A troubled salesman who peddles knives, Gil Renard (Robert De Niro) has a volatile personality, which has resulted in divorce and a strained relationship with his young son. The one thing that Renard cares passionately about is baseball, particularly the San Francisco Giants and the team’s newest recruit, Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes). As Renard’s personal life continues to crumble, he begins obsessively tracking Rayburn, leading to kidnapping and even murder.

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Video Quality

The Fan comes to Blu-Ray again courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment, but it is truly a disappointing presentation. The film was previously released in a two-pack by Mill Creek from an older master provided by Sony. When you have a film by a master filmmaker like Tony Scott, we should not be relying on such an old master that does not present this film at its best. Sony has done a nice job of supporting the 4K UHD format, so maybe one day this will be chosen to get a fresh upgrade.

Compared to other recent releases from Mill Creek, this release is one of the worst in terms of compression artifacts and macroblocking. There is rarely a shot where some unsightly digital breakdown is not present. The image also rarely showcases any bit of texture thanks to the DNR which smooths over the tactile nature of the production design and costumes. The colors are a bit drab compared to where they should be, but they are not completely washed out either. Skin tones fall a bit more on the side of warm and unnatural, and the presentation offers up some horrendous black levels. The disc experiences a fair amount of black crush. Mill Creek Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray disc which barely achieves the minimum requirement of what the format should deliver. This film is in need of a rescue.

Audio Quality

The film comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that falls in line with the previous unspectacular release. This track accomplishes what it needs to, but it lacks a finesse or power that would really make it something special to experience. Environmental effects are supposed to play an important role in ratcheting up the tension, but this track keeps this fairly reserved even in raucous environments. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by any of the other sounds. Mill Creek Entertainment has delivered a slightly better audio presentation than the video side of things. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided here.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on the disc, but this release is part of the Retro VHS Collection which initially ships out with a special slipcover.

Final Thoughts

The Fan is a pretty well realized thriller which thrives thanks to the performances and the superb direction of Tony Scott. The late director always had a frenetic style that put the audience off-kilter in a very deliberate manner which works here. Robert De Niro is not given his best material, but he is channeling his best Cape Fear insanity to keep the audience gripped from beginning to end. Not everything works flawlessly, but this is a rock solid thriller. Mill Creek has released a value-priced Blu-Ray sporting a disappointing A/V presentation and no special features. This movie deserves better, but if you are primed to purchase this movie this release is not too expensive.

The Fan (1996) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.