Boomerang Blu-ray review

Jun 15, 2022- Permalink

It’s been thirty years since Eddie Murphy jumped into the rom-com genre with Boomerang. To mark that anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment has released a Blu-ray of the film and I had a chance to take an early look. In Boomerang, Murphy plays an ad exec who has a reputation of being a ladies man, notching conquests on his belt and enjoying a life without commitment. When he falls for his new boss (Robin Givens) after a merger, he discovers she’s the female version of him. Suddenly on the receiving end of the treatment he has dished out for years, he discovers how bad he’s made others feel. Could his thoughtful co-worker (Halle Berry) be what he was really looking for? The cast also includes David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt and Chris Rock.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, cropped slightly from the original release’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a good transfer with good detail on the usual suspects (facial textures, textiles and environments) but I think a better transfer could have been done with a better master scan. Colour levels are accurate and though it’s a predominantly natural palette, some primaries do have a nice pop to them. Black levels are deep and there’s fairly good detail in shadows, while grain is slightly more noticeable in darker scenes.

On the audio side, Boomerang features an English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack as well as German, French and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, German, French and Japanese. It’s a mostly front-heavy track with the surrounds used sparingly for some effects. The soundtrack is heavy on the bass, so your subwoofer does a bit of work there. Dialogue is clear, centred and well-prioritized.

The Blu-ray disc comes with a digital copy code. In terms of extras, there’s a commentary track by director Reginald Hudlin and a few minutes of deleted and extended scenes.

Boomerang has a good transfer and audio presentation. I might have expected a bit more on the extras side. It’s the 30th anniversary after all and Murphy has made a boatload of money for the studio over the years. Still, it’s priced well and a good outing by Murphy, so you should consider adding it to your collection.