- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit)
- Subtitles: English SDH, French
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: R
- Run Time: 121 Mins.
- Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: January 17, 2012
- List Price: $20
[amazon-product]B005TBQS0Q[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Good Morning Vietnam on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are only are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Another classic from my high school years, Good Morning Vietnam finally arrives on Blu-ray from Disney’s Touchstone Home Entertainment. This 1987 dramedy from director Barry Levinson (The Borgias; Rain Man) features comedian Robin Williams in the lead role set free to do what he does best – improvise his way to comedic gold.
The film, based on the real-life Air Force DJ Adrian Cronauer (played here by Williams) follows the Armed Forces Radio DJ as he is sent to Vietnam to DJ the Armed Forces Radio morning show just as the war begins to escalate. Cronauer’s irreverent comedic style and refusal to play the staid musical playlist approved my Army brass, opting instead for the hip pop, rock, and r&b of the day, has him running afoul of his immediate superiors, but gaining a big audience with the soldiers putting their lives on the line in Vietnam.
This film is all about Williams’ performance behind the microphone, with every Cronnauer broadcast basically a Robin Williams improv, but Barry Levinson rather adeptly harnessed that wild energy of Williams into an enjoyable story of growth. Cronauer, arriving in Vietnam, apparently, bent on keeping himself out of harm’s way and simply pissing off the authorities, by the end of the film has begun to realize he has a larger duty to the young soldiers out there fighting who listen to him for that one inkling of joy that reminds them of home. Williams does this perfectly and Good Morning Vietnam is a delightful comedy for it.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Good Morning Vietnam is granted a pleasant AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encodement from Disney’s Touchstone that looks film-like, with a good amount of natural grain still present that never becomes overwhelming. Source damage is just about completely absent and colors look rather vibrant for a film from 1987. Flesh tones are reasonably natural, midtones look rich and primaries quite vivid. Closeups reveal a good bit of texture, though things do begin to soften as we get into backgrounds and distance shots.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
With its English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack, Good Morning Vietnam puts forth a reasonably adequate soundtrack for the material at hand. The surround channels are nearly silent and LFE only gets some action during the rare explosion scenes, then sounds good and weighty. Dialogue is intelligible, but there are a couple of spots where elevated dialogue resulted in some definite clipping/crackle.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
There isn’t really anything new or exclusive added to this Blu-ray release, but for anyone who hasn’t seen them before Robin Williams’ raw monologues are a treat and reasonably funny. The production diary is rather informative and offers an opportunity to see and hear from the real-life Adrian Cronauer.
The supplements:
- Production Diary (1.33:1; SD):
- How the Movie Came to Be
- Actor Improv
- Music of the Movie
- Origin of the Good Morning Vietnam Sing-On
- Raw Monologues (1.33:1; SD; 00:13:07)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1.33:1; SD)
- Original Theatrical Teaser Trailer (1.33:1; SD)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Good Morning Vietnam! This film still has a whole lot of heart and soul. It has stood the test of time, being every much as enjoyable today as it was 15-years ago. Thankfully, Touchstone has given it a good release on Blu-ray that makes it a very pleasurable watch.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B005TBQS0Q[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Good Morning Vietnam on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
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