Blu-Ray Review:

The Perfect Storm

By Jason Gillard

*Images are not from Blu-ray source

Movie

The Perfect Storm is based on a true story, and for me that always makes for a great film.  The film is directed by Wolfgang Petersen who has made great films such as Air Force One and the fantastic Das-Boot.  The movie is about the Andrea Gail, a commercial sword fishing boat that was headed to fish the grounds of the North Atlantic.  Two weeks after they left a storm took place that had never happened before in recorded history.  Weather conditions combined to create a killer storm that the crew of the Andrea Gail were caught in.  The movie stars George Clooney as Billy Tyne, the captain of the ship, and it also stars Mark Wahlberg and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.  This is an excellent film and really gives you an appreciation of what these fishers go through to make a living.  The special effects really put you right in the middle of the storm and all of the actors do a fantastic job of bringing their characters to life.  The movie was nominated for two Oscars: one for Special Effects and one for Sound Design.  You will see why it was nominated for best sound in the audio review section.  Overall, if your looking for a great character piece as well as some pretty intense action, make sure you give The Perfect Storm a watch.

8 out of 10

Video

When one chooses to review a catalog title that is coming out on Blu-Ray, I have to take into account that this movie was made 8 years ago.  The transfer here is good, blacks are very black and the colours pop in most scenes.  I did notice that throughout the movie the picture does appear soft in most scenes. It just doesn't live up to some of the better transfers that are out on Blu-Ray. But it's not enough to distract from the overall presentation.  I didn't notice any print anomalies or defects, but unfortunately the softness does affect the picture.  I would say the picture is just average, just don't expect to be blown away when you watch it.

7 out of 10

Audio

Where the transfer is a let down the audio is where it shines.  We are treated to a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track and its a very aggressive one at that.  The surround sound channels are constantly active really bringing the viewer into the stormy seas.  But even the quiet scenes at the beginning of the movie sound great.  There are also a lot of subtle effects that are used to really suck the viewer in.  I was really impressed with this soundtrack and it's no wonder they were nominated for an Oscar for Sound Design.   If you have a set of discs that you use to demo your audio system, you should definitely make some space for The Perfect Storm.

9 out of 10

Extras

Here is what you get in the way of extras:

3 Audio Commentaries - Director Wolfgang Petersen
                                  - Author Sebastian Junger
                                  - Visual effects supervisor Steen Fangmeier and Visual effects producer Helen Ostenberg Elswit
Featurette: " "HBO First Look: The Perfect Storm
Featurette: "Witness to the Storm"
Featurette: "James Horner at Work"
Still Gallery
Theatrical Trailer

First let me talk about the commentaries.  If your going to listen to one of them I suggest the Author commentary.  He is a lot more interesting and has many wonderful stories about the Andrea Gail and her crew.  All of the special features on this disc are in standard Definition.  Which is a shame because if your buying a hi-def disc you should get hi-def extras.  I think my favorite extras was "Witness to the Storm" which had interviews with the real life people who went through it.  The only problem is it's pretty short at 4 minutes in length.  When the film first came out on DVD this set of extras would have been amazing.  But nowadays this is not much and really all they have done is port over these special features and include them here.

6 out of 10

Overall

I really like the film.  The Transfer is decent and the audio is spectacular.  The extras leave a lot to be desired, but at least it is a decent price for this disc.  I am going to recommend it based on the movie and the audio transfer, but in my opinion they need to start upping the amount of time and material that goes into these disc or people will just go out and buy the standard definition DVD release.

7 out of 10

Recommended