Any Given Sunday Blu-ray

Any Given Sunday

 (1999)

Drama | Sport



At the 50-yard line of this gridiron cosmos is Al Pacino as Tony D'Amato, the embattled Sharks coach facing a full-on blitz of team strife plus a new, marketing-savvy sharks owner (Cameron Diaz) who's sure Tony is way too old school. An injured quarterback (Dennis Quaid), a flashy, bull-headed backup QB (Jamie Foxx), a slithery team doctor (James Woods) and a running back with an incentive-laden contract (LL Cool J) also provide some of the stories that zigzag like diagrams in a playbook. and throughout, there's the awesome spectacle of motion, sound and action orchestrated by Stone.

For more details about Any Given Sunday on Blu-ray, see the Any Given Sunday Blu-ray Review

Starring: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Jamie Foxx
Director: Oliver Stone

Any Given Sunday Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

At first glance, Any Given Sunday features a decent 1080p/VC-1 transfer that looks considerably better than its DVD counterpart. However, upon closer examination, it suffers from a few distressing issues all its own. More on that in a moment. Primaries and skintones have received a noticeable boost in stability, strength, and saturation -- the actors look a bit more lifelike than before and the palette (while still overcast with image-flattening yellows and browns) is more vibrant. Contrast has also been improved (despite some minor wavering). On-screen shadows are more natural, bright skies more comfortable to look at, and delineation is more revealing than ever before. Detail is quite inconsistent since soft shots regularly make an appearance alongside more refined scenes, but textures are generally crisper and background elements have nicely defined edges. I do wish the film's black levels were deeper, its establishing shots weren't swarming with source noise, and the entire image was more three-dimensional, but I suspect the condition of the original print and Stone's aesthetic choices made each one an impossibility.

Sadly, two unwanted, old friends -- edge enhancement and digital noise reduction (DNR) -- show up to further spoil the party. Halos and smudged textures pop up quite often, actors occasionally look as if they've been cast in wax, and skin and fabric aren't nearly as convincing as they are on the best transfers on the market. Even though grain has been reduced, the subsequent reduction in clarity and overall softness is disappointing. Nevertheless, I'm sure Any Given Sunday fans will be marginally satisfied with the high-def upgrade since this is, without a doubt, the best the film has ever looked.

Any Given Sunday Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Any Given Sunday's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track improves the film's overall AV presentation. For the most part, dialogue is crisp and clear throughout the film, allowing voices to be placed across the entire soundfield to great effect. Even so, a few muddled lines are overwhelmed by heavier effects in the soundscape. While some of these prioritization mishaps can be attributed to the director (Stone intentionally allows crowd noise and on-field chaos to drown out his actors during football sequences), there are a handful of quieter conversations that mysteriously suffer the same fate. Likewise, low-end extension is strong and aggressive during livelier shots and heated character exchanges, but all but disappears during less intense scenes. The rear speakers follow suit, providing convincing acoustics and busy environmental ambience one moment, and little to no support the next. Needless to say, the somewhat uneven results produce an inconsistent experience that bobbles between average and spectacular.

To its credit, directionality is precise (especially for a catalog title), pans are quick and smooth, tackles and shouts are weighty and resonant, and several standout scenes prove the TrueHD track at least has some serious muscle behind it. It may not deliver the most reliable sonics from beginning to end, but it still handles the film's occasionally uninspiring sound design without succumbing to any glaring technical problems.

Any Given Sunday Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Warner Brings Any Given Sunday to Blu-ray (UPDATED) - October 20, 2008

Any Given Sunday Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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