ADDITION: Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray (July 2012): Firstly, because of the intrusive timeline feature I wasn't able to get exact frame matches on all captures. Surprisingly, this Universal Blu-ray is encoded with VC-1 - which we don't often see anymore as most 1080P transfer use AVC. Being such a dark film, it is hard to notice strong visual improvement over the capable SD-DVD, but on a large screen system - it becomes more evident. The Blu-ray is transferred in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (DVD was 1.78) and shows a shade more information in the frame. It is marginally brighter with more layered contrast. Colors are tighter but don't stray far from the DVD-exported scheme. There is some depth in the day-lit, outdoor, sequences (interviewing perspective team members). It is dual-layered with a high bitrate and I don't discount some digitization but it's not enough to quibble over.

Universal supply a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track at 2721 kbps. It has some buoyancy but there isn't a plethora of aggressive separations. What effects are exported to the rear speakers are often subtle and atmospheric. There is, however, a ton of music in the film - thanks to 'The Disco Boys' characters we get snippets of plenty of that genre including The Trammps's "Disco Inferno", A Taste of Honey's "Boogie Oogie Oogie", Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell", The Bee Gees's "Night Fever", Chic's "Le Freak", KC & The Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)", Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" - also fittingly is The B-52's "Planet Claire" and plenty more sounding very impressive in lossless - even if they are only short segments of the songs. There are optional subtitles on the Region FREE Blu-ray disc.

In regards to extras we keep the light director commentary, the amusing deleted scenes and the 'making of...' - lose the 'origins' from the DVD but gain an HD trailer. The Blu-ray is also 'My Scenes' capable.

I love this film every time I see it. I'll bet I watch it every 6-months or so. Great cast and writing - a super fun film that I wouldn't pass up in 1080P. Recommended - especially at this reasonable price.

***

ON THE DVD: The first noted detail of the image is that it is exceptionally dark, but I always prefer this as far more natural look than contrast boosted transfers. This is obviously how the film looked theatrically and it definitely suits the style of the detailed art production. Colors are intentionally on the dull side but sharpness is there and overall the quality is very consistent.

The supplements are very good - the director commentary shares many production details and some frank anecdotes. There is a 'Spotlight on Location' featurette and about 7 minutes of deleted scenes.

Overall this is a well above-average DVD at a good price. The film is very addictive and charming in its own juvenile way. Although it won't make our Essentials DVDs listing - we still recommend it for some great fun. 

Gary W. Tooze