The Perfect Storm (2000/Blu-ray/Warner Bros.)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B+     Extras: B-     Film: B-

 

 

Quite a while after the fall of the HD-DVD format and being one of the very first titles with a higher-definition Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, Wolfgang Petersen’s The Perfect Storm (2000) has finally been issued in the Blu-ray format and it is a welcome catch-up edition.  For more on the film itself, you can go to this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3800/The+Perfect+Storm+(HD-DVD)

 

 

Before it was reissued in Blu-ray, Warner reps were saying this would have an upgraded HD master, but the 1080p 2.35 X 1 image (shot by John Seale, A.C.S., A.S.C.) and all we really get is a slight clean up, so there are some flaws here that hold back his work.  The picture is still a bit off in its color throughout, plus there are some other pixel issues in parts of the frame throughout and the digital work is nothing awful, yet nothing great.  The picture could still look a bit better, but is still better than the standard DVD with larger Video Black, Grey Scale and definition issues.  The slight cleaning makes it more watchable, but still not as good as the 35mm prints I saw it in.

 

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix holds up well considering the sound codec is more commonplace and this is still one of the few film on Blu-ray issued in theaters at its best as a full 8-track sound film in Sony’ SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) format.  You also get the same extras, though a new one or two would have been nice.  Still, this is one of the better back-catalog releases of a newer such film and worth having in your collection.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo