L.A. Wars Blu-ray Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Scanned from "archival elements" according to the box art, that translates to "best available materials." As a 16mm source, likely multi-generational, it's a messy presentation of a satisfying 2K scan. Damage, dirt, and scratches rail on on the clarity, at times, to the point of grindhouse era film stock.

Grain intensity varies. Encoding can only do so much. When at its worst, the screen is a mess of noise, compression, and grit. At best, L.A. Wars replicates the 16mm source beautifully, and at high resolution. Some detail breathes behind the grain structure, but given how far removed this is from the negative, there's only so much to show.

Hot contrast clips fidelity at the brightest levels. Crush in the shadows is likely inherent to the source too. Color survives to some degree of satisfying pop. Flesh tones flatten out, but primarily due to the hotter contrast.

Note this is presented at 1.33:1, but this exposes a few boom mics at the top of the screen. Maybe L.A. Wars was open matte? Just a guess.

Audio

Neither option is great. Stereo and mono PCM come with their own individual complications. In mono, the worn, dried out dialog sounds delivered from under a pillow, especially during interiors where the empty sets echo.

Stereo offers far better clarity, as L.A. Wars brightens considerably in terms of dialog reproduction. However, directional effects spread unnaturally wide, and there's a deep bass mixed terribly. Bullets exits guns with a puffy jolt that sounds more like the sub has a hole in the cone. Even deeper voices rumble the subwoofer, and that's on a low volume setting. Don't turn L.A. Wars up.