I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

One of our best test DVDs and one of my personal favourite has been given a Blu-ray make over... and what a makeover it is as well.....

Every breathtaking frame of the new Blu-ray version of Apocalypse Now was personally supervised by Francis Ford Coppola..... Encoded via AVC, in 1080p and 2.35:1, this is about as perfect an image as one could hope for, especially for a film that is now over 30 years old
An incredible upgrade in detail and colour this new Blu-ray reveals. From the first yellow haze shots of the jungle exploding in flames to the final, devastating shot of Willard leaving Kurtz's compound on his boat, Apocalypse Now fairly bristles with detail. Look for example at the scene with the backlit Willard in profile examining the dossier on Kurtz: you can literally count the hair on Sheen's neck, so clear is the image. Grain is completely natural looking, never obtrusive, but apparent and giving the film and nice depth and texture. Contrast and black levels are nothing short of exceptional. The "Brando act" of this film, swathed in darkness as it is, is a revelation, with brilliant delineation between the bald head of Kurtz and the inky black background. The colours throughout this film are astoundingly vivid and beautifully saturated. No source element damage of any major import is noticeable, aside from some very minor blemishes which are very transitory. Simply a superior job all the way around.

If I say its safe to surf this beach, Captain, then its safe to surf this beach! I mean, I'm not afraid to surf this place, I'll surf this whole fu€king place!
 

One of the reasons we use this film for testing is for the sound. This film pretty much invented modern 5.1 sound mixes (ok Star Wars helped) and the attention to detail here is simply mind boggling. That first iconic sequence, which starts with sound before we even get an image, is a perfect example. The weirdly synthesized helicopter rotor noise clearly starts in the right rear channel and then careens around the room channel by channel until finally The Doors' music kicks in. But it's not just the action and battle sequences that are alive with surround activity. Even small scale dialogue scenes, such as when Willard is given his mission, are filled with ambient effects and simply awesome channel separation. Fidelity is exceptional, with Carmine Coppola's synthesized score has never sounded better (or stranger). The soundfield here is one of the most consistently brilliantly realized pieces of art (yes, art) in film history, and this lossless track is, to put it plainly, reference quality.

I will not hurt or harm you. Just give me back the board, Lance. It was a good board... and I like it. You know how hard it is to find a board you like...

As you may tell I am quite taken aback by this Blu-ray release and shall be using it to demonstrate new installations of a home cinemas.....Although if the original DVD was anything to go by we will need to have a few copies in stock, as after seeing a couple of the more memorable scenes our clients tend to want to ´borrow´ the film to watch it in its entirety......and I can´t blame them........

Disneyland? Fu€k, man, this is better than Disneyland!