One of the best "buddy" films of the 80s, "48 Hours" is now on dvd, and it looks great!  PARAMOUNT has given it an excellent transfer, complete with a first-time dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack, and wide screen ratio.  The dolby digital comes in handy right from the start wherein the James Horner score comes to life quickly prior to a prison break.  The bass effects add greatly to moments involving gun blasts(there are many like these) and other effects scenes.  The transfer looks wonderful with excellent blacks and grays.  The fleshtones are perfect.   "THIS" is the best way to experience the film ever!

Director Peter Weir has a great eye for visually stunning moments, and a great ear for incredible music.  In "The Truman Show", chapter 8,"Paranoia" best demonstrates the musical/visual combination of great cinematic moments making up this film.  This scene occurs about 30 minutes into the film, and we were truly disappointed that no other moments are this wonderful afterwards.  Still, the film works well on its own disturbing level and there's many other elements to it that make this worth revisiting on multiple viewings.  The transfer is excellent, even without 16:9 enhancement.  The contrast is excellent and the colors are vibrant.  The dolby digital 5.1 sound is engaging with a fully dimensional atmosphere in almost every scene.

Writer/director Tom DiCillo is one of those truly "independent" filmmakers, whose work has always been captivating for its originality and energy, even when limited by below modest budgeting.  "The Real Blonde" offers a bigger budget than his previous films, meaning bigger sets, and bigger actors.  Matthew Modine, Daryl Hannah and Kathleen Turner star in this comedic look at the film industry.  Most surprising is Elizabeth Berkley! Not only is she good, she's really good!  She's also far more sexy here than in "Showgirls" even though there's no nudity with her in this!  The story, following a perpetually out of work actor and his girlfriend, is often witty, and there's only a few slow moments. 

The transfer is first-rate!  Fleshtones are excellent, contrast is consistently perfect and the 1.85:1 ratio is an accurate representation of its theatrical scope.   The dolby digital 5.1 sound isn't extremely active, however it does offer more atmospheric moments than its laserdisc(non-dolby digital)counterpart.

While it's great to see PARAMOUNT is releasing their STAR TREK films, it would be even better if they provided the anamorphic enhancement they're providing on some select titles.  STAR TREK:GENERATIONS sounds terrific!  There are continuous demonstrations of spatial enveloping effects in almost every scene, and the bass effects are sure to work out the best sub woofer systems.  Unfortunately, there are a number of artifacts visible in this transfer, due to compression.  Of course, providing anamorphic enhancement would most likely alleviate this problem and we urge PARAMOUNT to begin providing this feature as a standard.  By providing this enhancement as a standard, PARAMOUNT would be a real player as WARNER BROS. has proven already. WARNER BROS. provides this standard on almost every title already!

Director William Friedkin apparently was against providing JADE in letterboxed format.   This truly amazes us, as he doesn't seem to understand letterboxing and how crucial it is to preserving the correct aspect ratio.  He also appears to be selective in his decisions, as SORCERER was only available in FULL FRAME, while BLUE CHIPS and FRENCH CONNECTION and THE EXORCIST have all been offered on either laserdisc or dvd in letterbox format.  With this said, the dvd transfer of this title is excellent.  The colors, contrast and gray scale is flawless!  While it's disappointing to not have the anamorphic 16:9 letterbox options, when blowing up the image for a 16:9 tv, eliminating some of the top and bottom portions doesn't significantly alter the compositions. The dolby digital 5.1 sound is one of the most active presentations from PARAMOUNT on DVD so far.  There is a continuous atmospheric presence in all speakers throughout the film.  A theatrical trailer is also provided.

BLACK RAIN has been greatly enhanced with the first-time available Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.  The music and sound effects track add a great deal of excitement to the film's tension.  The transfer looks good, but, again, it could've been even more impressive with 16:9 enhancement!  The fleshtones and colors are fine, but there are a few darker scenes which lack the sharp detail associated with enhancement.  There are no artifacts present however, and thank goodness for that!  PARAMOUNT, PLEASE START PROVIDING 16:9 enhancement!!!