Universal Soldier Blu-ray

Universal Soldier

 (1992)

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi



Luc Devreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Sgt. Andrew Scott (Dolph Lundgren) are two soldiers who kill each other in Vietnam and are brought back to life 25 years later for a secret government program. Known as "Unisols," they are genetically enhanced, unstoppable killing machines without memory, feelings or free will. But when Devreaux's memory starts to return and he escapes the program, a superhuman chase across the country begins.

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

Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross, Jerry Orbach
Director: Roland Emmerich

Universal Soldier Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Lionsgate marches Universal Soldier onto Bluray disc with an ultra clean 1080p/VC-1 encode framed in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio that is of excellent quality, but not without some minor (personal) issues. Let’s start with the good part. The print master is clean and completely devoid of pops, scratches, and any other film related defects. Images are always sharp, highly detailed, with very good image depth and pop. Colors are always vivid without chroma noise, bleeding, and most importantly without being oversaturated. Contrast is excellent, black levels are inky black and very stable. Overall the picture had excellent dynamic range, exhibiting both excellent quality day and night images, with excellent shadow detail. Now to the bad, and it may not be all that bad to some. Universal Soldiers was filmed in 35mm using Panavision cameras and lenses. As such there should be some presence of film grain. On this release there is none, as if it was either DNR’d, or digitally scrubbed clean. Detail and fine detail are not lost in the process, but it does make the picture look more like video and less like film. Some might not find that to be objectionable, but as a lover of film, the effect of seeing film treated this way is unsettling. However, it didn’t appear to effect detail on any level, so this is just a pet peeve, and probably nothing more. A film that is 16 years old and looks this good deserves a lot of praise, so rather than focusing on the negative, I am giving Lionsgate major props

Universal Soldier Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Universal Soldiers sound is a mixed bag for these ears. Presented in 5.1 Dts-HD Master Audio with a variable bit rate averaging around 4mbps, it uses the sound field very effectively. In spite of its digital pedigree (mixed in Dolby SR analog, encoded to 16/44.1khz digital audio) it sounds dated next to today's amped up powerhouse soundtracks. While there is tons of bass going to the LFE, it is mushy, indistinct, and on occasion boomy and lacks detail. Sound effects have plenty of pop and snap, but did not really cut through the air and into the room. Explosions did not have the low frequency room filling halo around them, so they did not have the same kind of impact we would normally get from such an sound effect. At first I thought the surround channels were mixed too hot, but after closer inspection it is more the way we calibrate our surround channels more than the mix itself. We calibrate all of our channels equally, so when a mono signal is presented to the surround channels, they end up 3db’s too loud when the output is combined. In the theater the surround channels are mixed 3db lower than the fronts, so when mono information is present, the combination of the two channels ends up correct. When stereo signals are present this is not a problem. The surrounds are mostly mono early in this soundtrack, so the surrounds are too loud, and pulls the mix backward instead of keeping us focused up front where the action is. I didn’t notice this effect through the entire movie, so either my ears got used to it, or the surrounds utilized more stereo effects than mono in the rest of the movie. It’s a distraction others might not notice as much as I did. No matter, this is the best I have heard the audio sound on this film, and Lionsgate needs to be commended for their dedication in releasing lossless audio on Bluray.

Universal Soldier Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Monster's Ball; Universal Soldier Get Specs - October 2, 2008


• Universal Soldier Coming to Blu-ray - August 13, 2008

Universal Soldier Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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