Hunt for Red October [Blu-ray] [1990] [US Import]

Blu Ray all zone (not confirmed)

Ratio of the feature film:
2.35:1

Languages of the feature film:
Dolby True HD 5.1: English
Dolby 5.1: French, Italian, German, Castilian Spanish
Dolby 2.0 Surround: Commentary by the director John McTiernan

Subtitles for the feature film and the making of:
French, German, Italian, Castilian Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish and English for the hard of hearings.

Verdict:
This film on Blu Ray is really amazing, a good picture with an outstanding soundtrack. The soundtrack is perfect with a fantastic music. The picture has a natural noise quite visible during the dark shots but not too annoying.
Even if the pictures is not 100% perfect, it gives us much more details about the models submarine for instance the missiles hatches visible on the hull of the Typhoon, the grid pattern on the outer bow doors of the caterpillar. We can also count the missiles silos when Ryan is about to go after the cook and show us how long the submarine really is, it makes the scene looking truly impressive!
High Definition picture means details we are not supposed to see !!
- We can clearly see the whole deck and the conn tower of the Red October is a giant model (where Sean Connery and Sam Neill stand at the beginning of the film) as we can see the edges of the model barely submerged.
- Technical mistake about this model, there is no wake as there are no propellers either which in fact are visible on a real typhoon-class submarine (when afloat).
- The wires holding the 3 models submarines are visible on nearly every "underwater" shot. For instance, when the first torpedo is shot at the Red October, we can clearly see several wires holding the Red October when she is evading the attack.
- The CGI effects are quite obtrusive but it is 1989 CGI, in fact we can say they are good considering what we were capable of doing in the 80s.

Overall, it is a true pleasure to see this film on Blu Ray with its beautiful picture. Although we see the wires holding the sub, the underwater sequences still look superb thanks to the flawless motion and lighting of the 3 submarines.

Bonuses:
- Making of "Beneath the surface" -> Dolby 2.0, 29 min, SD, subtitled.
- Theatrical Trailer -> Dolby 5.1, 1.5 min, HD, no subtitle.

I have always considered 'The Hunt for Red October' to be one of my very favourite films, definitely top three, and my choice of film if I was allowed just one prior to be stuck on a desert island!

I first saw the film on it's initial cinema release, I was in my mid-teens and went with my dad. I then bought the novel, and still read it once every couple of years now. I bought the film on VHS, almost wearing it out before updating to DVD.

The lack of difference in picture quality between VHS and DVD always disappointed me (although the sound was noticeably better on DVD); particularly so with the underwater scenes, you could hardly see anything!

This has very much changed with the Blu Ray release.

The picture and sound quality are a huge improvement, and the level of detail on the underwater scenes now make them look almost like they have been re-filmed!

The sound is superb, particularly the sound of the sonar and the explosions!

I am still slightly suspicious of just how much a Blu Ray can improve a film of over twenty or so years old, but then again I suppose a lot depends on the source material made available for the transfer.

This is most definitely a good one, and I would say that if you consider yourself a fan of this film ie you watch it with some degree of regularity, you should upgrade to Blu Ray despite already owning it on DVD; you won't regret it!

Owned this on VHS (twice, one pan+scan, one widescreen) then dvd.

Now we have the Blu Ray, it's a clean and very 'movie-like' image, has great sound and is a major improvement in resolution, all of the underwater sequences are now much clearer than on any previous format, I spotted many details that I've never noticed before.