Poltergeist Blu-ray

Poltergeist

 (1982)

Horror | Thriller



Life is very pleasant for the close-knit Freeling family until a host of otherworldly forces invades their peaceful suburban home. It starts with just an odd occurrence or two, but soon their house is transformed into a swirling supernatural sideshow. The forces at work are anything but friendly, and if the luckless Freelings don't clear out soon, they'll all be swept off into nightmarish chaos!

For more details about Poltergeist on Blu-ray, see the Poltergeist Blu-ray Review

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins
Director: Tobe Hooper

Poltergeist Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Warner delivers Poltergeist to your home theater on Blu-ray with a spiffy new remaster in the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1. As usual, Warner has utilized VC-1 to compress the title and it is, of course, presented in full 1080p. Poltergeist is one of those films that I didn’t have much hope for on Blu-ray. With all the complex optical compositing used for visual effects back in 1982, it was almost a certainty that the film would look murky and be riddled with dirt and debris. Fortunately, that’s not the case and Warner should be applauded for bringing home a fantastic looking presentation.

As I mentioned, I honestly wasn’t expecting much out of this set, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Poltergeist looks pretty darn amazing. Colors are nicely saturated and contrast is stable and sufficiently deep. Detail is vastly improved over the previous DVD release and there’s a really nice level of filmic grain present throughout the entire film. If there is a single bone to pick with this release, it lies in the occasional bit of dirt on the otherwise pristine print. Given the aforementioned optical compositing done on the film, I’m honestly surprised that it is as clean as it is. So, don’t take the presence of a small amount of dirt as a criticism, but rather an observation. Anyway, Poltergeist looks better than ever and is certainly an attractive Blu-ray presentation.

Poltergeist Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Thankfully, Warner has chosen to give Poltergeist the full Dolby TrueHD 5.1 treatment with his Blu-ray release and the film has never sounded better. As with all TrueHD releases, there is also a standard English Dolby Digital track included as well as a both English and French Dolby 2.0 tracks. Poltergeist certainly wasn’t produced at a time when the likes of 5.1 lossless audio were even an option, but it does benefit from having what was considered a state-of-the-art sound mix upon its theatrical release. This translates nicely to Dolby TrueHD.

Poltergeist features surprisingly active surround usage, nice, deep bass and a very pleasing spacial feel in its mix. Clearly, this has been trumped up and remixed for Blu-ray, but the results are completely satisfying. Naturally, the effect isn’t anywhere close to a modern day mix from something along the lines of Transformers, but it is an above average mix. Dialogue is also nicely rendered with every syllable reproduced in a crisp and clear manner. Ultimately, Poltergeist sounds great on Blu-ray.

Poltergeist Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - October 14th - October 14, 2008


• Interview with a Vampire; Poltergeist Announced - August 4, 2008

Poltergeist Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

Topic

Replies

Last post

» Show more forum threads