Total Recall: Blu-ray

[captainjoe]

Total Recall
Blu-ray





Specs:

-Full 1080P picture
-English 5.1
-English DTS HD Resolution lossless sound
-Menu introduction, Main menu, pop-up menus


Video:

Total Recall is presented for the first time on Blu-ray in its proper 1.85:1 aspect ratio. This is the exact same transfer used in 2001 for the Limited edition DVD so those expecting a new master will be disappointed. I was expecting a lot less from this disc but was pleasently surprised by it. The scenes you'd expect to look spectacular in HD such as the outdoor mars shots don't look too good but the other shots like the breakfast scene look pretty damn good. The flaws of the 2001 transfer like the grain and dirt blemishes still plague the screen but there is some strong detail. This isn't the most detailed Blu-ray out there and the movie could definately look better if given a new full restoration, but this is a good looking disc and with such a cheap price one should have no problem picking it up.

Sound:

Presented in lossless DTS, the sound field is quite good with nice balance and feel. Great base at the end sequence. Bullets wizz to the rears. The special sound effects are properly balanced throughout the set-up. This is a decent soundtrack for a 17 year old movie. But it just can't compete to new movies. Having the movie uncompressed is great. The sound spikes to about 1.5 MBPS and this really does make a difference. Lossless sound really is great and I like seeing more and more releasing utilizing it to its full potential. It's just that the soundtrack is a little dated by today's standards.

Menus:

Lionsgate has a very cool menu intoduction. The Lionsgate logo plays through and then the logo turns into the side of a mountain on mars which then pans up to show mars in all its glory. The options are Play Movie or Main Menu. There is a counter at the top saying your movie will start in 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds etc. Unique idea. The main menu is basic with all the options being displayed on screen. There is a menu lesson which is a video similar to the Rekall commercial.
The pop-up menus are easy to use but they do take up a large portion of the screen.

Extras:

Just the Visions of Mars feature from the DVD. Is it too much to ask for all the DVD extras?


Final Thoughts:

Video: 7/10
Audio: 6.5/10
Menus: 8/10
Extras: 2/10

[EvaUnit02]

Extras:

Just the Visions of Mars feature from the DVD. Is it too much to ask for all the DVD extras?

Lionsgate release, yes? No excuse not to include at least the Arnie/Paul commentary.

At least they included lossless audio.

[EvaUnit02]

Why didn't you get the French HD-DVD? A lot of people say that it is better than the BD.

[romerojpg]

I have read the commentary wasnt used for one BIG reason, they would have to pay Arnioe another $30,000!!!!! no wonder they didnt put it on. Its a joke stars can demand so much cash for 2 hours of their life to record a commentary!

I like the transfer on the old dvd, its quality and the grain I dont mind at all. The HD version compared to that how exactly is it? more detailed and shows up flaws in the special effects?

[grim_tales]

Another $30.000 to reuse the same commentary? A joke IMO.

[romerojpg]

Well he is a greedy bugger thats why a lot of HD dvds are not carrying over extras, it costs to much to re issue them its all down to hard cash. Sadly. Considering was paid $75,000 to do the commentary in the first place (a record figure for a commentary), they should not have to pay him again.

Some stars do it for free! becuase they like the fans! not becuase they are greedy bastards, its not as if Arnie is short of a bob or two.

[grim_tales]

he he true

[captainjoe]

Why didn't you get the French HD-DVD? A lot of people say that it is better than the BD.

I was actually thinking of doing that. This was on sale for a good price so I decided to get it.

[captainjoe]

I like the transfer on the old dvd, its quality and the grain I dont mind at all. The HD version compared to that how exactly is it? more detailed and shows up flaws in the special effects?

There's a scene at the beginning when they're having breakfast, Lori turns the channel on the TV to that nature sequence. The blocks behind Quaid that expand the screen are green tinted until the channel changes. I never noticed this in standard definition. Other than that there's no flaws from effects that show up.
Just imagine that transfer but 6X the resolution. I think it turned out perfectly well. There's no doubting this is high definition. Many scenes show strong resolution and detail. When Richter meets with Cohagen in his Mars office I was very impressed with the picture quality and definition.

[gasteropod]

Why didn't you get the French HD-DVD? A lot of people say that it is better than the BD.

Apparently the HD-DVD has better picture quality, BUT the audio is a higher pitch, ala PAL sound.

[bradavon]

Does that mean it's some kind of standards conversion? As HD shouldn't have a pitch issue.

[gasteropod]

I believe so.

[Markgway]

"Consider that a divorce"

The best one-liner in any Arnie movie.

[gojensen]

There's nothing stopping the Frenchies from using 1080p50 on HD-DVD. That would mean a PAL HD master - presumably for broadcast as CanalDigital (or whatever they're called) is one of the few that want to push HD into the homes...

However it's a sad day for my HD hopes if this is true.

(Yes p50 would mean 25 fps messup and pitch corrections all over...)