Blue Streak

This review is sponsored by

Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Action / Comedy	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - 1.33:1, non-16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - Dolby Digital City
Year Released	1999	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	90:19 minutes	Other Extras	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurettes (x2) - Blue Streak: Setting Up For The Score - HBO First Look: Inside & Undercover Music Videos (x3) - "Girl's Best Friend" by Jay-Z - "Criminal Mind" by Tyrese (with Heavy D) - "Damn (Should've Treated U Right)" by So Plush Biographies - Cast & Crew
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (68:54)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region	2,4	Director	Les Mayfield
Studio Distributor	Columbia TriStar	Starring	Martin Lawrence Luke Wilson Dave Chappelle Peter Greene Nicole Parker William Forsythe
RRP	$39.95	Music	Edward Shearmur

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Dolby Digital	5.1
16x9 Enhancement		Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 5.1 , 448Kb/s) German (Dolby Digital 5.1 , 448Kb/s) Hungarian (Dolby Digital 5.1 , 448Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	No
Subtitles	English German Dutch Arabic Czech Danish Finnish Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Norwegian Polish Swedish Turkish	Annoying Product Placement	No
Subtitles		Action In or After Credits	No

Plot Synopsis

I have, until recently, never really liked Martin Lawrence should the truth be told. I don't know why, it's just been one of those things. The funny thing about reviewing movies is that sometimes, or rather often, I watch movies I otherwise wouldn't. Blue Streak is one of those movies. I had half-seen Bad Boys ages ago, and thought it was rubbish. Then, in a strange quirk of fate, I watched it by coincidence on DVD very recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not long ago, I watched Life, and thoroughly enjoyed that. Now, after watching Blue Streak, I have totally reversed my opinion of Martin Lawrence , and think he is very funny, though I still can't help but compare him to Eddie Murphy.

The movie starts at night-time with Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence) leading a gang of robbers on a quest to steal a rather large diamond. It all goes wrong when one of his partners-in-crime gets greedy, decides he won't share the bounty and wants to kill everyone involved. Miles escapes, loses his diamond in an air duct of the building he was crawling around in, and is imprisoned for 2 years. On release, he goes to the building he left the diamond in only to find out in broad daylight that it is a police station. Why he didn't know that to begin with, given the slickness of the rest of the robbery operation, is a plot point that I will ignore. He tries to get into the building, firstly as a pizza delivery "thing" called Ghetto Buck - an hilarious character, and probably the funniest part of the movie - I guarantee you will laugh. Anyway, that doesn't work, so he gets a fake ID made, and pretends to be a detective. Given his "inside" knowledge of the criminal element, he pretends so well so as to be fully believed and indeed put to work as a detective. He and his straight side-kick then go on to quickly solve a case, and whilst in action Miles comes across his old partner, played by David Shappelle (who played the stand up comedian in The Nutty Professor). Things quickly degenerate from there.

This is a vehicle to showcase Martin Lawrence, of that there is no doubt. However, with a budget of US$39 million, the production is slick and Martin does carry the movie admirably. A good movie to watch with a group of friends, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Transfer Quality

Video

This is a damnably good transfer, up with the very best I have seen from Columbia TriStar - which of course implies that it is one of the best I have seen from anyone . Reference quality, and a pleasure to watch.

The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

Gloriously sharp and detailed at all times, this transfer will surely please. The image had a film-like quality, being one of those that give me a cosy warm feeling about the DVD format. Call me silly, but there it is. The first part of the movie - the robbery-gone-awry - takes place at night, and shadow detail was perfect during these scenes and was stunning. There was no intrusive low-level noise during the movie, and nor was there any film grain.

The colour palette was nicely balanced, being naturally saturated. No scenes stood out as being particularly colourful, but the palette is full and consistent throughout. Flesh tones were spot on, as was the general colour temperature, something which I am particularly sensitive to. There was no chroma noise.

There was no MPEG artefacting at any time, even during stressful periods such as fades to black or fast action. I will not name names, but other studios would be wise to take note. This is what happens when RSDL formatting is used; it gives the video room to breathe, as long as the extras don't take up too much room. This is certainly the case here. Other than that, there were a handful of very minor film artefacts, and only one scene with a hint of aliasing in it, being caused by the front grille of a car. To be very picky, there is also a scene or two with some minor telecine wobble.

