thescrounger
08-08-2006, 21:41
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/robocop.html#HDBonus
Alas, this first-ever Blu-ray release continues 'RoboCop's losing streak, with a genuinely poor visual presentation whose flaws are only exacerbated by the high resolution of HD.
The most recent DVD release of 'RoboCop' came from MGM, and this Blu-ray transfer looks as if it was sourced from the same master. Though I am more than content that a film from 1987 would look grainy, there is a fair amount of dirt and blemishes on the print as well. (Faring the worst are any effects shots involving mattes or stop-motion animation -- they look pretty dreadful.) Colors suffer from a dated and inconsistent appearance -- oversaturated and plugged up one moment, faded the next. Fleshtones are also often wildly inaccurate, with some scenes appearing so out-of-whack that the faces of actors looked like they were drawn with red crayon. Detail is also poor, with the image flat and two-dimensional throughout. Shadow delineation is even worse, with darker areas falling off into black and little fine detail visible. Some edge enhancement appears to have been liberally applied as well, with slight halos visible around sharply-contrasted objects.
Don't think I'd bother upgrading this film to HD until some company has had a proper go at trying to improve the transfer.
Alas, this first-ever Blu-ray release continues 'RoboCop's losing streak, with a genuinely poor visual presentation whose flaws are only exacerbated by the high resolution of HD.
The most recent DVD release of 'RoboCop' came from MGM, and this Blu-ray transfer looks as if it was sourced from the same master. Though I am more than content that a film from 1987 would look grainy, there is a fair amount of dirt and blemishes on the print as well. (Faring the worst are any effects shots involving mattes or stop-motion animation -- they look pretty dreadful.) Colors suffer from a dated and inconsistent appearance -- oversaturated and plugged up one moment, faded the next. Fleshtones are also often wildly inaccurate, with some scenes appearing so out-of-whack that the faces of actors looked like they were drawn with red crayon. Detail is also poor, with the image flat and two-dimensional throughout. Shadow delineation is even worse, with darker areas falling off into black and little fine detail visible. Some edge enhancement appears to have been liberally applied as well, with slight halos visible around sharply-contrasted objects.
Don't think I'd bother upgrading this film to HD until some company has had a proper go at trying to improve the transfer.