Trading Places

The rich and greedy Duke Brothers wager a bet over whether born loser Valentine could become as successful as the priggish Winthorpe if circumstances were reversed. The Dukes have the money to make this happen, but when Valentine and Winthorpe catch on they arrange for a rich and riotous payback!

The MPEG4 AVC encoding (@1080p) has no objectionable artifacts, with the bitrate usually hovering in the low 20Mbps range (according to the PS3). There is minimal damage and grain, and no obvious edge enhancement. How to describe the transfer? One word: impressive! Hard to believe that this film is nearly a quarter century old! Paramount has treated this catalog title with respect. Every frame is extremely detailed and colorful; it's easy to get lost in admiring the textures that were lost in previous incarnations. Flesh tones are spot on, and shadow details aren't crushed. There are only a few dodgy shots, some stock footage during the main titles and opticals (of which there are few) have some heavy grain. The rest of the film is near immaculate. The pop-up feature points out several continuity errors and the clarity of the transfer makes these readily apparent, such as the changing amount of snow on Eddie Murphy's coat in his first scene, or the mussed hair of Dan Aykroyd on the police station steps. You can also tell it was a very cold location shoot: breath vapor can be easily to spot coming from the actors whenever they are outdoors. Interiors are dripping with detail: carpet and wallpaper patterns are easily resolved, marks and scratches on wood, any and every set detail is sharp and crisp. The stitching and fabrics, every little pinstripe and pattern, of the various costumes is a revelation, especially compared to the standard definition DVD. The only thing the image lacks is the three dimensionality of the best high definition transfers. I would put that more on the style of the film, rather than a transfer flaw. I would be very surprised if Trading Places looked as good in the cinema as it does here, especially considering the state of movie theaters at the time (this is the same year George Lucas introduced the THX Cinema certification program starting with Return of the Jedi). All in all this makes it a valued upgrade over the DVD.

Trading Places receives a Dolby Digital encoded 5.1 remix from the original mono. The track itself is clean with good frequency response. Stereo & surround spread is mainly reserved to the music and environments with the occasional sound effect (such as a gunshot). This being a comedy, the material doesn't call for an aggressive mix. The most important component, dialog, is clear and easy to understand. Elmer Bernstein's bouncy score benefits the most from the remix. Bass is mainly limited to a couple '80's pop songs. While not a showcase track, this is a textbook example of a fine remix from mono material. Other soundtrack options include the film in French or Spanish mono (DD 2.0 mono @192kbps). The original English mono mix is not included, which is a bit disappointing. Just as the film is presented in its OAR, Paramount should give us the option to hear the original soundtrack as the filmmakers intended audiences to hear in 1983.