Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Roxanne Blu-ray Movie Review

Mill Creek has released Director Fred Schepisi's 1987 RomCom 'Roxanne,' starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah, to Blu-ray. Sony previously released the film to Blu-ray a decade ago. Mill Creek has tuned contrast and changed the audio encode to a DTS, rather than Dolby, surround configuration. No extras are included but the release is part of the studio's 'Retro VHS Slipcover' line. Read below for more on this new disc.

Roxanne Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mill Creek has adjusted the contrast for its release of Roxanne, boosting the color well above the previous Sony issue which appears hazy and dull by comparison. Here, colors pop with more punch and authority; reds around the fire house, for example, are far deeper, ditto some of the blue shirts worn around the department. White depth is superior, black levels are deeper, and skin tones are fuller with a modest push to red. There's not any major difference to textural revelation. Environments, attire, and skin textures appear similarly if not identically to what the Sony disc has on offer when conducting A-B comparisons. The Mill Creek version further retains a natural grain structure, yielding a pleasing viewing experience. How true or untrue the color temperature is to Director Fred Schepisi's and Cinematographer Ian Baker's original vision for the film is unknown, but it's certainly a departure from Sony's decade-old release and to this reviewer's eyes is the nicer of the two.

Roxanne Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Roxanne includes a new audio encode, replacing Sony's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 offering with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless configuration. The track delivers acceptable performance but struggles to reach beyond the basics. A comedy routine in the 30-minute mark offers good general detail but strictly front-end engagement; any rear side usage is so subtle it's not noticeable. Ditto a restaurant scene in the minutes to follow. In fact, the entire experience is essentially front-end dominant. That's very similar to the Sony track, and one would be hard-pressed to note any significant alterations between the two. The track is very capable in defining the movie's essential sound signature, which includes light music that once again struggles to find significant surround usage, if any at all, really. The Jazzy opening title sounds are pleasantly engaging and offer solid clarity but the sound does not explode from the speakers with any authority. The track is reserved, yes, but more than capable of complimenting the film's lighter thematic tones quite well. Dialogue images well to the front-center location while definition and prioritization are fine.

Roxanne Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mill Creek has included no supplements for this Blu-ray release of Roxanne; the Sony disc contained nothing of note, either.

This package is perhaps most notable for the inclusion of its "Retro VHS" slipcover. So often the collectible outer shell features the exact same artwork, front, back, and side as the Blu-ray case inside, making them largely ornamental at best. Occasionally, embossing/debossing work adds a little variety but this reviewer has always pitched them in the trash, partly for that reason and partly because doing so saves precious (albeit minimal) shelf space, critical when one's collection numbers in the thousands. Mill Creek has taken a step to make slipcovers a little more meaningful with this line of "Retro VHS" slipcovers that offer a shrunken-down approximation of a vintage rental store copy and also feature a portion of a VHS tape extending from the side of the case, even if most VHS covers were open at the bottom.

For Roxanne, the cover features a bit of fake wear (creases, edge frays) and a red border around the box's edge. The box features a pair of stickers, one notifying that the movie is a "Romance" (complete with a heart icon) and the other advertising that the film is a Comedy (the stickers appear fairly freshly applied). The front artwork is significantly different than the Blu-ray case inside, which is a much less interesting and less dynamic (and more Photoshop-y) look, but it's nice to have two different artworks available in one package. The main title sticker on the VHS tape reveals both the film's title and some legalese, including a 1987 copyright notice. The sticker shows some handling wear, too. A "Be Kind Rewind" smiley sticker has also been slapped on the tape. Of course these are not real stickers but rather part of the print, and there's no texture to the cassette, either. Still, it's a pretty nifty visual. The rear side is a little less neat, keeping up with the vintage look at the top (including a Siskel & Ebert quote) but showing a few necessary tech details on the bottom that correspond to the Blu-ray. The bottom side of the VHS tape is also visible. Humorously, a handful of Blu-ray disc logos appear on the front, rear, and spine to break the illusion (though not entirely); the one on the front, situated at the top, and appearing in a fairly large size is the worst offender.

What would be really cool would be if the entire box art mimicked the VHS cover and the Blu-ray artwork underneath entirely mimicked the VHS tape, which could have easily been accomplished. That would offer more of a seamless illusion of actually pulling a VHS tape out of the package rather than it simply appear printed on part of the slipcover.

Note: Photographs of several other Mill Creek 'Retro VHS' slipcovers can be found here, here, and here. Because each slipcover offers the same basic layout with only some small unique identifiers distinguishing one from another beyond cover art, photos will not be included for every release in the line. Those linked images do offer a good overview representation of what to expect form this line.

Roxanne Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mention Steve Martin, and Roxanne cannot be far behind. Though perhaps not the actor's best work or most famous role (his parts in Father of the Bride, The Jerk, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles arguably tower above everything else) the nasal prosthetic represents the actor's most memorable and identifiable movie look. Though the movie fades in its final act, Roxanne delivers the goods most of the way through and is well worth watching for the classic Martin performance. Mill Creek's Blu-ray subjectively looks a bit better than the Sony disc with its boosted contrast. Audio is not radically altered, if it is altered at all beyond encode details. No extras are included. Recommended.