Blue Streak Blu-ray offers decent video and mediocre audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Master jewel thief Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence, 'Life', 'Bad Boys') has a big problem. A $20
million dollar problem. Recently released from prison for the botched heist of a huge diamond,
he's anxious to retrieve the hot rock which he hid at a construction site two years earlier.
Unfortunately, his hiding place is now at the center of a recently completed high-security
police precinct. Posing as a detective, and partnered with straight laced rookie Carlson (Luke
Wilson, 'Home Fries', 'Bottle Rocket'), Miles utilizes his criminal expertise and inadvertently
rises up the ranks, winning the respect of his fellow "boys in blue." Powered by a hot
soundtrack with music by Jay-Z, Foxy Brown and Tyrese featuring Heavy D, 'Blue Streak' is a
hilarious action-comedy from director Les Mayfield ('Flubber', 'Encino Man').
It has been ages since I have seen Martin Lawrence at his best. He came on the movie scene in the early nineties playing back up roles to actors such as Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Tim Robbins. Many of the movies he made with these actors were blockbuster hits such as"Boomerang" (1992), "Bad Boys" (1995) and "Nothing to Lose" (1997). He was fresh, funny, spontaneous, and could make audiences laugh with just a look. Being a stand up comedian helped him work and hone his many characters, and polish them up for possible use on television and film. As of late though, Lawrence's career has been on a steep decline. Turning out bombs like Big Momma's House 2 and Rebound, Lawrence went from a solid "A" actor, to a solid "B" actor or maybe even less than that. His career has mimicked some of the stars he used to support such as Eddie Murphy. But he has also seen the careers of actors such Will Smith explode which can't make him all that happy.
Blue Streak was released in 1999, opening as the number one movie in the States. Grossing over $60 million in box office receipts in America on a $36 million dollar budget, Blue Streak was considered a success because it nearly doubled its receipts versus its budget. The soundtrack from Blue Streak was also a hit going platinum and featuring artists such as Ja-Rule, Keith Sweat, and Tyrese.
Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence) is jewel thief who along with other thieves decide to steal a $17 million dollar diamond. Things go completely awry when one guy wants to take the diamond for himself, and cut everyone else out. Logan has to quickly hide the diamond, and there is no place to do it but at a construction site, a site that when completed turns out to be a police station. Logan is arrested, and spends two years in prison. Once Logan serves his time, he head back to the place where the diamond was hidden only to find much to his surprise it's a police station. Logan disguises himself as a pizza man to give himself a chance to check the place out. Once scoping the place out, he decides he needs to become a detective so he can get the diamond out of the station. He fakes an ID and resume' and poses as a transfer officer. Based on the strength of his fake resume', Logan is promoted to lead detective and sent out to solve street crimes. After many crazy events and circumstances, he finally recovers the diamond, and his next goal is to get away from the cops without them finding out who he truly is.
Blue Streak streaks onto Bluray in a 1080p/AVC encode framed at a 1:85:1 and while there is a lot going for this transfer, there are some visual issues as well. The good stuff; the print master is in pretty good shape with only the occasional appearance of specks, marks and scratches. Sharpness, detail and fine detail were for the most part above average, with some scenes looking softer than others. I did detect some edge enhancement, mostly at moderate levels and only in a few scenes. I also found some noise in some frames, but nothing to really cause concern. Colors looked warm, nicely saturated with no smearing or chroma noise. Flesh tones looked natural with no "rosy red" faces to be found. While this is an above average release in terms of picture quality, there were enough issues to keep it from the being the best. Good but not great release from Sony Pictures.
Blue Streak features a English, French and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby TrueHD encoded soundtracks that are pretty typical for an early nineties production. Dialog is always clear and intelligible and never swallowed by the music or effects. This is a pretty front centric mix, so the surrounds are only used to "open up" a few scenes, but are largely silent throughout the movie. While the LFE is occasionally used, there is nothing in it under 40 Hz according to my RTA's. It is used mostly for the music, as the bass for the effects is largely in the mains, and not very deep there either. There are nice car passing pans in the front speakers, but that is the height of the dimensionality of this mix. This is a decent mix, but not any special in any way.
There is not a lot in the way of extras on this disc, but what is there is pretty decent enough. Featurette: Setting up the Score (22 minutes) is an in depth look at production, as well as the on location shooting. It has interviews with cast and crew with a moment or two focusing on the set. There is some interesting moments, but overall its pretty standard fare for video on disc. HBO First Look: Inside and Undercover (22 minutes) is a usual promotional featurette complete with scenes from the movie, and more interviews. It's not nearly as enjoyable as the other feature, but it has its moments of entertainment.
Also included are music videos "Girls Best Friend" by Jay-Z, "Criminal Mind" by Tyrese, and "Damn" by So Plush.
Trailers for Hancock and other Sony movies are also included on this disc.
This disc is BD-Live enabled which allows you to download extra content from Sony's website.
I really enjoyed this movie a lot. Martin Lawrence is a clown, and his interactions with Dave Chappelle are hilarious. I personally would buy this disc only because it features Lawrence at the top of his career, a place we have not seen him in years. If you are a fan of Lawrence like I am, then this is a must buy (click through Bluray.com to purchase). You will not be disappointed with this purchase. For those of you who are not Martin Lawrence fans, this is a good comedy to rent for an evenings worth of enjoyment.
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