听 "2010" is not exactly tailored for home viewing. Especially when it's on a pan and scan video tape. Thank goodness then that Warner Brothers have taken it upon themselves to release it on DVD in its original letterbox format. Unfortunately it's far from one of their best discs.
The bad news is that the picture quality is at times quite poor. Some of the blame can be laid at the feet of the original print, which has pin-sharp exterior space shots as opposed to fuzzy interior shots. But Warner's could have done a better job of cleaning it up. Just watch out for the bed scene with Roy Scheider, which is so grainy that his chest hairs appear to be crawling up his body! Things like that are irritating but given that most of the second half of the film consists of the clearer footage in space, fans may still want to buy this disc.
The good news definitely compensates for the bad in the form of a tooth-rattling new 5.1 track. The space scenes now have an eerie rear score that does a lot to enhance the menacing tone of the film. The sub woofer gets plenty to do with the 'aero-braking' scene and finale providing a deafening rumble that should drown out anyone moaning about the picture quality.
Chapters: 32
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Extra Features: Scene selection, multiple languages and subtitles.
