End Of Days/Miami Vice (2006)/U-571 (Universal Blu-rays)
Picture:
B+/B/B Sound: B+/B/B+ Extras: B-/C/C Film: B/C/C
Now that
Universal is reissuing all the titles they originally issued on the now-defunct
HD-DVD format, it is interesting to see how ambitious they were in putting out
what they thought would be titles that would sell the format and being the last
studio to commit to Blu-ray, it was certainly an all-out rollout of some of
their most interesting films. Three more
of those titles, ones one would think of as slick or on the cutting edge, are
now on Blu-ray: Peter Hyams’ supernatural thriller End Of Days with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Mann’s HD-Shot Miami Vice (2006) revival and Johnathan
Mostow’s underwater submarine thriller U-571.
We
covered those HD-DVDs and in all cases was the first time we got them for
review in any format and they are essentially the same releases, but all with
the upgrade of DTS HD Master Audio (MA) Lossless, where Days had Dolby TrueHD, Vice
only Dolby Digital Plus and 571 with
Dolby Digital Plus and regular DTS.
Links to
the previous HD-DVD reviews:
End Of Days (1999)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4350/End+Of+Days+(HD-DVD)
Miami Vice (2006)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4689/Miami+Vice+(2006+Feature+Film
U-571 (2000)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3777/U-571+(HD-DVD)
Days is the real winner in the
improvement category, with a great soundmaster that is even more dynamic in DTS
MA 5.1 than True HD 5.1, while Vice’s
DTS MA 5.1 only reveals more problems with its soundmix and U-571 remains a bit overrated and the
DTS MA 5.1 bares this out. To be more
specific about Days, the picture is
the likely same master as the HD-DVD, but it seems as little better here, while
the True HD 5.1 mix has some more breathing room.
The
differences may not be spectacular, but they offer enough of a margin of
improvement that the film was more involving than all predecessors and that is
reason enough to celebrate.
- Nicholas Sheffo
