Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"Ghost" will surprise you, delight you, make you believe. Patrick Swayze plays a ghost who teams up with a psychic to uncover the truth behind his murder - and to rescue his sweetheart from a similar fate.

One of the best romance films of the last twenty years makes it way to Blu-ray. It was interesting watching this film now so many years later. It is still very effecting and I loved the blending of the love story with the thriller aspect. While it doesn’t hold up quite as well as it did when I was younger, it is still a great catalog classic.

The HD presentation is good but not quite up there with the better catalog releases. The special effects have a dated look to them, which does do any favors to the overall visual presentation. Depth and dimension are strong and contrast is excellent, but you can’t help but notice the slightly processed look of the image. Fine detail can be a bit lacking at times and the noise floor of the image shifts quite a bit from scene to scene. This is still the best I’ve seen the film look though and a clear step up from the previous DVD releases.

The TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is good but a bit dated in tonal balance and dynamics. The track does have some nice presence to it and fills up the soundstage nicely, but it can be a bit bright at times. The sound design has a dated feel and the synth score doesn’t help. Still, the mix does do a good job with the surround soundstage and can be quite engaging in the more intense sequences of the film.

Extras include a feature commentary with the writer and director along with a production feature that looks at the making of the film. You also get an inside look at making the sensual sequences of the film, a flashback on great Hollywood love films and the trailer.

Classic romance films don’t get much better than this and Paramount has done a pretty good job with the presentation overall. Diehard fans will probably want to pick this one up but casual viewers should probably just stick to a rental.