Director John Woo's action packed adventure, "Broken Arrow" creates a demand for great image replication and sound quality.  This recent dvd release compliments Woo's intentions perfectly.  While the story alternates between gripping tension and comic-book sensibility, the outstanding 5.1 sound mix almost instantly grabs the audience and brings them into the magic of the film.  One is too enthralled to realize the stupidity of the dialogue.  The image, while not 16:9 enhanced, is still spectacular!   There are no artifacts present and there's great detail in even the most darkly lit moments.  A demonstration quality dvd!!!!

We're a little disappointed that FOX didn't re-mix this classic "guilty-pleasure" with 5.1 sound.  The creaking of the ship as it continues its descent into ocean could have been great fun.  Still, the image is excellent, with greater clarity than the laserdisc.  Fleshtones are perfect and the contrast is always near perfection.  The film is one of the first of Irwin Allen's "disaster" epics.  Leslie Nielsen is great in a too-brief role as the ship's captain, and the entire cast is terrific!  Few will forget or agree with Shelly Winter's Academy Award nominated performance, and we've also got Gene Hackman, Stella Stevens and more!

While we're happy to see O.J. Simpson finally get his just rewards in this film, there's also other reasons to get this dvd.  The THX  mastering is even sharper than its laserdisc counterpart, with excellent clarity and color detail.  Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Charlton Heston provide some great over-the-top moments in another Irwin Allen "over-the-top" production.  The special effects are cheesy by today's standards, but the production values still appear lofty in certain scenes.   The dolby digital 5.1 sound lacks the active directional effects we'd hoped for, but there are certain sequences wherein the sound mix adds to the film's tension.

Neither "Volcano" or "Dante's Peak" did well at the box-office, but both were quite entertaining.  "Volcano"  is to "Dante's Peak" what "Armageddon" was to "Deep Impact".  The special effects are terrific and look even better than in its theatrical release due to the high quality of the dvd transfer from FOX.  The lava flowing into downtown LA really demonstrates the color clarity and definition capabilities of this format.  The definition acheived is nothing short of "amazing"!  The sound mix is equally impressive with virtually non-stop directional effects certain to provide a real workout for even the best speaker systems!!!!