film, Kalifornia, a 1993 would-be serial
killer film in which David Duchovny (The
X-Files) plays a man who decides to delve into the lives of serial killers
by visiting the sites of their murders, not known one of the people joining him
is one. Made at the height of everyone
trying to ride The Silence Of The Lambs bandwagon,
the film was made by fledgling PolyGram Pictures which was imploding by a lack
of creative guidance before being folded.
Sena did
a poor job here and would only get worse with a horrid remake of Gone In Sixty Seconds, the dumb
pseudo-thriller Swordfish, 13 Graves
and goofy thriller Whiteout. This is poor, yet still his best feature by
default. Brad Pitt (before he really
became big) and Juliette Lewis (repeating herself a bit here) were used to market
the film, but to no avail. It did not do
well and never built a following, but now you can see for yourself how lame it
gets thanks to the awful Tim Metcalfe script and the on-screen talent wasted. There are no extras.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 AVC @ 31.5 MBPS digital High Definition image on Kalifornia is the weakest, shot in Super 35mm film format and
looking poorest in color, detail and depth despite being the newest film on the
list. Director of Photography Bojan
Bazelli (Hairspray, Patty Hearst,
Body Snatchers) cannot save this mess either, with a styling approach that
looks dated and was never that effective.
He has done better work and made better films.
The anamorphically
enhanced DVD versions of all three are below their Blu-ray counterparts, but Kalifornia is lesser by a narrower
margin. All but Durham
also have useless pan and scan 1.33 X 1 DVD flipsides which show how old their
DVD masters really are.
The DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mixes on each Blu-ray are actually really good
for films their age, but Kalifornia
should be the sonic champ when it is not.
It just does not have the sonic superiority or the character and was
likely affected by its budget. In
theaters, Escape was a Dolby System
A-type analog release, while the others were in Dolby more advanced Dolby SR
(Spectral Recording) analog format, though SR might have been a list-minute
afterthought on Kalifornia. You would think a film by a Music Video
director would have great sound too, but you’d be wrong in this case. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on each DVD is also
a cut below the DTS-MA on the Blu-rays, but Durham is one of the few unbotched SR-to-5.1 mixes we have heard
and Escape may have elements that
show their age, but it works well and has a decent soundfield for its age, so
it is an impressive upgrade considering and with more character than many
current 5.1 mixes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
