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”Cocked, Locked, and ready to Rock!”

The Rock is Michael Bay’s third film to make it to HDM domestically, and his second released on the outspoken director’s preferred format, Blu-ray, following Pearl Harbor. Like just about everything else Bay directs, The Rock was an enormous popcorn flick that still excites both tried and new audiences over ten years later. So far it’s stood the test of time in its celebrity. And never before has it looked or sounded as good as the delivery by this BD.

Rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, language, and a sex scene.

To put it mildly, I would have never expected a film from 1996 to look this good in high def without some evidence of a new master being struck better prepared for the demands of high definition. But The Rock looks amazing on BD. Resolution in particular suffers no softness either from the age of the master or the films 35mm origins. With surprisingly little inconsistency, the video is resolutely defined in every scene, regardless of shadow or highlight. Effects are still pretty seamless over a decade later as well.

A bold dynamic highlights the darkness, contrasting deep inky blacks that don’t give up an inch of shadow detail for a sense of depth and dimension that’s almost indescribably striking. Color balance tends toward being more natural than many newer films, but saturation is rich and lush, also without giving up any delineation for an eye popping experience that had me in awe from beginning to end.

But, like Con Air, the video isn’t perfect for primarily the same reason, edge enhancement. Ringing is pretty plain to make out. Not as broad as it was on the Criterion DVD, nor even as severe as the BD of Con Air, but fairly unavoidable on a revealing screen, even if you’re not analyzing the video. It’s presence further supports the notion that the film wasn’t remastered anytime recently, as I don’t believe any studios are adding this degree of EE during telecine anymore, but it was more common when movies were being primarily mastered for DVD.

These screenshots should give an idea of the difference between the Criterion released DVD and the BD in PQ. As usual the pics focus on a small area of the screen, usually objects at a medium or longer range. But honestly, at 92”, the difference appears more dramatic when viewing the entire frame than what I could capture with a camera. The last two comparison shots probably show the difference in resolve best. But even they don’t show the full extent of the difference. The DVD was deinterlaced and scaled to 1080p using HQV’s Reon chip built into the XA2. The BD pics were taken paused at 24p. Panasonic drops fine detail when pausing, but these pics at least give you an idea of the very minimum improvement to expect at 1080p. Differences in luma and chroma in these pics should be ignored. Depending on the shot, they may be more a byproduct of the camera’s auto settings. Barrel distortion and lens aberration may also have been added by the close proximity of the camera to the screen.

The Criterion Edition has oft been heralded for its DTS sound. The Oscar nominated sound design offers a powerfully moving and eventful sonic experience. And the lossless fidelity of the new, uncompressed (PCM) encoding is assuredly an appreciable upgrade from DVD in the least.

The mix throws a barrage of action effects at the viewer, submersing them in a 360 degree field of sound effects ripping through the air, underlined by a firm, yet very articulate low end. And through it all, the score trumpets on, electrifying the scene even more. It can be quite overwhelming. Back in 96” music still often took the lead over effects. That’s somewhat true here. And Glennie-Smith and Zimmer deliver, along with a compilation of classic tunes that drive the story to seem more meritorious, even though it’s essentially a dyed-in-the-wool popcorn flick, through and through. My only criticism stems at the mix itself, particularly the integration of the dub at a few spots. But it’s a relatively trivial observation.

It’s almost surprising to see most of the extras from the Criterion released 2-DVD set make it to high definition. In the past, typically extras developed for Criterion aren’t found on the regular studio editions of films. This is a first that I’ve seen. All of the extras preserve their original 4:3 aspects and standard def fidelity. None are all that comprehensive on the making of the film. But, it’s nice to not have to give up anything meaningful when upgrading to a new, presumably better edition. The BD is the all-around champion in every category.

• audio commentary with Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, and technical advisor Harry Humphries
  
• teaser trailer
  
• theatrical trailer
  
• 5 TV Spots
  
• 2 minute promo at and on the films world premiere at Alcatraz
  
• 6 minutes of civilian firearms training and interview footage with Navy Seals
  
• 8 minute firearms safety/training segment with two Hollywood technical advisors
  
• 8 minute special effects featurette on the “Dive” sequence
  
• 8 minute “Movie Magic” action effects featurette
  
• 9 minutes of outtakes
  
• 14 minute history of Alcatraz featurette
  
• 16 minute Jerry Bruckheimer interview
  

The Rock is a fan favorite actioner that many online have been impatiently awaiting its high def debut. Disney does not disappoint, preserving the worthwhile extras from the 2-disc Criterion set, while updating the audio and video to a much higher fidelity than even reference DVD can afford. But like Con Air, ringing is the only caveat. This disc also falls into Disney’s new promotion allowing owners of the DVD to get ten dollars back when they upgrade to BD. But even at full price, if you love this film, you won’t be able to do without. It’s without question, significantly more rewarding to watch Blu.

"A man can never learn what he thinks he already knows." - author unknown

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