7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
The evil commander Borf has kidnapped Ace's girlfriend, the beautiful Kimberley, and is plotting to enslave the earth using his dreaded Infanto Ray, a weapon that changes everyone it blasts into a helpless baby. So goes the plot of Don Bluth's imaginative interactive video game Space Ace, based on the same concept as Dragon's Lair. In this game, played on a PC computer or Blu-ray player with remote, Ace, armed with only a laser gun, must find and destroy the Infanto Ray, rescue Kimberley, and save the earth. The animation in this Choose Your Own Adventure-type scenario is movie quality, and the scenes are exciting and witty.
Starring: Will Finn, Lorna Cook, Don Bluth, Michael RyeAnimation | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 55% |
Adventure | 46% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
You are Ace. Your mission is to defend the Earth and save your girlfriend Kimberly from Borf, an evil alien space commander. Borf intends to subjugate the Earth using his new weapon: the Infanto Ray. Unlike the Death Star, the Infanto Ray doesn’t destroy worlds...it changes anyone hit into helpless children. Normally this would be an easy job for our hero, but Ace was hit by Borf’s weapon and transformed into his nerdy former self: Dexter. A gangly teenager who would rather run than fight, he has to summon his courage and use his wits to defeat Borf, destroy Borf's evil forces, save Kimberly, and stop the Infanto Ray from being fired at Earth.
Ace and Kimberly are amazed to see how they look in 1080p
Space Ace has been given a full restoration from the original elements and is presented in 1080p/24 using the MPEG2 codec. Overall the transfer is much better than Dragon's Lair, probably due to the bigger budget and longer production period. There is some grain and print speckling (especially in some special effects heavy shots) but it isn't too distracting. Some of these artifacts were no doubt part of the original cel artwork and removing them would probably impact the picture quality to a negative degree. We have all seen how aggressive digital noise reduction (DNR) can degrade a HD image. The disc itself is a vast improvement over the DVD version released a few years ago. Colors pop off the screen, and the animation is clean and sharp. There are no noticeable compression artifacts. Those of you familiar with the arcade version are in for a real treat. Imagine trying to play this in on a 25 inch or so CRT monitor, at LaserDisc resolution, in a noisy arcade environment. Now imagine it in 1080p on a large flat panel and I think you'll agree that it is amazing what Digital Leisure has done here.
One of my biggest complaints about Digital Leisure's remaster of Dragon's Lair was that the game had been cropped from its Original Aspect Ratio (OAR) of the arcade 1.33 to 1.78. Space Ace has also been cropped to 1.78, but the original 1.33 version has been made available as well! You have *both* versions to not only play, but also watch! Even the trailers for the other games are in both ratios, including Dragon's Lair (it makes me wonder if Digital Leisure is planning yet another version)!
Choosing between ratios is available in the "Setup" option in the main menu.
The audio has been remastered to 5.1 and encoded in Dolby Digital (DD) @448kbps. Compared to their first game, the audio mix is much more active, plus there is a music score throughout the entire game (the game is fast and furious, and has music to match). Dialogue is for the most part crisp and clear except for Commander Borf, who is actually the reprocessed voice of creator/animator Don Bluth! Plenty of space ship whooshes, attacking creatures and robots, laser zaps, and explosions zoom from channel to channel. There really is not too much LFE to speak of unfortunately. Keep in mind this is a fairly low budget animated arcade game from 1984: most of the sound effects are canned stock from many science fiction films, and the score was created on a synthesizer. The new mix remains faithful to the original intent and opens it up somewhat for home theater: making the game much more immersive and involving. The only improvement I can think of is including a lossless track, or even letting the DD track stretch its legs at a healthier 640kbps. One wonders if it was encoded this way because of the limitations of a certain competing format (now deceased).
Like the main feature, all extras are presented in 1080p MPEG2. Audio is DD 2.0 @192kbps.
Watch (various running times): Each scene of the game is available to watch without having to play. There is also a "Play All" option, however it does not show the various death animations that the individual chapters have. Depending on how you set the screen in the setup menu you can watch it in either cropped to 1.78 or its original OAR.
Video Commentary (0:24:45): Don Bluth, Rick Dyer, and Gary Goldberg appear in a (hard coded) Picture-in-Picture window accompanying the game film. They discuss the creation from beginning to end, points of interest (such as odd background details), and various facts about the production and reception of the final product. Interestingly, this is the only way to view the various death scenes, additional branching scenarios, plus attract mode sequences not available in the "watch" mode. Unfortunately this extra is not available in OAR option. The creators have so much information to give that the film actually begins again before they are finished!
Creator Interviews (0:05:54): add additional tidbits not mentioned in the video commentary. They mention the music score, improvements in technology, favorite scenes, and the economic crash of the video game industry at the time of production.
Progression Reel (0:02:03): Short comparison video of all the various incarnations of Space Ace over the years including the original LaserDisc version. Anyone wondering how it compares to the original will be stunned to see just how much better the HD version looks.
Previews (various running times): Attract Mode trailers for Space Ace, the original Dragon's Lair, and the next (& final) game from the Bluth LaserDisc era: Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. One cool option Digital Leisure has added is a playable level for both of the Dragon's Lair games, *and* (as I mentioned earlier) they're available in either HD 1.78 or OAR 1.33!
Space Ace, as presented by Digital Leisure, is an improvement over their first outing into the world of hi-def with Dragon's Lair. I especially appreciate having both the OAR and HD ratio versions available. Any flaws in the presentation mainly have to do with the original source materials and not the mastering itself. The amped up difficulty actually gives it more value, since you're more than likely going to spend a lot more time trying to complete the game, especially on the "Ace" level. The lack of more comprehensive extras can be chalked up to the fact that Ace wasn't as groundbreaking or successful as Lair. Even then, most of those flaws can be overlooked since it is such a vast leap over the original materials. It's ironic that in the year separating the two releases in arcades saw the LaserDisc-based game fade, peak and die. Coupled with the great videogame crash of 1984 we saw the beginning of the end of arcades as we know it. Ironic now that home video games are more successful than ever…some even out gross Hollywood big budget films! Digital Leisure has done a very good job and I look forward to Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. Hopefully they will take advantage of the new Blu-ray disc authoring methods and outdo themselves again.
1983
Warner Archive Collection
1980-1981
2007
2000
1985
Warner Archive Collection
2011-2012
1973
Warner Archive Collection
2011-2013
Warner Archive Collection
2018-2019
2013
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #11
2011
Warner Archive Collection
1966-1968
DC Universe Animated Original Movie #4
2009
1994-1995
Season 8
1984
Collector's Edition
2008-2013
Warner Archive Collection
1967-1968
Special Edition
1987
2013