Green Lantern did not look up on the big screen in 3D, and it disappointingly doesn't look any better in HD according to a review over at Blu-ray.com! Many thanks to "Jordanstine" over at the SHH Forums for compiling the following excerpts from the review. Remember, you can read it in full by clicking on the link below.
Warner's 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer doesn't exactly swoop in to save the day. Contrast is rather oppressive and black levels are heavy, unforgiving and, every now and then, abusive, stamping out shadow detail with abandon. It's as if someone cranked up the "in blackest night" dial but forgot to flip the "in brightest day" switch. (On a positive note, the more brutal blacks cover up some of the seams that haunt the film's CG elements, chief among them Hal's suit.) Even when the sun rises, the image lacks a bit of the brightness, crispness and clarity that should rise with it. When the sun sets, matters get infinitely worse.
Crush is an issue, as is middling delineation and some muddled fine textures. Videophiles won't be easily satisfied and even those who are will probably be those who mistake the overzealous shadows that press in as thematic when they are, at least in part, indicative of something more troubling: the possibility of an over-tweaked encode. Granted, much of the deteriorating detail traces back to the source. I noticed the presence of noise reduction while watching the film in the theater and most, if not all, of the (reasonably) minor DNR that's visible here comes courtesy of Campbell and company, not Warner.
Still, an eyesore is an eyesore. Closeups of Ryan Reynold's face (the refined shots at 41:09, 1:14:47 and 1:44:30 being a few of the exceptions) shouldn't look as flat, indistinct or muddy as they sometimes do.
While Green Lantern's visuals are trapped in a maddening free fall, Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track kicks on the afterburner and roars overhead. Dialogue is clean, well-grounded and intelligible throughout (minus a few lines dwarfed by mid-battle chaos) and sound effects, be they down-to-Earth or powered-by-will, remain crystal clear from start to finish. Explosions, minigun fire, Kilowog punches, jet engines, toppling buildings and burning stars take full advantage of the LFE channel, and dynamics lend power and presence to an already engrossing soundscape. The rear speakers are responsible for plenty of sonic flash and flair as well. Alien warriors rocket past, energy blasts streak across space, Parallax billows and fills the soundfield, and every intergalactic hotspot and Earthbound locale is nice and immersive. (Even though Lantern's distant planets seem to be slightly more enveloping than our own. I suppose Campbell has more to play with when he's off-world, brief as those opportunities may be.)
If the film's transfer came to life with the same vividness and tenacity as Warner's lossless mix, this would be an entirely different review.
Two versions of Green Lantern are included: a 114-minute theatrical cut and a roomier (but no more eventful) 123-minute extended cut, with five inconsequential (and unfinished) deleted scenes that don't leave much of a mark.
The prospect of a Green Lantern movie was always fraught with peril; it isn't the easiest universe to adapt for the big screen. Sadly, director Martin Campbell fails to do for Hal Jordan and the Lantern Corps what he was able to do for James Bond. Green Lantern is a 3,600 sector pileup, and a dull, haphazard one at that. Warner's Blu-ray release is a bit uneven as well; just not as uneven as the film itself. While its DTS-HD Master Audio track delivers the goods and its supplemental package is quite generous, Green Lantern's video transfer languishes in darkness and never shines as bright as its heroes' rings.
Ultimately, regardless of whether you're a film fan, a comic geek or anything in between, I would recommend sticking with a rental.