Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Fear Blu-ray Movie Review

Mill Creek has released the 1996 Mark Wahlberg film 'Fear' to Blu-ray. Universal released the film to the format in 2012. This Blu-ray compares favorably with the Universal disc for its video and audio presentations but lacks the lone supplement from that release. This Mill Creek issue is currently only available as part of a two film bundle with 'Contraband.'

Fear Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal originally released 1996's Fear to Blu-ray in 2013. While the studio then produced good work on its new release discs (like Contraband with which this film shares a disc) its catalogue releases were far less impressive, often showing signs of heavy-handed processing and were, by all appearances, soured from masters prepared for DVD and simply ported over to higher resolution Blu-ray only to reveal the inherent mastering flaws all the more in high definition.

Unfortunately Fear is one of those latter sort of transfers rather than one more carefully prepared for a high definition presentation. The picture has been scrubbed of it inherent film-like look, rendering textures severely flattened and smooth and subsequently re-sharpened, a tactic which might have suited DVD but leaves this looking pasty and wholly disappointing. For this release, it's clear Mill Creek just dropped whatever Universal provided onto the disc (likely the same master the studio used in 2013), though this presentation does utilize the MPEG-4 AVC encode whereas the old Universal disc encoded the film in VC-1. Still, the results are unattractive. This is clearly very similar to the Universal disc, if not almost identical. I did not review, nor do I have access to, the original disc, but reading Brian's review and perusing the screenshots reveals something essentially the same here. Color reproduction is decent. Brian noted in his review that "colors are in fine shape, having the advantage of a gorgeously shot picture that utilizes the deep greens of northwestern woods, while Steven's blazingly red car makes a strong impact." Such mostly holds true here as well. There's enough essential pop and vibrancy to please, though certainly there's an obvious lack of color subtlety and full-on lifelike depth at work, not to mention an obvious flatness in darker scenes (look inside a club around the 13-minute mark). But basics are handled fine, blacks are decent, and skin tones are fair though hampered by the smoothed-out textures and flatter tones. If that is not enough, edge enhancement is in plain evidence throughout.

This release does show some compression artifacts that may not have been in evidence on the Universal disc where there was more breathing room and a higher bitrate at work. These are not deal breaking anomalies, though to be sure much of the rest of the image could be considered "deal breaking." This is not a good looking Blu-ray, but blame the master Universal supplied, which appears very much in-line with the 2013 release.

Fear Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek undoubtedly utilizes the same DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack for this Blu-ray that was found on the Universal disc. The presentation is appropriately spacious, with good, deep musical beats engaging in bars and clubs at several points throughout. Atmospheric definition proves well capable, too, whether light natural ambience or fuller din at an amusement park partway through the film. The climax offers the usual barrage of this-and-that audio cues, well balanced and suitably engaging for the visual tone and sonic tenor at work. Dialogue is clear and center focused for the duration.

Fear Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Mill Creek Blu-ray release of Fear contains no supplemental content. Universal's 2013 Blu-ray only included a trailer so no major loss. No digital copy is included, either.

Fear Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brian called Fear a "silly movie" with "cheap shock value" that "consistently refuses to take the premise seriously, looking to entertain teenage audiences with scares instead of selecting a more interesting route of unease." An apt description. On this Mill Creek disc, the video quality is poor, the audio quality is fair, and no extras are included. Not recommended, but this Mill Creek disc is not really a downgrade from the Universal issue so fans may as well pick this up and have Contraband ready to go, too.