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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Blue Sky (Remastered) (1992)

Blue Sky (Remastered) (1992)

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Released 5-Mar-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1992
Running Time 96:53
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Tony Richardson
Studio
Distributor

Twentieth Century Fox
Starring Jessica Lange
Tommy Lee Jones
Powers Boothe
Carrie Snodgress
Amy Locane
Chris O'Donnell
Case ?
RPI $31.95 Music Jack Nitzsche


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Auto Pan & Scan Encoded English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
German
French
Italian
Spanish
Dutch
Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Greek
Hungarian
Turkish
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    This DVD appears to be a re-release of a title originally issued by Columbia Tristar (previously reviewed by me). The key differences appear to be the inclusion of a remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track instead of the Dolby Digital 2.0 surrounded encoded audio track, plus slightly different menus and extras.

    The following plot synopsis is copied from my review of the earlier release:

    Blue Sky is about the love between two opposites being tested: straight-laced Army radiation expert Major Henry 'Hank' G. Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) and his flirtatious, volatile wife Carly Marshall (Jessica Lange).

    Hank works for Project Blue Sky, a euphemistically named atomic bomb research programme carried out by the US Army in sparsely inhabited areas in the 1950s.

    Carly is the sort of woman that's "... the reason men like women in the first place" - so says one of the characters later on in the film. She sunbathes topless on a beach knowing that Army helicopters will be flying overhead, she flirts outrageously with Army officers, uses Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe as role models, and has one mean temper when she doesn't get her way. You kind of get the feeling that she has caused Hank no end of trouble with her antics, has probably irretrievably damaged his career, and is probably the reason why he keeps getting transferred from base to base. Even her two daughters do not think highly of her.

    Despite all that, Hank still loves her and tolerates her wild ways. Their relationship in many ways is more like that of a father and his spoilt favourite daughter rather than that between a man and a woman.

    The latest transfer (resulting from the sunbathing incident) sees the Marshall family stationed in Alabama. Hank is under the command of Vince Johnson (Powers Boothe) who seems more interested in Carly than listening to Hank's growing concern about the dangers of above ground nuclear testing. Vince's wife, Vera Johnson (Carrie Snodgress), befriends Carly and gets her to participate in an amateur stage production.

    One day an atomic blast accidentally irradiates two cowboys who have strayed into the testing ground. Hank's efforts to stop the detonation when he spots the cowboys, and his subsequent attempts to get the Army to help the two cowboys, or even inform them what has happened, falls on deaf ears. In the meantime, Vince and Carly begin an adulterous affair.

    When Hank threatens to publicise the cover-up regarding the accidental exposure of the two cowboys, Vince manages to trick Carly into allowing Hank to be locked up and sedated under the guise of a mental breakdown. When Carly finally realises the truth, she tries to rescue Hank ...

    Despite this movie's short length (96:53), this is a very slow moving film and for the first 60 minutes nothing much happens. What happens in the last 30 minutes of the film is not really worth the wait. Despite being filmed in 1991, this film was not released until 1994 due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures. Jessica Lange picked up an Oscar for her performance in this film. It also features a very young Chris O'Donnell as Glenn Johnson.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 16x9 enhancement, based on a 35mm film print with an intended aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

    As far as I can tell, the video transfer appears identical in quality to the previous release, so I have copied my comments from the previous review:

    Sharpness, shadow detail and colour balance is about average and in line with other films of the period. Minor Gibb's effect ringing permeates through the entire transfer and unfortunately has a habit of highlighting the moderate amount of grain present in the film stock.

    Other than the presence of grain, the film source is relatively clean.

    There are a fair number of subtitle tracks present on this disc, including English. The English track appears to be for the Hard of Hearing, as it includes dialogue attribution, plus transcription of Foley effects and song lyrics/titles.

    This is a single sided, single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The earlier release had five audio tracks (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish), all in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded at 192 Kb/s. This new release substitutes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) audio track instead and brings us on par with the Region 1 release. I compared the English track on this disc against the earlier release.

    Due to the higher bitrate, the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track sounds slightly cleaner and clearer than the Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded track of the earlier release. In addition, the new track sounds slightly louder (the 2.0 track was encoded with dialog normalization set to -4dB).

    The audio track is fairly mediocre, with rolled off high and low frequencies and comes across as somewhat tinny. Despite that, the dialogue quality is quite acceptable as I was able to decipher every line of dialogue, even during the scenes where Hank and Carly are barely whispering to one another. There are no audio synchronisation issues with this disc.

    The original music score by Jack Nitzsche is fairly unremarkable as I can't recall any particularly interesting bits of it.

    There are a number of scenes where the rear surround speakers are engaged (such as right at the beginning of the film which features a rear to centre speaker pan of the helicopter engines) but in general this is pretty much a dialogue focused movie centred at the front of the screen. The subwoofer is lightly used.

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

Extras

    The only extra on this release is the theatrical trailer. In comparison, the previous release had a few more bits and pieces.

Menu

    The new menus are different to the previous release, and in my opinion nicer looking, although they are still static. They are 16x9 enhanced. There are multiple menu languages available: English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

Theatrical Trailer (1:57)

    This is presented in 1.85:1 (16x9 enhanced) and with Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) audio. In comparison, the theatrical trailer present on the previous release of this DVD was in Pan & Scan.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The previous Region 4 release did not have a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, and does not have menus in multiple languages, but has a number of additional extras not present on this release:

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

    I would rate the new release as equivalent to the Region 1 release.

Summary

    Blue Sky is a boring film that somehow managed to win Jessica Lange an Oscar for Best Actress even though the film was released a number of years after it was completed. It has now been re-released in Region 4 with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track

    The video and audio transfers are acceptable.

    The only extra is a theatrical trailer.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-2900, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE (upgraded)
SpeakersFront and surrounds: B&W CDM7NT, front centre: B&W CDMCNT, surround backs: B&W DM601S2, subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

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