6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.6 |
The tale of a hapless group of cabbies and a rundown cab company owned by Harold. Albert comes to town with a dream of starting his own cab company but needs to motivate Harold's employees to want to make something out of themselves. It is only when Albert is kidnapped that the cabbies must decide whether or not they are loyal to Albert and his cause.
Starring: Mr. T, Adam Baldwin, Gary Busey, Gloria Gifford, Marsha WarfieldComedy | 100% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Joel Schumacher's "D.C. Cab" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer; radio spots; and exclusive new audio commentary by critic/filmmaker Daniel Kremer and critic Scout Tafoya. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
You are good to go now
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG- 4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, D.C. Cab arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from an old master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Unfortunately, it is a very problematic master that makes it virtually impossible to enjoy the film.
The main issue with the master is that it has been 'enhanced' with all sorts of different digital tweaks and they have introduced pretty much all of the bad anomalies that destroy native filmic qualities. For example, some sort of electronic sharpening has been applied and as a result the visuals do not have a proper grain structure. Also, the same sharpening can be credited for some really, really bad smearing (see screencapture #3). Needless to say, delineation and depth are very problematic. In darker areas existing black crush is exacerbated as well, which is why these areas the visuals often look like upscaled material (see screencaptures #4 and 5). On top of this, there is a lot of distracting aliasing. Image stability is very good. I'd say that the master was graded nicely as well, but in darker areas so many native nuances are lost that most of the time the visuals look like a smeary mess. To sum it all up, the current master is very weak and simply unsuitable for a proper Blu-ray release. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The lossless track is solid. The audio is clean, sharp, and free of balance issue. Perhaps there are few areas where it can be slightly fuller and better rounded, but even if in the future a new 4K master emerges and the audio is fully remastered, I don't believe that the new track will offer a sizeable upgrade in quality. Perhaps one of these new Dolby Atmos tracks that are being prepared for some older films can make a bigger difference. As it is, I think that the current lossless track handles the original soundtrack very well.
D.C. Cab is another great nostalgia fix with a sense of humor that feels almost rebellious now, which of course is extremely sad. Kino Lorber's release of D.C. Cab is sourced from an old and very problematic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. I give the label credit for bringing the film to Blu-ray, but this master just isn't good enough for a proper high-definition presentation. The film needs to be completely redone, in 2K or 4K, so that it actually looks like film. AVOID.
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