Blue Thunder (1983)
Drama, Action, Thriller • 1h 50m
Overview
Los Angeles, California. Officer Murphy, a veteran Metropolitan Police helicopter pilot suffering from severe trauma due to his harsh experiences during the Vietnam War, and Lymangood, his resourceful new partner, are tasked with testing an advanced and heavily armed experimental chopper known as Blue Thunder.
Director: John Badham
Cast: Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern, Paul Roebling, David Sheiner, Joe Santos, Malcolm McDowell, Ed Bernard, Jason Bernard, Mario Machado, James Murtaugh, Pat McNamara, Jack Murdock, Clifford A. Pellow, Paul Lambert, Phil Feldman, John Garber, Anthony James, Robin Braxton, Anna Forrest, Ricky Slyter, Reid Cruickshanks, Billy Ray Sharkey, Fred Slyter, John Gladstein, Ross Reynolds, Karl A. Wickman, James W. Gavin, Thomas H. Friedkin, James Read, Mickey Gilbert, William T. Lane, Lolly Boroff, Patti Clifton, Ernest Harada, Frances E. Nealy, Jose Pepe R. Gonzales, Jerry Ziesmer, Tom Lawrence, John Ashby, Tony Brubaker, Norman Alexander Gibbs, Bill M. Ryusaki, Gary Davis, Thomas Rosales Jr., Larry Randles, Peter Miller, Mike H. McGaughy, Lucinda Crosby
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Directors: Jean Vigo & Boris Kaufman
Directors: Jean Vigo & Boris Kaufman
Director: Danny Boyle
Criterion 2026 4K Blu-ray (UPC 715515334617)
Criterion 2026 4K Blu-ray (UPC 715515334617) > Criterion 2024 4K Blu-ray > Film4 4K Blu-ray
5.1: Universal EU Blu-ray - Criterion and Lionsgate are missing LFE, otherwise the same
Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Film4 4K Blu-ray is on a BD-66, both Criterion releases are on BD-100 discs.
Criterion 2024 release bitrate: 94.67 mbps
Criterion 2026 release bitrate: 93.66 mbps
Film4 bitrate: 62.00 mbps
Director: Danny Boyle
Criterion 2026 4K Blu-ray (UPC 715515334617)
Criterion 2026 4K Blu-ray (UPC 715515334617) > Criterion 2024 4K Blu-ray > Film4 4K Blu-ray
5.1: Universal EU Blu-ray - Criterion and Lionsgate are missing LFE, otherwise the same
Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Film4 4K Blu-ray is on a BD-66, both Criterion releases are on BD-100 discs.
Criterion 2024 release bitrate: 94.67 mbps
Criterion 2026 release bitrate: 93.66 mbps
Film4 bitrate: 62.00 mbps
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Like previous releases, the 4K Blu-ray was scanned from an interpositive rather than the original camera negative at Paul Thomas Anderson’s request which may explain the softness.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Like previous releases, the 4K Blu-ray was scanned from an interpositive rather than the original camera negative at Paul Thomas Anderson’s request which may explain the softness.
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Michael Mann
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM encode is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras, Arrow LE has Theatrical cut Blu-ray from older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.
Director: Michael Mann
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM encode is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras, Arrow LE has Theatrical cut Blu-ray from older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.
Edit History
5/3/2026
caps-a-holic
Added
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=4647&d2=4648&c=1902
Added
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=4647&d2=4648&c=1902
5/3/2026
Format
Added
UHD Blu-ray
Added
UHD Blu-ray
Best Audio Release
Added
(Arrow 4K Blu-ray? while it lacks the 70mm mix)
Added
(Arrow 4K Blu-ray? while it lacks the 70mm mix)
Blu-ray.com
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Blue-Thunder/19849/#Releases
Added
https://www.blu-ray.com/Blue-Thunder/19849/#Releases
