Cobra appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Given the movie’s age and origins, this became a fairly good presentation.
For the most part, sharpness worked fine. Some wider shots and interiors looked a little soft, but the majority of the movie appeared reasonably accurate and tight – this wasn’t a razor-sharp film but it seemed more than acceptable.
Shimmering and jaggies remained absent, and I noticed no edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.
Cobra featured a fairly subdued palette, and the colors looked adequate. I thought they could’ve been more vivid, but they were mostly good, and at least they usually lacked the murkiness that affects so many 1980s movies.
Black levels seemed to be pretty dense and dark, and shadow detail was clean and natural. Nothing about the image excelled, but I thought the transfer offered a decent representation of an older flick.
In addition, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Cobra worked pretty well. The soundfield seemed oriented toward the forward channels, where they showed good stereo imaging for music and effects.
Elements meshed together well and moved smoothly. Localization was also very good. The surrounds added more than acceptable reinforcement to the image.
Audio quality was positive. Dialogue seemed slightly weak at times, as I occasionally heard some mild edginess, but it generally appeared warm and natural. Effects were fairly well-defined and full, though gunshots occasionally betrayed some distortion.
Music sounded clean and lively, as the score was reproduced in a satisfying manner. This was an above-average mix for its era.
This “Collector’s Edition” comes with an array of extras, and we start with an audio commentary from director George P. Cosmatos. He offers a running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters, sets and locations, music, editing, stunts and action, and related domains.
Cosmatos’ commentary for Rambo remains one of the worst I’ve ever heard, but I hoped he’d do better for Cobra. He couldn’t possibly record another track as dull and pointless as his Rambo chat, could he?
Nope. While not a great track by any stretch of the imagination, Cosmatos’ discussion works much better than his Rambo commentary.
At times, Cosmatos does little more than describe the on-screen action, but this mars the commentary mainly in its early stages. Cosmatos warms up over time and eventually gets into enough of a groove to deliver a moderately informative track. Again, the piece fails to excel in any way, but it gives us enough substance to merit a listen.
A few featurettes follow, and Stalking and Slashing fills 26 minutes. It presents notes from actor Brian Thompson, as he discusses his career and experiences during Cobra. Thompson gives us some good observations and insights, with the most interesting elements related to Cosmatos’s “tyrannical” attitude on the set.
By the way, Cosmatos shows no animosity toward Thompson. While he doesn’t say much about the actor, the director nonetheless compliments Thompson a couple of times.
With Meet the Disease, we find a 24-minute, five-second piece that brings info from actor Marco Rodriguez. Like Thompson, he covers aspects of his career and his time on the Cobra set. This becomes a reasonably engaging chat.
Next comes Feel the Heat, a 14-minute, 15-second reel with actor Andrew Robinson. Ala the prior clips, Robinson talks about his time in movies and his work on Cobra. Robinson offers a blunt view of the film and makes this a lively piece.
Double Crossed goes for nine minutes, five seconds and includes info from actor Lee Garlington. Once again, we get an overview of Garlington’s various experiences, and this turns into another good reel.
After this we get A Work of Art. It runs eight minutes, 23 seconds and features actor Art La Fleur as he presents comments in the same vein as those from his co-stars. Expect another likable chat.
From 1986, a Vintage Featurette spans seven minutes, 50 seconds and offers statements from Cosmatos, writer/actor Sylvester Stallone, stunt coordinator Terry Leonard, and actor Brigitte Nielsen. It acts as a pretty typical promotional affair, so don’t expect much from it.
In addition to two trailers, we find two Still Galleries. The first focuses on “Photos” (51 images), while the second shows “Posters and Lobby Cards” (62). Both seem decent but no better than that.
Eighties cheese of the most pungent variety, Cobra plays much more as parody than anything else. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer compelling parody, so it becomes a silly, ridiculous action effort. The Blu-ray brings generally good picture and audio along with a pretty positive roster of supplements. Cobra fails to present any form of entertainment value.