The Arrival [Blu-ray] at DVD Hills.com

The Arrival [Blu-ray]

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Blu-ray details

Actor: Lindsay Crouse, Phyllis Applegate, Roger Cudney, Teri Polo, Tony T. Johnson
Brand: SHEEN,CHARLIE
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Original recording remastered, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-04-21
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Lions Gate

Blu-ray Reviews of The Arrival [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray Review: This review is of the blu-ray release, not the film!
Summary: 3 Stars

This reviewer considers The Arrival one of the TEN BEST science fiction films ever!

My comparisons between the standard (red-ray) Live-Artisan DVD double feature (The Arrival and Arrival II, dual sided single disc); and the blu-ray release are below. I have never seen the original single-sided red-ray release of just The Arrival (Live-Artisan); or the red-ray two-disc double feature edition of same put out by Lions Gate. It is possible that either of those two editions have better picture quality than the comparison red-ray release.

I used a 1080p LCD (Sony Bravia 32XBR6), a Pioneer (BDP-51FD) Blu-ray Disc player; a Pioneer Elite DVD Player DV-59AVi (top of the line!) for standard red-ray DVDs; and a Sunfire receiver-amp with the largest Klipsch speakers and woofer money could buy. I have neither the proper equipment, time, nor inclination to make a more scientific analysis. I can't count speckle density or minute dirt fleck artifacts or other source contaminants. I can't freeze frame to examine defects. But I can mount the standard red-ray disc in the Pioneer Elite player, mount the blu-ray disc in the Pioneer Blu-ray player, and then intercut selected scenes of special interest between these two onto a shared Sony 32XBR6.

Upon doing this, one thing becomes very clear: The blu-ray image is VASTLY SUPERIOR in every respect! By comparison, the red-ray image looks grubby, blurry and truly awful (the price one apparently pays for getting used to blu-ray?)! And the DTS sound track is spectacular. If you are a big fan of this film, have blu-ray, can afford the reasonable price, and are debating; then the decision is clear: Get the blu-ray release for your collection and dispose of the other one!

That being said, this blu-ray release is not without problems, likely tracking back to the original filming. Image quality varies from scene to scene depending on such factors as underground, indoor or outdoor locales; and foreground versus background definition. The opening scene of the earth from space fading into the giant radio receiver antenna is great! By comparison, the red-ray image appears grey and drab. Other shots of Californian or Mexican mountains are good in their faded desert clarity and color definition. Details on close-ups of faces, facial wrinkles and blemishes, strands of hair, sweating from the excessive heat, clothing fabric weaves and patterns, neck-tie details, are exceptionally sharp and up to full blu-ray standards.

Blu-ray's superior definition reinforces a key plot-point: Earthlings are suffering from the sweltering temperatures induced by the alien terra-forming. Sweat literally rolls off Zane's face. But the aliens of course (like Gordy) don't sweat; THEY LIKE IT HOT! On red-ray DVD, picture detail is so poor that such a subtle reinforcement almost escapes notice.

Filmed in Technicolor, no grain was visible except where intended. I've heard they use a newer Technicolor process than that of old, wherein colors are muted and blacks lack good fidelity as is the case here. Knowing little about photography, the cameras used for the filming obviously had very poor depth of field. (Some big budget recent films - I Am Legend - display exquisite detail simultaneously in both foreground AND background, NOT true here!) Why? Because of computer-generated digital backgrounds? More sophisticated cameras? Rear projection techniques? Use of blue screen? In this film, camera shots lacking foreground focal points (like faces), where depth of field is not a problem display very pleasing distance detail: the walls inside and outside of this "one of our much very best hotels;" the water trickling down and over the tile floor; many of the panning landscape shots in California and Mexico; images of that giant radio receiver; were all good, some even showing exquisite detail.

My biggest criticisms concern the underground scenes which are grey, foggy and indistinct; colors are excessively muted and black saturation fidelity is abominable! As said in another review somewhere: it's as if an obscuring film was laying over everything. Two positive notes on these underground scenes: First, close-up details of Zane's face, that of other aliens, and foreground shots of equipment and the like are crisp, despite the background color fidelity issues, the color for such underground foregrounds being mostly pretty good. Second, after comparing several key scenes, I saw no instance where the underground special effects weren't at least the equal of, or significantly improved (sometimes much more) over red-ray: There is more detail in close-up alien shots and in the underground combustion chamber, with better color too.

It's pretty hard to compete with big budget computer generated digital backdrops, likely why some recent films with such newer technology come out so well on blu-ray. Yet this release is a clear step up from what was out before.

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Description of The Arrival [Blu-ray]

Radio astronomer Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) believes he's picked up a cosmic noise that signals extraterrestrial intelligence. His desperate search for answers leads him to Mexico and a mysterious power plant, where is arrested for the murder of a scientist. Zane must escape with his proof of the world-shattering alien invasion in this intense sci-fi thriller.

Calling this 1996 science fiction thriller "a glorified B movie," isn't a criticism. Writer-director David Twohy managed to get interesting material on the screen despite a limited budget, and the film is just believable enough to be satisfying as a tale of paranoid conspiracy. If you can ignore the hokey parts and accept Charlie Sheen as noted radio astronomer Zane Ziminski, you'll get thoroughly involved when the reception of an alien radio signal leads him to Mexico and to a huge underground power plant operated by aliens bent on the eventual takeover of Earth. Ron Silver is suitably chilling as the astronomer's boss, whose real identity is more horrifying than Ziminski ever imagined. The underground alien lair is memorably creepy, and Twohy's film is just smart enough to qualify as more than a guilty pleasure. --Jeff Shannon

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The Arrival [Blu-ray]