MSRP: £22.36
Picture
Presented in 2.40:1 Anamorphic widescreen the print looks very good and pulls out the stops providing a clean image with no signs of dirt or grain present. The picture is sharp with close ups looking detailed and colours are crisp and well saturated. There are signs of mild edge enhancement visible now and again, but not enough to distract from the image and probably unnoticeable on a 28" TV screen. Blacks are solid throughout with excellent shadow detail also present and skin tones look clean and natural.
Comparing this edition with the R1 disc I could see no obvious differences one way or the other and it would appear the transfer is sourced from the same master. Overall there is nothing to worry about and the image has that blockbuster sheen which looks film like and detailed.
Comparing this edition with the R1 disc I could see no obvious differences one way or the other and it would appear the transfer is sourced from the same master. Overall there is nothing to worry about and the image has that blockbuster sheen which looks film like and detailed.
Sound
This edition presents the film in Dolby Digital (448kbps) and DTS 5.1 (1509kbps) with both being English soundtracks.
Right from the opening logo the camera sweeps in to the ground and we are treated to some outrageous LFE effects with the split surrounds also sounding busy and aggressive. Actually the entire movie contains a very aggressive sound mix with the surrounds feeling alive constantly with either the score or effects filling in the rear sound stage.
The scene where the birds in London start flying into buildings (7m40s) creates a bustling noise of wings flapping and pigeons screeching all around you causing a feeling of confusion. And there are serious moments of low level bass during the EM Pulse (29m06s) as it fires at solid rock, the fall of Rome (49m) and the toasting of the Golden Gate Bridge (1h31m31s) with all these scenes reaching demo quality levels of soundmixing.
Dialogue is crystal clear and intelligible and the action never drowns out what the characters are saying (a pity I hear you say). This is an action based movie and the effects panning and LFE channel are up to the job, just wait for those Atomic blast waves in the last third of the movie.
So which soundmix should you choose to watch this movie? Well to be perfectly honest I was hard pressed to distinguish that much of a difference, with both sounding very much alike. However the LFE channel is certainly that little bit tighter on the DTS mix and the soundstage that little bit wider, but it's hardly night and day.
Right from the opening logo the camera sweeps in to the ground and we are treated to some outrageous LFE effects with the split surrounds also sounding busy and aggressive. Actually the entire movie contains a very aggressive sound mix with the surrounds feeling alive constantly with either the score or effects filling in the rear sound stage.
The scene where the birds in London start flying into buildings (7m40s) creates a bustling noise of wings flapping and pigeons screeching all around you causing a feeling of confusion. And there are serious moments of low level bass during the EM Pulse (29m06s) as it fires at solid rock, the fall of Rome (49m) and the toasting of the Golden Gate Bridge (1h31m31s) with all these scenes reaching demo quality levels of soundmixing.
Dialogue is crystal clear and intelligible and the action never drowns out what the characters are saying (a pity I hear you say). This is an action based movie and the effects panning and LFE channel are up to the job, just wait for those Atomic blast waves in the last third of the movie.
So which soundmix should you choose to watch this movie? Well to be perfectly honest I was hard pressed to distinguish that much of a difference, with both sounding very much alike. However the LFE channel is certainly that little bit tighter on the DTS mix and the soundstage that little bit wider, but it's hardly night and day.
Extras
Disc one of the set contains a Director Commentary track which although informative tends to also be very dry with some quiet gaps here and there. Also included are Three Trailers.
Moving onto Disc Two and first up is the Electronic press kit feature “To the Core and Back”(10m50s). This is the same featurette that is on the R1 disc which is just a round up of the plot and production details from interviews with the cast and crew. Next we have five short featurettes covering the special effects side of the movie making experience with crew discussing how they managed to achieve the various action sequences. We are also treated to 14 minutes of deleted scenes with some of them being very funny and worthy of watching. That's it however and for a two disc edition I can't help feeling a little disappointed with the lack of extras. There is nothing featured here that is not already available on the R1 disc.
A fun popcorn action picture which requires no thought on your part at all, the disc has good audio and video with the addition of a full bitrate DTS track. However apart from DTS there is nothing here that isn't already available on the R1 disc.
Moving onto Disc Two and first up is the Electronic press kit feature “To the Core and Back”(10m50s). This is the same featurette that is on the R1 disc which is just a round up of the plot and production details from interviews with the cast and crew. Next we have five short featurettes covering the special effects side of the movie making experience with crew discussing how they managed to achieve the various action sequences. We are also treated to 14 minutes of deleted scenes with some of them being very funny and worthy of watching. That's it however and for a two disc edition I can't help feeling a little disappointed with the lack of extras. There is nothing featured here that is not already available on the R1 disc.
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