New to Blu: July 6-12

Sci-fi fans will be over the moon about two new Blu-ray releases this week: The Adjustment Bureau and I Am Number Four.

The former is being released in three editions and has a muted colour palette that means the image may not appear as sharp as it should to some.

“But it looks terrific nevertheless with a distinctive style in the photography,” High-Def Digest said.

Blu-ray.com praised the “gorgeously varied hues”, which it thought especially remarkable given director George Nolfi has “intentionally filtered so much of this film (as he discusses in his commentary track) toward, at various times, the cool blue or the blanched sepia ends of the spectrum”.

I Am Number Four won accolades more for its presentation than content.

The Cinema Laser said it “beautifully renders” Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography: “The image always appears quite sharp and highly dimensional, in addition to providing excellent levels of texturing and fine detail.

“Colours are vibrant, fully saturated and are reproduced without flaws.”

Home Theater Forum agreed: “Generally great looking in all departments (sharpness, contrast, colour resolution, flesh tones, black levels), only a couple of shots with less than optimum sharpness and some murky shadow detail spoil what would otherwise be a reference transfer.”

Undeservedly bypassing cinemas is the Paul Haggis (Crash)-directed thriller, The Next Three Days, starring Russell Crowe.

Reviewers recommended the Blu-ray for its “sometimes breathtaking cinematography” (Blu-ray.com) and said “blacks are where the transfer really shines, creating sensible depth and detail (High-Def Digest).

Also going direct-to-disc are:

• the fear-at-30,000 feet-up thriller, Altitude, which is said to have a proficient if variable transfer;
• the low-budget Vinnie Jones action drama, Locked Down (“fairly average looking” and “often times swarming in video noise”);
• the surfing sequel, Blue Crush 2 (“mostly an eye-pleasing experience” and “brilliantly sharp”)
• the anime titles, Eden of the East Movie 1 – The King of Eden + Air Communication,  Samurai Champloo – Complete Collection and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Collection 4.

Unusually, two arthouse releases in the same week are coming out on Blu-ray: Sarah’s Key and Blue Valentine (“looks fantastic” and “quite film-like and detailed”).

New on the back-catalogue front are: The Doors 20^th Anniversary Edition, Nim’s Island, A Simple Wish, Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, Blue Crush, Flipper and Uncle Buck.