Deep Impact Blu-ray - Téa Leoni Morgan Freeman

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Impact" )

directed by Mimi Leder
USA 1998

MSNBC reporter Jenny Lerner, while investigating a high-level scandal in Washington, stumbles upon the story that a comet is on a collision course with Earth. A year earlier, amateur teenage astronomer Leo Biederman discovered a new comet that is the one now certified to hit within the year. U.S. President Beck announces to the world that a spaceship called the Messiah will blast off in two months to plant nuclear bombs in the comet in hope of blowing it to bits. This plan fails, splitting the comet into two sections. The smaller will hit off the east coast creating a tital wave that will destroy New York and Washington while the larger portion will land in Canada causing an ELE, or Extinction Level Event, complete with Earth-enshrouding clouds of dust that will wipe out all life. Declaring martial law, President Beck reveals that a network of caves is being built to accommodate 1 million citizens, most to be chosen by a national lottery.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 7th, 1998 - Mexico (premiere)

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Comparison:

Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Paramount (Collector's Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Paramount - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) Paramount - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Paramount (CE) - Region 1- NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Paramount - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Paramount Region 1 - NTSC	Paramount (CE) Region 1 - NTSC	Paramount Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:00:56	2:01:00	2:01:11.639
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.55 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.96 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,229,984,130 bytes Feature: 38,157,017,088 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.34 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Paramount
Bitrate: Paramount (CE)
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 2.0)	Dolby TrueHD Audio English 3962 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3962 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps) DUBs: Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles	None	English, and none	English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Paramount Aspect Ratio: Widescreen - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical trailer • Teaser Trailer DVD Release Date: January 8th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 30	Release Information: Studio: Paramount Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Director Commentary • Featurette - 'Preparing For The End' (8:55) • Featurette - 'Making An Impact' (12:10) • Featurette - 'Creating the Perfect Traffic Jam' (6:15) DVD Release Date: October 5th, 2004 Double lock - Keep Case Chapters: 30	Release Information: Studio: Paramount 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 42,229,984,130 bytes Feature: 38,157,017,088 bytes Video Bitrate: 32.34 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Director Commentary • Featurette - 'Preparing For The End' (8:55) • Featurette - 'Making An Impact' (12:10) • Featurette - 'Creating the Perfect Traffic Jam' (6:15) • Parting Thoughts (Mimi Leder) - 4:50 • Photo Gallery • Teaser Trailer • Trailer in HD (3:42) Blu-ray Release Date: September 14th, 2009 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 30

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION Paramount Blu-ray - September 2009: The image takes a dramatic swing - mostly for the very positive. The 1080P improvement far outstrips the move from original DVD to 16X9 DVD. At times, colors dramatically improve and often shift to the more realistic and brighter. The new Blu-ray shows some depth and grain and possibly some minor tinkering. Overall it looks tremendous beside the DVD - effects can appear strong - sometimes less stellar due to the film's 11-year age. Paramount seem to have done this title a good shake and the move to HD has done wonders for the presentation appearance.

Audio is a barn-burner with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 at a whopping 3962 kbps. The generous effects sounds - especially in the disaster sequences are abundant with intense bass. The rocket launch is aggressively dynamic and on more than one occasion I turned down the volume - only to turn it back up for the dialogue. Subtitles are now a livable white and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras are more or less the same with the informative Mimi Leder commentary and three production featurettes. We get an extra 'Parting Thought's led by Leder discussing the difficulty in cutting the film down in length. It lasts less than 5-minutes. We also get a theatrical trailer in HD.

I've always liked this film - a solid popcorn night in the home theater. It's about double the cost of the CE DVD, but everything gets better with A/V being a significant improvement. If you have a decent set-up this is a good film to own with some of the destruction being entertaining demo material - depending on your audience.

***

ON THE DVDs: Well, it looks like they anamorphically enhanced the image. That is about it. Aside from not being 16X9 the old release wasn't too bad. Colors are the same. Contrast looks about the same too. Of course, the new CE has some decent, if not groundbreaking, extras including a director commentary. Tube owners have no reason to double dip excepting if they want those god-awful yellow subtitles or the extras. I recommend buying it as it is so cheap anyway. This film is surely worth it and the commentary has some revealing moments.