True Lies appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a mixed bag.
The film went through a process that essentially stripped away all grain and then “restored” the image through the use of AI. The end result sometimes looked very good – and other times not so much.
Part of the problem stemmed from the removal of grain, as this could leave the image with a “plastic” feel. That didn’t occur on a persistent basis, but humans and organic elements tended to seem unnatural, even if some scenes fared fine.
For prominent instances, go to the scenes at Harry’s headquarters. Due to the interior sets and lighting, I suspect these acted as some of the movie’s grainiest, so that removal damaged them the most.
Whenever we visit Harry’s HQ – or Helen’s workplace, too – the characters looked mushy and artificial. Indeed, faces could lean almost cartoony due to the uncomfortable mix of grain removal and AI “reconstruction”.
Sharpness became a casualty as well. While most of the movie showed good delineation, more than a few shots came across as somewhat soft.
Again, these tendencies tended to reflect settings, so scenes with brighter lights fared the best. Also, closeups delivered better definition than wider shots.
No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, though some light edge haloes occasionally arose. The movie included no actual grain, but the transfer featured a light layer of artificial grain. I saw no print flaws.
Much of Lies went with a heavily blue tint, though some shots emphasized more of an amber feel. 30 years down the road, I can’t claim whether or not these tones accurately reflect how the movie looked theatrically or if James Cameron revised them, but they came across well as depicted here.
Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows boasted appealing clarity. While parts of Lies offered solid visuals, the occasional mushiness and the artificial “plastic” look took over too often for this to become anything more than a “C+” presentation.
Happily, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of True Lies offered a much more satisfying affair. The mix seemed very strong as a whole, and it added a great deal of depth to the film.
The soundfield appeared to be consistently excellent. Throughout the film, all five channels displayed active audio that really involved the viewer.
From quieter, atmospheric scenes to the many loud and aggressive bits, Lies was an auditory wonder. The sound popped up in logical and well-localized spots, and it all blended together smoothly.
Surround usage seemed to be active and almost constant. The action shots made excellent use of the discrete capabilities of the 5.1 mix, as I heard a lot of split-surround information. Ultimately, the track worked tremendously well and ably supported the film.
Audio quality was solid as well, with speech that sounded natural and warm. Music sounded bright and vibrant, and the score also added positive bass response.
Effects appeared accurate and full, and they packed a solid punch when necessary. True Lies remained an excellent soundtrack.
How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD from 1999? Audio brought a similar soundscape but offered superior dynamics and clarity.
A non-anamorphic affair derived from a leftover laserdisc scan, the DVD didn’t even look good on my old 36-inch tube TV. I never re-reviewed it when I got bigger widescreen sets, but I must imagine that it would fare even worse on those sets.
As such, it came as no surprise that the Blu-ray offered vastly superior visuals when compared to that ancient DVD. Even with all the issues I found here, the BD nonetheless offered a massive upgrade over that awful DVD.
The DVD included only one extra, and it reappears here: the movie’s trailer. While not packed with new materials, the Blu-ray does offer a nice assortment.
We start with Fear Is Not an Option, a new documentary about the film. It runs 43 minutes, 27 seconds and involves writer/director James Cameron, former Fox Head of Production Jon Landau, Digital Domain visual effects supervisor John Bruno, and actors Arnold Schwarenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bill Paxton (from 2012).
“Fear” looks at the project’s origins and development, story/characters, stunts and action, sets and locations, effects, a variety of scene specifics, and why Cameron never produced a sequel.
If I wanted to complain about “Fear”, I would gripe about the limited roster of participants. Given the production’s enormous scope, you’d think we’d hear from more than six folks.
That said, I feel delighted that we get a long and fairly involved discussion, and I love that Cameron, Schwarzenegger and Curtis all returned to discuss the film. Because Cameron let the film languish in Home Video Limbo for decades, I figured we should feel lucky enough to simply finally get an update on that awful 1999 DVD and I didn’t anticipate any extra at all, much less a good new documentary.
Even with the semi-limited roster of cast/crewmembers, I still find a lot to like about “Fear”. Throw in lots of good footage from the shoot and this turns into a solid documentary.
By the way, don’t end “Fear” until the credits start. Cameron offers a funny story about why Harry says “sorry” so much in the film.
Along with the aforementioned trailer, everything else shows up under the banner of Archives. Original Script occupies 154 still screens.
As expected, this presents the film’s screenplay, though with a twist because it also shows some handwritten notes and sketches by Cameron. It delivers a cool addition.
More stills arrive via Storyboards that cover the movie’s action scenes. We get 378 of these and they offer an enjoyable glimpse of the planning processes.
Blueprints breaks into five subdomains: “Tasker House” (7 images), “Omega Sector” (1), “Mall Bathroom” (2), “Trailer Park” (2) and “Bridge” (5). These show designs for those sets.
Though interesting, these would’ve worked better as one compilation and not five smaller groups. Each section includes so few elements that navigation becomes clunky.
Three more Galleries complete the set: “Unit Photography” (76 frames), “Location Photography” (5) and “Posters” (19). All work well, though I especially like the posters since that domain comes with a bunch of unused concepts.
True Lies comes with some glaring flaws, but it provides an exciting and enjoyable take on the secret agent game. It falls short of greatness, but it still seems like a very good flick nonetheless. The Blu-ray offers terrific audio and an array of bonus features but visuals suffer from too many issues related to grain removal and other tampering. This becomes a more than watchable presentation but not one that replicates the movie in an authentic manner.
Note that as of March 2024, this Blu-ray version of True Lies only comes as part of a package with the film’s 4K UHD edition. Normally I don’t review discs that don’t enjoy solo releases, but given that the film never saw a Blu-ray release prior to this set, I suspect plenty of fans will buy the 4K just for this BD so I figured it deserved its own write-up.
To rate this film, visit the original review of TRUE LIES