Rob Cohen Improving Mummy 3 Presentation for Blu-ray

Home Media Magazine has transcribed excerpts from a press junket with Rob Cohen, director of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, regarding his plans for the Blu-ray Disc edition of the film later this year.

Rob planned ahead for Blu-ray by creating a “digital intermediate print.” This allowed Rob to improve the film in post-production to look superior on Blu-ray than how it exhibited in theaters.

“It is fantastic, a filmmaker’s dream really. Stefan Sonnenfeld and Company 3 and I have worked for the last three months to get the print looking like what you saw. No matter how good the cinematography is, there is new potential to make the image more impactful beyond what you can do on location or on the set. So when you do Blu-ray you have an up-rezing quality so things that were sharp before become sharper.”

Rob is also jazzed about the additional “pop” special effects will receive on Blu-ray.

“Things that are dimensional, like the dragon lunging at the camera, in Blu-ray really knock your head off because you are seeing all the details we put in it that are even a little better defined. The dark/light values are better so you can be darker and still see all the detail. Plus you have many more layers of ancillary material, and much more information.”

Not to be left by the wayside is the film’s aggressive audio track which Rob also suggests will be superior on Blu-ray.

“It will sound better on that Blu-ray than in any theater in America. I’m a major fan.”

Rob’s excitement has him thinking about a pair of his past projects, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and The Fast and the Furious, and how they might benefit from being improved for a Blu-ray release.

“No one has come to me for that yet, but I would so be down for that. I really hope they do. In fact I’m calling Universal [Studios] Home Video. I didn’t even think about that.”

Go right ahead, Rob. The more directors that take advantage of what Blu-ray has to offer filmmakers, the better.

TheHDRoom may be paid a small commission for any services or products ordered through select links on this page.

TheHDRoom