Didn't think a movie this old could pull it off, but High-Def Digest is giving it a BIG THUMBS UP FOR PQ! 
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/blackrain.html
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/blackrain.html
Quote:
The Video: Sizing Up the Picture
When it comes to recent remasters of catalog titles, Paramount tends to not be held in the same regard as, say, a Warner. But that is a bit of a crime, as Paramount has really impressed me lately with its next-gen releases. Titles like 'Aeon Flux,' 'Four Brothers' and in particular 'Reds' were real stunners, and now 'Black Rain' joins such elite ranks. Considering that this is an eighteen year old film, I just wasn't expecting a very phenomenal image, but I was truly blown away -- this new print of 'Black Rain' is just about spotless.
The 2.40:1 widescreen, 1080p/VC-1 image is clean, smooth and shockingly free of grain and dirt. Colors, though not as over-the-top as those on most modern movies, are excellent. Stability and consistency are first-rate, with nice bold reds and blues particularly impressive; fleshtones, too, are pitch perfect, despite a heavy use of filtering by director of photography Jan De Bont. Detail and dimensionality are also clearly superior to just about any remaster I've seen for a film of this vintage.
Any complaints I do have are very minor. I noticed an instance or two of a dropout on the print, but maybe only two or three times -- hardly cause for alarm. There is also some very slight noise in a couple of shots, always involving billowing smoke (a Ridley Scott trademark), but it's so minimal as to be irrelevant. In short, 'Black Rain' looks fantastic.
When it comes to recent remasters of catalog titles, Paramount tends to not be held in the same regard as, say, a Warner. But that is a bit of a crime, as Paramount has really impressed me lately with its next-gen releases. Titles like 'Aeon Flux,' 'Four Brothers' and in particular 'Reds' were real stunners, and now 'Black Rain' joins such elite ranks. Considering that this is an eighteen year old film, I just wasn't expecting a very phenomenal image, but I was truly blown away -- this new print of 'Black Rain' is just about spotless.
The 2.40:1 widescreen, 1080p/VC-1 image is clean, smooth and shockingly free of grain and dirt. Colors, though not as over-the-top as those on most modern movies, are excellent. Stability and consistency are first-rate, with nice bold reds and blues particularly impressive; fleshtones, too, are pitch perfect, despite a heavy use of filtering by director of photography Jan De Bont. Detail and dimensionality are also clearly superior to just about any remaster I've seen for a film of this vintage.
Any complaints I do have are very minor. I noticed an instance or two of a dropout on the print, but maybe only two or three times -- hardly cause for alarm. There is also some very slight noise in a couple of shots, always involving billowing smoke (a Ridley Scott trademark), but it's so minimal as to be irrelevant. In short, 'Black Rain' looks fantastic.
