7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
A probationary angel sent back to earth teams with an ex-cop to help people.
Starring: Michael Landon, Victor FrenchFamily | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Twenty one-disc set (21 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Highway to Heaven aired on NBC from September 1984-August 1989 and instantly struck a chord with audiences with its touching narratives and spiritually attuned look at life and lifting up those who are struggling in this world. The show was created by Star Michael Landon, of course best known for his leading role on the classic TV series Little House on the Prairie, itself one of the greats of TV's more wholesome landscape of days gone by. That was the show that made Landon something of a TV Legend, even though it proceded his first hit, Bonanza, a show in which Landon cut his teeth as a dramatic writer and TV director, crafting some of that series' best-known efforts. With Highway to Heaven, Landon seized much of the creative control, directing the majority, writing many, and of course starring in all. The close-knit affair meant more intimate creative control, with co-star Victor French also directing a few. But this was unquestionably Landon's show, and despite a ratings drop-off towards the end of its run, it stands as one of the quintessential hallmark TV shows from the second half of the 1980s.
The following text appears on-screen upon initial disc insertion: "Due to the age of these original programs and the high quality resolution that
Blu-ray provides, you may or may not notice technical anomalies on this Blu-ray presentation that we are unable to correct."
The picture quality is not at all good, but the picture quality is not at all poor, either. Probably the most obvious shortcoming is a lack
of color vividness and depth. The palette is very flat and washed out. Whether this is the intended look for the show I cannot say; I may have
watched it as a child now and then but I certainly do not remember it, nor would I trust decades-old memories from a low-def signal, not to mention
seen through the eyes of someone who would not have cared about picture quality at the time. Whether this is its look or not, there is no denying
that even would-be deep tones, such as Mark Gordon's green and yellow Oakland A's ballcap, lack punch and depth. General attire is likewise dull,
and so are natural greens and other support tones in homes and in various locales throughout the series. Skin tones are definitely pasty and pale,
almost ghostly at times for the lack of life in them. Black levels are likewise fairly flat and unimpressive. They are at times prone to crush and at
other
times appear pale and empty.
On the flip side, detail is not poor. Neither is it great, but the picture offers serviceable HD elements that render faces, hair, period clothes, and
various environments with adequate ease and efficiency. Certainly, this will not be mistaken for the sort of complex, film-sourced excellence found on
the best presentations from the era (TV show or otherwise), but this is a serviceable image that captures basics with superior clarity and complexity
than anything a standard definition version could offer. Grain is not organically presented; the image is largely free of obvious grain patterns, but the
picture does not appear scrubbed down, either, at least not to a waxy, fully debilitating extent. In this area the picture could be vastly improved, but
like the color it could have been much worse, too.
The picture does show some sporadic speckles and stray fibers. These are not overly distracting problems, but they do persist throughout the run.
Compression is not at all poor. Could it be better? Absolutely. Could things be worse? Oh yes. While hardly a bastion of compression perfection, the
work done here is just fine within the full picture context throughout the series run. In summary, the picture looks serviceably decent. It doesn't do
much right, but it also doesn't get anything horrifically wrong, either. Videophiles will probably cringe with regularity, but more forgiving
casual viewers should be more or less satisfied with this mediocre work.
Visual Entertainment Group brings Highway to Heaven to Blu-ray with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and a bitrate that holds at 0.1 Mbps. The track is center-focused and lacks any real sense of depth. It is as straightforward as TV soundtracks can be, especially from this era. The track barely musters any real energy but does offer basics like music, very minor ambient effects, and of course dialogue in appropriate balance but barely sufficient clarity. The opening title music certainly lacks definition. Listeners will never feel engaged with the audio, but the presentation gets the job done in terms of conveying the basics. The presentation style and parameters hold steady through the series run. Listeners will never be wowed, but Visual Entertainment Group at least ensures that everything is good to go in terms of carrying listeners through the show with the basics covered.
Unfortunately, for this entire boxed set, there are only extras on the very last disc, and those are comprised of a series of Bloopers & Outtakes (1080p, 4x3, 2:53) which are located under the "episodes" tab on the menu screen. This set ships in packaging similar to the studio's Stargate SG-1 release. The discs ship in a hugely oversized Amaray case (and a slipcover) and the discs are packed in plastic sleeves reminiscent of storage units for CDs. There is one such bundle of sleeves holding the entire collection, sans one disc; the last disc is included in a single sleeve all its own). The discs do ship one per sleeve so there's no stacking. They do require fingerprinting the bottom side to get out which may cause playback problems if they're not wiped clean prior to insertion.
Highway to Heaven offers a compelling and oftentimes moving portrait of life and its ebbs and flows. There is no shortage of heartache throughout the show, but there is no shortage of hope, either. This is a healthy, hearty, family friendly slice of nostalgia from a simpler time that reveals that human emotion, frailty, and the need for something bigger than self is a constant in tghe universe. The show is great, but the Blu-ray is iffy at best. The video and audio qualities are passable at best, and there are no extras beyond a couple of minutes of bloopers. Recommended primarily on program content rather than the Blu-ray proper.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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