The Dark Blu-ray Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

MVD gives this cheapie a beautiful master. Minor specks and dirt aside, the print is near perfect. It's stable, and consistent grain, under command of the encode, maintains strong fidelity. The Dark's sharpness is enough to believe it's a newer production than the late '70s. While not overflowing with things like facial detail, texture fills the frame, resolved by an impressive, high-resolution source.

Color lacks the same impressiveness, flattened out and dry. Primaries lack zest, and it's not only the darker cinematography keeping them suppressed. The city doesn't come to life as expected, rudimentary even among the streetside lights.

The latter is fine, whole black levels struggle. For a movie often set in shadow, density lacks in every frame. Mostly, they exist as washed out browns, maybe deep gray. Credit to the encode though as no noise fills those lighter areas. Contrast is likewise only fair, but better comparatively.

Audio

Budget constraints reveal themselves in the dialog, which through a PCM stereo track, sounds especially strained. Upper registers collapse, and deliver "nails on chalkboard" effects. It's all audible, but rough.

The music fares better, impressive even, although no low-end supports the the effort. The overall effect then is flat, minimal, but clean.