The Fan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		1.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

The Fan Blu-ray Movie Review

Mill Creek has re-released the 1996 baseball film 'The Fan,' starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, directed by Tony Scott, to Blu-ray. The previous issue was released as part of a two-film bundle. This is a standalone release but appears to recycle the same video and audio qualities from the previous release. No extras are included with either release.

A fan on a knife's edge.

The Fan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I didn't make a super-close, scientifically detailed comparison between this release of The Fan and Mill Creek's previously release because they look identical and if they are not identical, it doesn't matter because both look terrible. Whether every macroblock artifact is in the same place, every splotch and speckle appears in the same spot is irrelevant: both issues are disastrous. The film looks awful, and "awful" suffices for both reviews. The text from the previous issue holds: Few are going to be fans of The Fan's 1080p Blu-ray presentation. It's a mess, notably due to severe macroblocking that plagues most every shot. Look at a scene in a dimly lit conference room in chapter two in the nine-minute mark. Not only is the image soft with drab colors and print damage evident, but the macroblocking is so out of control as to border on debilitating to the scene. Look, too, in chapter eight during a critical beachside scene. It's nearly unwatchable. There are countless other examples, some not quite so extreme as these and others, but there's definitely no shortage of blocking to be found. There is also much evidence of edge enhancement. Look around a ticket scalper in the 14-minute mark. He appears to have a force field around him. When Rayburn's golfing in chapter three, he, too -- as well as Manny (John Leguizamo) and the golf cart -- appears to be completely encircled. These are two of the worst offending shots in the film, though there are several additional extreme examples creeping in throughout. The picture in total appears grossly processed, flat, and devoid of all but basic textural might. There are scattered moments of near-excellence when the movie's true filmic roots see light of day, when the stars briefly align to demonstrate clearly defined facial features, for example, in close-up. But for the most part this is a dim, dull, drained image. The picture is warm and tonally depressed by its nature, but the Blu-ray certainly does the palette as it is no favors. There's no color vitality to be found, skin tones are bland, and black levels are not eye-catching. The Fan deserves better.

The Fan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

It appears that Mill Creek has simply ported over the existing soundtrack from the studio's previous issue: The included DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack, the only audio option on the disc, delivers a passable listening experience that handles the movie's sound design adequately but without flair. The presentation wants for a fuller, livelier, more dramatic presentation both during baseball game sequences -- particularly for crowd din and chatter around Gil's seat -- but also in other locales with would-be lively sound elements, such as key beachside scenes later in the film. Music finds good essential clarity and stretch. Dialogue is clear and images well enough to the center location.

The Fan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of The Fan contains no extras, as neither did the previous issue house any supplemental material. This disc's main menu screen offers only options to play the film and toggle subtitles on and off. It does ship with Mill Creek's popular "Retro VHS" slipcover.

The Fan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Fan may be one of the lesser films in Tony Scott's body of work, but it's a fundamentally sound, if not superficially focused, Thriller. It can't quite reach so deeply into Gil's mind and madness as the material demands, but De Niro saves the film with a quality performance, supported by good work from Wesley Snipes whose character also battles his own demons throughout the movie. Mill Creek's new standalone Blu-ray is, like its two-fer predecessor, largely in shambles. Awful video, mediocre audio, and no supplements make for a poor overall presentation. The movie may not be a classic, but it deserves better.