Blue Thunder

[Davidian]

The air above Los Angeles has become a battle ground in this explosive action thriller. Frank Murphy, a courageous and honorable Los Angeles police officer who is chosen to test run Blue Thunder, a high-tech experimental attack helicopter that comes complete with listening devices, camera lenses, and computer files. While flying Blue Thunder, Murphy and his partner, Lymangood discover that the government intends to use the helicopter for corrupt crowd control and surveillance. The top-secret operation is being run by a sinister colonel, who will stop at nothing to keep the devious military conspiracy a secret. In an effort to expose the covert military operation Murphy decides to "borrow" Blue Thunder, flying against military and police aircrafts on a death-defying flight.

Special Features:

• Film Maker's Commentary (Director John Badham & Editor Frank Morris)
• "The Special": Building Blue Thunder (SD 8:07)
• Ride with the Angels: Making Blue Thunder (SD 44:42)
• 1983 Promotional Featurette (SD 8:20)
• Original Theatrical Trailer (SD 3:22)

BDinfo:

Disc Title: Blue Thunder
Disc Size: 23,202,739,376 bytes
Protection: AACS
BD-Java: Yes
Playlist: 01002.MPLS
Size: 20,160,018,432 bytes
Length: 1:49:15.549
Total Bitrate: 24.60 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 19992 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English / Dolby TrueHD Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1616 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Audio: English / Dolby Digital Audio / 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitle: English / 35.398 kbps
Subtitle: English / 32.443 kbps

[Rick Grimes]

Just watched the movie today after picking it up on release (hadn't watched it since the '80s) and it wasn't as "cool" as I remembered it, but it wasn't that bad either. Great to see Roy Scheider at his best and the tension between Scheider and McDowell was handled well. Drama was not overdone. Romantic scenes didn't feel tacked on. Good build up to the action ending. Believable until then. However, the action sequences at the end of the film requires some suspension of disbelief and was a little bit over the top. enjoyed it. 3.5/5.

PQ - 4/5. Some light grain still visible through most of the feature, use of DNR evident, but some shots look washed out and lacking detail. Apart from a slight scratch evident near the start, the print was undamaged. Looks like ViaVision has used the Sony transfer utiised in it's initial US release (not the Mill Creek version). Aussie version has the same extras.
While the Sony release is on a BD-50, contains more extras and has a higher bit rate, I assume ViaVision has compressed the master prepared by Sony (to fit on a BD-50).

AQ- 4/5. Great to hear an 80's movie converted from stereo to 5.1 so proficiently. Right from the start, sounds of radio traffic hit the back speakers to great effect and the helicopter blades surround the sound field throughout. Jets, helicopters flying over and gunshots whizzing by go from the fronts to backs (and vice versa) nicely. Only issue I had was that the rears where overused occasionally for ambience type noise when it wasn't required.

Extras- 3/5. Contains theatrical trailer, a couple of making-of's and a promotional featurette. Includes commentaries. All which can be found on the US Sony release.

Please note: There are no subtitle options available from either the pop-up menu or main menu. Using your remote, you can access Subtitle 1: English, that is dialogue only. Subtitle 2: English SDH. As well as dialogue, the subby has the names of who is talking before the dialogue and has the obligatory descriptions of sounds eg. Man shouting indistinctly, Woman screaming etc.

Overall, a good buy at less than $20 RRP. A blast from the past. Recomended.