Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

NOTE: No DUBs on the Alternate Ending Version - only English track accessible

• Prelude to a Dream (6:15)

• Hitting it Hard - interview with Paul McCartney (1:36)

• Gag Reel (5:30)

• Mask Test with optional Crowe commentary (3:24)

• Kurt Russell Single Take with optional Crowe commentary  (6:10)
• Photo Gallery with option introduction by Photographer Neal Preston (intro: 2:51 + gallery: 18:13)
• Music Video "Afrika Shox" by Leftfield/ Afrika Bambaataa (3:59)

• Unreleased Teaser Trailer (1:43)

• International Trailer (2:51)

• Supplements credits text page

Bitrate:

Description: Tom Cruise delivers one of his finest performances in this unforgettably powerful film that reunites him with his Jerry Maguire director, Cameron Crowe. Young, handsome and wealthy, publishing tycoon David Aames (Cruise) can have anything his heart desires. Still, David's charmed life seems incomplete. One night, David meets the woman of his dreams (Penélope Cruz) and believes he may have found the missing piece. But a fateful encounter with a jealous lover (Cameron Diaz) suddenly sends David's world out of control, rocketing him on a roller-coaster ride of romance, sex, suspicion and dreams...to a shocking, final awakening you will never forget.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from NY Times located HERE

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

Vanilla Sky, after a number of faux-release dates, finally gets released on Blu-ray by Paramount.  The theatrical version is seamlessly branched with the 'alternate ending' version, with essentially the same bitrate but there was an issue. The branching moves over with about 20-minutes of the film left (since that is where the differences begin), but the 1080P quality alters to be significantly less in the 'alt' version sequence starting with 20-minutes left in the film. It was even highly noticeable on my 40 inch system and dramatically on my 60". I also had trouble obtaining screen captures of this to identify it to you. It almost looks like an upscale of SD. The title of the film is at the ending - and even that quality is affected. This is an unusual problem. I doubt it is a mistake although my usual software crapping-out may be a sign that it is. Perhaps the footage of the 'alt' only exists in SD? Could that be true? The theatrical and most of the alt (they are the same as they are seamlessly branched) is quite strong (see captures below). Crisp, tight, excellent contrast... it looks beautiful on the dual-layered disc with supportive bitrate. This Blu-ray 'theatrical cut' and majority portion of the 'alt' is impressive in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio.  But please heed my warning of the last 20-minutes of the 'alt' cut - is massively different from the rest of the transfer's visual quality.

As told to us in email "You are absolutely correct that the picture quality of the Alternate Ending does not compare to the transfer of the film itself, simply because we did not have access to the original negative of the dailies from the film when we were in production of the Blu-ray, and there were no HD transfers done of that version of the film back in 2001, since it was never the final version of the film. We worked from the highest quality video sources possible, mixed from the best sound sources available, and ultimately the decision was made to include the Alternate Ending on the Blu-ray in its entirety simply because we felt the material was considerably different from the theatrical release, and would be fascinating viewing for fans of the film, despite the downgrade in picture quality." (Thanks!)

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paramount use a robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround for both versions. There are plenty of effects from the car scenes to separated external noise and music in bars and the score by Nancy Wilson (Almost Famous) - along with a cornucopia of other music including Radiohead, Red House Painters, The Impressions, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., U2, The Rolling Stones, Todd Rundgren, The Beach Boys, Sinéad O'Connor and Paul McCartney's theme song - all sounding marvelously rich and deep via the lossless. NOTE: there are only DUBs (Dolby French and Spanish) for the Theatrical version. The 'Alt-ending' version only has English audio (similar DTS-HD surround), but also offers the commentary and both have optional subtitles. My Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras :

We get the same feature commentary from the 2002 DVD by Cameron Crowe and Nancy Wilson with a smidgeon of Tom Cruise via phone and it is available on both versions. Also repeated from the 13-year old DVD are the 6-minute Prelude to a Dream featurette, the brief Hitting it Hard interview with Paul McCartney, the Gag Reel, Unreleased Teaser Trailer and Photo Gallery. What is new are 13 Alternate Scenes, running almost 25-minutes, with optional commentary by Crowe, a short scene of the Mask Test - also with optional Crowe commentary and 6-minutes of Kurt Russell 'Single Take' with an excellent commentary by the director. There is also a 3-minute International Trailer, Music Video "Afrika Shox" by Leftfield/ Afrika Bambaataa and 'Supplements Credits' text page.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I love it when films provoke divisive reactions. You can find critics who revere Vanilla Sky  quite highly... and those that were not at all impressed. I am in the former camp. I thought Crowe's adaptation of Open Your Eyes created a fascinating film experience - well beyond mainstream Hollywood expectations.  The flaw in the Blu-ray isn't as impacting for those only interested in the theatrical version. I honestly think they should not have added the 'alt-ending' if they couldn't offer it in similar HD quality. I still am intrigued by the film and feel it is a Blu-ray, with its substantial extras, that many will want to own. I DO revisit this film! 

Gary Tooze

June 24th, 2015

 

Re-released on Blu-ray by Paramount in November 2021: