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

I was always quite enamored with this film owning it on LaserDisc as part of that very minimal library for my Home Theater. The themes of anti-hero non-capitulation, Luke as a Christ-figure and almost satirist stabs at the deep South are all so expressive. Funny, the female characters in the film are but a loving Matriarch, sexual objects (famous car washing scenes and magazine shot of Luke with two models on his arms) or a black lady hanging laundry outdoors - that's it.

The new Deluxe dual-layered SD-DVD edition seems very weak with a lot of softness (possibly DNR) even beside the single-layered 1997 original. It essentially makes the new VC1 encoded Blu-ray appear that much stronger. This new Blu-ray, which also may suffer from some unwanted DNR, holds dominance over the other two editions in all the expect areas. The Blu-ray is tending to the warmer end of the color pallet but corrects the orangey/magenta look of the Deluxe edition skin tones (blecchhh). The old snapper-cased original has some healthy boosting (edge enhancement) and exhibits plenty of undesirable artefacts as well as showing much more dirt and speckles. The Blu-ray appears to be vastly limited in this area although in some monochromatic scenes artefacts still exist on this 40 year-old film (despite the DNR). The Blu-ray detail is, as expected, vastly superior. It has a film-like appearance that I, personally, am very prone to enjoying.  The Blu-ray also carries slightly more information within the frame on all four sides. I toggled back and forth on my DVD players, between the SD and Blu-ray, and the color discrepancies are certainly visible but you tend to notice the vastly improved detail of the 1080P much more. It is, thankfully, quite a jump forward in sharpness. Technically the Blu-ray is single-layered with the feature taking up 21.2 Gig of space.

Audio is the same on the Blu-ray and the Deluxe SD. Warner have become purists in this area now with only a mono offering that is expectantly flat and fairly lifeless. I appreciate and respect this decision although separation of the mono track to stereo or even allowing it to resonate to the center channel might have been a pleasing option. The amazing Lalo Schifrin soundtrack of the film still holds its glory and we have "Plastic Jesus" (performed by Newman himself) and Harry Dean Stanton singing "Just a Closer Walk With Thee", "Cotton Fields" and "Midnight Special". Marvelous.

Extras have the newer editions sharing an interesting commentary by Newman biographer Eric Lax. I like him and he is prepared and professional with an encyclopedic knowledge of the topics he covers. More accolades of Newman - and why shouldn't there be? Also included is a 30 minute featurette on the 'Making of...' and many people have been sought after for sound bites including director Rosenberg, author Pearce and screenwriter Pierson - plus a few of the cast from the film. I enjoyed all the input to further enhance by adoration of Cool Hand Luke. Finally a trailer.

I'm recommending this Blu-ray transfer despite it not being totally pristine. I've seen this film at least 25 times - can recite dialogue by memory - and have never seen it look this good. I'd gladly pay double what Warner are asking. Click on the enlargeable screen grabs and hopefully you will get an idea of how it will look on your system. 

Gary W. Tooze