Three Years of Blu-ray

Last week I discussed the remarkable growth of the Blu-ray high-definition home video format since it was put on the market just three years ago this summer. This week I’ll go over several notable “older” films released to Blu-ray in each year the technology has been available to the public.

“The Terminator” (1984) was among the very first group of films released on Blu-ray back in 2006. James Cameron’s unexpected hit became a cultural icon of the decade, made a star of Arnold Schwarzenegger and spawned much higher budget hi-tech sequels that continue to this day. The literate script makes the most of its limited means by concentrating on its intriguing post-apocalyptic time travel premise, its central characters and memorable imagery.

Picture quality is far better than the DVD version, but not quite up to what newly mastered Blu-ray discs usually deliver. The originally mono soundtrack was effectively remixed for stereo surround. There are few bonus features on the disc, unfortunately, just a couple of featurettes and some deleted scenes, all in standard definition.

“Robocop” (1987) came to Blu-ray in 2007. Another pop cultural classic of its time, Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi crime thriller is a darkly satiric vision of the future that holds up amazingly well on several levels. Its ambivalent depiction of the wonders of modern technology and computers, of a government-dependent populace addicted to sexually exploitive TV shows and infotainment newscasts, of corporate greed disguised as public service, of rampant crime that requires vigilante justice, remains in step with the likes of “Iron Man,” “The Dark Knight,” and “V for Vendetta.” Its implicit fear of technology malfunctions and conflicting software directives is right out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Made before the days of CGI, “Robocop’s” special effects are remarkably effective, its stop-motion robot miniatures more creepily believable than today’s flashy computer-generated variety. And while the film’s “hard-R” graphic violence almost received an X rating in 1987, in today’s context it’s more of a soft R bordering on PG-13.

The Blu-ray’s picture quality is generally good, although many of its dark scenes appear to suffer from digital manipulation that distorts and softens the image with video noise. The original 1.66:1 picture is cropped here to the more common 1.85 ratio. The audio is excellent, with the original 4-channel stereo track as well as a remixed 5.1 track. Extras are almost non-existent, however, with only a trailer (in HD, at least) and trailers to a couple of other films.

In fall of 2008, the experimental documentary “Baraka” (1992), carefully restored from its original 65mm film negative with an extra-high-definition transfer, came out in a Blu-ray edition. The film itself is a mesmerizing, nonlinear and non-narrative journey around the world, presenting a vivid slice of life across numerous cultures and geographic landscapes. Only the Blu-ray format on a large full-HD screen can do justice to the film, unless you happen to have a 70mm film projector in your house.

This disc can serve as a demonstration for the format’s image sharpness and audio clarity. Even Blu-ray can’t reproduce all the detail in a 70mm film print, but this disc shows just how impressive it can be. “Baraka’s” sound is recorded in a 96-kHz uncompressed digital track with higher audio standards than most home stereo systems can reproduce (more than double the range of a CD). Extras are modest but interesting, including a behind-the-scenes documentary that runs over an hour and a seven minute featurette on the film’s restoration.

Last month Paramount released to Blu-ray the movie that made a star of John Travolta and helped make the disco craze into an emblem of the late 70s/early 80s, “Saturday Night Fever” (1977). Despite its reputation as a dance movie, however, the film is actually a relentless and surprisingly bleak slice of life in working class New York that is as much a portrait of the era as “Marty” and “Rebel Without a Cause” were for the 1950s.

The Blu-ray disc reproduces the look and sound of the film admirably (its BeeGees-laden soundtrack now remixed for 5.1 stereo) and includes a director’s commentary plus a generous selection of extras, mostly in HD.

The more catalog classics the studios mine from their vaults for Blu-ray releases, the more people can realize that high-definition pictures have really been around for over a century on something called “film.” HDTV and Blu-ray have approximately the picture resolution of a good 16mm film negative or a typical 35mm film release print. If original film negatives have survived in good condition, a Blu-ray edition of any movie made over the past 85 years or so can look just as good as most movies made today and may even look better.

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Movie: A- Video: B+ Audio: A Extras: C-

ROBOCOP (1987)

Movie: A Video: B Audio: A Extras: D

BARAKA (1992)

Movie: A Video: A+ Audio: A+ Extras: C

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)

Movie: B+ Video: A Audio: A Extras: A