Spielberg produced an enthralling rollercoaster family movie. Somehow, maybe nostalgia, the more modern films dont seem to compete when it comes to true family adventure. The film has good pace.
It surprised me to realise this old family movie actually has one expletive word that repeats often. As a parent you may want to consider if you find this acceptable before letting you kids watch.
As for the Bluray version, what are the benefits? I personally picked this up cheap, but the price seems to fluctuate. If you have the DVD I see no point in buying this. The sounds, as many older blurays, are enhanced but seem to bassy, even on my Sony amp with the bass turned right down. The picture is certainly better than VHS, and a touch better than DVD - noting an good upscaler cannot fix.
The picture is good considering its age, you need to ignore some of the other reviews here, taking anything off film and onto digital (HD) requires conversion, and remember this conversion is actually downscaling the quality off film. The proof in the pudding is: a) how well is the conversion done, b) how good was the original recording, c) how well has the physical film aged. As I grew up watching 80s movies and their grainy affect, it doesnt bother me, but the younger generation might complain. I find it common the older 80s movies look less sharp than more recent stuff ,, this is probably due to age of the physical film (has it been played 100 times for TV) and it was very common for 80s movies to have the added Soften Touch, obviously you cannot completely remove this effect ,, so accept it for what it is and enjoy. Its not that bad, for instance at the start of the movie you can really see the sweat beads on the lads head as he exercises - you would never have seen this on a VHS through your CRT.
The overall movie is brilliant, great story line and endless fun to the end. A Must See movie, certainly in my top 5 family movies to watch.
Film: 5/5
BD over DVD: 2/5