Days of Thunder Blu-ray

Days of Thunder

 (1990)

Action | Drama | Romance | Sport



From the engine roar and fever pitch of professional stock car racing, Days of Thunder explodes with the most spectacular racing action ever captured on film. Tom Cruise plays race car driver Cole Trickle, whose talent and ambition are surpassed only by his burning need to win. Discovered by businessman Tim Daland, Cole is teamed with legendary crew chief and car- builder Harry Hogge to race for the Winston cup at the Daytona 500. A fiery crash nearly ends Cole's career and he must turn to a beautiful doctor to regain his nerve and the true courage needed to race, to win and to live.

For more details about Days of Thunder on Blu-ray, see the Days of Thunder Blu-ray Review

Starring: Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid, Michael Rooker
Director: Tony Scott

Days of Thunder Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Days of Thunder races onto the high definition Blu-ray format with a decent, but not at all exciting, 1080p transfer presented in the film's original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. There are plenty of pops and nicks and other anomalies on the print throughout the film, populating most every scene, and they are hard not to notice. Also visible throughout is a layer of natural film grain. The film features a somewhat rough look, thanks not only to the grain and print imperfections, but also to blurry backgrounds and many scenes that feature dim colors and dusty, haze-covered frames. Still, the transfer enjoys a nice film like appearance; the grain and all of the print anomalies add a bit of a vintage look, if a film from 1990 can look vintage less than 20 years later. Detail is only moderately impressive; the patches and lines in the race uniforms don't stand out; viewers won't be able to count the threads holding the sponsor patches onto the sleeves of the jersey, but the image nevertheless retains a decent high definition appearance that boasts of improved clarity over standard definition material. Colors stand out nicely, particularly the neon-green of Trickle's City Chevrolet team uniform, seen before they receive a new sponsorship later in the film. Flesh tones and blacks are acceptable throughout. One plus to the 1080p transfer is that Days of Thunder is a film that will play better on a larger display; while it might not look pretty blown up for the largest of projector screens, the movie should play better, more thrilling, and larger-than-life than it does on smaller television sets. All of this taken into account, this is a transfer that might not please a lot of Blu-ray fans, but Days of Thunder isn't the sort of film that was tailor-made for the high definition treatment in the first place.

Days of Thunder Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Days of Thunder speeds into home theaters with a roaring, sometimes nearly deafening, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack; the film's original soundtrack that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound. There is never any question that the soundtrack packs plenty of volume and aggression during the race sequences, but at times there seems to be a slight lack of clarity about the experience. Outside of the races, the track offers very standard stuff, with little surround activity, relying primarily on solid dialogue reproduction and fine musical accompaniment to move the story along. Off the track, the mix is front heavy and missing in atmospherics. It's the racing scenes that make the movie, and while not as clear and clean as expected, the experience is still often exhilarating. Between the music, the ambient crowd noise, the radio chatter between driver and crew, and of course the revving of the engines, the squealing of the tires, the bumps and crashes between the cars, and the cars colliding with the walls, there is rarely a dull moment to be heard on race day. Overall, it sounds great, but still seems to lack that last bit of oomph to carry it over the top.

Days of Thunder Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - December 30th - December 30, 2008


• Paramount Catalog Titles Get Specs - October 16, 2008

Days of Thunder Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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