Darkman
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Released: 7/31/07
Review By: Joshua Noyes
Picture Quality - 2/5
Audio Quality - 3.5/5
Special Features - 0/5
Overall - 2.5/5
Comments: For this release Universal went with a VC-1 Transfer on to an HD30. Unfortunately this transfer is a mess in-terms of PQ. I do not beleive I have ever seen this much film debris on any release from either format. There is debris in nearly every scene of the movie. Sometimes you can even see fibers/hairs in the print. I also noticed this transfer seems to bounce ever so slightly up and down, much like "Field Of Dreams" did. The image was also inconsistent. Some scenes were as sharp as a razor and some as soft as a tissue. Colors also seemed somewhat washed-out and less vibrant as compared to other HD releases of movies from this timeframe. Grain also comes and goes. It becomes very evident in dark scenes where as noise becomes evident in bright/white scenes. I am VERY let down by the PQ of this release. As far as AQ goes, I lsitened using the Dolby TrueHD option and it sounded good. The Center Channel presented the dialog in a clear and powerful manner, the Surrounds received consistent action and the LFE was used in a precise and effective manner. I can not however recommend this purchase as there was little to no effort put in to this release from Universal. ****Also, there are no Special Features on this release****
