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Info: True Stories 2018 Criterion Blu-ray, Too good to be true?

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 (Edited)

As I’m sure you all know, David Byrne’s cult classic film, True Stories, was finally released on blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be unhappy with their work, but here we are.

The big draw for the blu-ray, as with any criterion release, is that the original filmmakers got involved with the restoration. I don’t know if Byrne is going blind or not, but the blu-ray is severely lacking as far as color is concerned. As you will see below, the 1999 DVD had nice warm colors where browns, reds, and grays were all nice and visible. The criterion blu-ray has a bad case of tinting. Looks like a bluish green to me…

But wait, it gets worse. The blu-ray audio has been upscaled from it’s original stereo to 5.1 in a brand new mix. Haven’t had the time to compare with the DVD yet, but it’s not sounding too good.

This is all VERY unusual for Criterion to do. Typically, they keep the Original audio, and the colors on their blu-rays are always perfect. Well, I guess I’m gonna have to do some fixing. I’ll get an MOV out as soon as I can. Stay tuned.

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Some color tests using DrDre’s tool.

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I wasn’t aware the movie took place in The Matrix. 😛

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Where were you in '77?