This disc is RSDL formatted, with the layer change occurring during scene 21 at 68:54. It seemed slightly longer than usual, taking about half a second on my Panasonic A360.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-to-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Dolby Digital, take a bow. This is a reference 5.1 soundtrack and was thrilling. Demo material here methinks.

There are three soundtracks on this disc, being English, German and Hungarian, all in Dolby Digital 5.1. Not being too good with the other languages, I chose this time to listen to the English soundtrack.

Dialogue was at all times clear and well-recorded. There were no lip-sync issues to report.

This is a saucy soundtrack, being very hip and cool. As is typical for modern action movies, the score is very percussive and dynamic, and was well suited to the movie. There is a tremendous amount of detail in this soundtrack, with an exceptionally wide soundstage both front and back. Imaging was precise, with no particular bent for any speaker. The songs (as per the included music video listing) sounded brilliant, and the whole soundtrack is just slick and polished and very full sounding. As I mentioned, this is Dolby Digital at its best, no doubt helped by the 448 Kilobits per second data rate.

The surrounds were aggressively used for most of the movie, especially for the first half-hour during the setup. This made for a very immersive experience. Throughout the movie, much care has been taken with the placement of sounds within the total field. For example, there is a chase scene with two cars flying over each shoulder towards the middle, and away into the distance. Each car very smoothly slides from the rears to the middle-front. Another example is the good old helicopter, which flies around the room and seems correctly placed when the camera angle changes. The panning of sounds is effortless, with excellent left-centre-right timbre matching, probably the best I have heard. This also gave me a cosy warm feeling about the DVD format. Can you tell I liked this disc?

My subwoofer had a blast during the movie, and was engaged at all the right times. The soundtrack has a nice fullness to it, with gun-shots, explosions and general thumps being very weighty.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Not quite enough to call this a special edition, nonetheless there is a nice collection of extras here.

Scene Selections (28)

Theatrical Trailer

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, non 16x9 enhanced and in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Featurette - Blue Streak: Setting Up For The Score (22:09)

Presented in 1.33:1 and in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, this was a most unusual behind-the-scenes style featurette. Why unusual? Because it actually went behind the scenes! Amazing, but true. This is a really good look at the production of the movie, with a lot of interesting information in it, and well worth a watch. Probably the only whinge I have is the usual "he/she was the best director/actor/comedian to work with" drivel from everyone interviewed - it was a bit sickly sweet in that regard, but otherwise I was quite impressed.

Featurette - HBO First Look: Inside & Undercover (23:01)

Hello? Didn't we just have a doco on the movie? Well, there is another one just for good measure. Presented in 1.33:1 and in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, this is essentially the same as the one described above, though with much more footage from the movie to pad it out. Whilst there is some overlap, there is a lot that is different, especially concerning the very funny "Ghetto Buck", who is interviewed as a separate persona. Very strange, and it would have been better to edit these two into one long one, but that would have upset the producers I am sure. Still, this is also quite good and also worth a watch.

Music Videos (3)

Biographies - Cast & Crew

Dolby Digital Trailer - City

R4 vs R1

Both versions are identically featured, so the choice is easy. You just can't beat PAL video, so go with our R4 version.

Summary

An unashamed vehicle for Martin Lawrence, this is a very entertaining (albeit mindless) movie. If you are a fan, you will love this. If you are not a fan, you just may be by the end.

The video transfer is superb, and is reference in quality.

The audio transfer is superb, and ranks as one of the best Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes I have heard in both fidelity and immersiveness. Turn this up and enjoy.

I can't complain about the extras, though the inclusion of two behind the scenes features is puzzling.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment

DVD	Panasonic A360 (S-Video output)
Display	Rear-Projection Pioneer SD-T43W1 125cm Widescreen 16x9
Audio Decoder	d t s 5.1 & Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD Player internal decoder)
Amplification	Sony STRDE-525 5x100 watts Dolby Pro-Logic / 5.1 Ready Receiver; 4 x Optimus 10-band Graphic EQ
Speakers	Centre: Sony SS-CN35 100 watt; Main & Surrounds: Pioneer CS-R390-K 150-watt floorstanders; Subwoofer: Optimus 100-watt passive