This sounds great, Trooperman. I've heard only good things about your rough cut, so I can imagine how amazing a more final release will be. If this is half what I've heard the rough cut is, then this will certainly be my go-to version of Ep. II.
ray_afraid said:
I'm sure it would be.
Okay. Gotcha guys. I just wasn't 100% sure if it was the same recording. Was it always in error of speed for the English version? Like from 1931, or was that wear and tear?timdiggerm said:
Yeah, it sounds like an error was introduced into English prints of the film that wasn't introduced into Spanish prints. Thus, it's the original recording, as intended by the director then.
The change in contrast seems fine to me. I don't think that is too extreme. Video-wise, I'd be more concerned about them grain-reducing the thing too heavily. All Quiet on the Western Front hit a good balance of grain reduction; hopefully, they'll do something like that. I'd be interested to see how the end result will compare to the current, rather nice-looking 1080i HD file on Cinemageddon; it's too bad that that one suffers from being 25fps.
Audio-wise, I'm a bit more concerned. I seem to recall, on a thread about Dracula, there was discussion that the more recent DVDs had noise-reduced sound compared to the original 1999 DVD; I hope they don't severely reduce the noise for this track. It'd be unfortunate if the HD audio track suffered from clipping.
The change of the opening "Swan Lake" caught me off guard though. If anything in the video seemed revisionist, it's that. Was the "Swan Lake" at the beginning always suffering from those speed issues? If so, I don't think that replacing it with a contemporary recording is an apt solution. There's always that small, small, small chance it could have been a deliberate distortion. They didn't make clear that the "Swan Lake" in the 1931 Spanish version was the same recording without the speed issues; it could possibly have been another recording.
zombie84 said:
A good nominee would be Conan The Barbarian. There really is no perfect version, but some might prefer the DVDs because of their cuts.
Added. dark_jedi's Theatrical BD should remedy this situation though.
SilverWook said:
The Warriors BD (Lack of original 1979 version) Walter Hill pulled a Lucas with his "Ultimate Director's Cut", but the '79 had an anamorphic DVD release in 2001 at least.
All right. I added that to the list.
You might also want to list movies that have a superior version on HD DVD as well.
Good idea. I know that they point out releases like those on AVSForum often, usually DVNR or MPEG-2 Encoding makes the BD worse. I can easily think of titles like Terminator 2, The Thing, and Army of Darkness with Superior HD-DVD releases. Does anyone have any more suggestions?
zombie84 said:
The Kingdom of Heaven BD may lack the overture and intermission, but the picture quality makes up for it... But I would never say that the DVD is better, simply because of the superior audio and video of the BD.
I see your point, but I do think it should still follow the Roadshow format. Missing the overture and intermission, to me, seems like it's missing footage. For instance, I'd be very upset if the intermission was not included in 2001; fortunately, that's not the case.
The Star Trek movies don't bother me, as the "directors cuts" were created for DVD anyway... Like the DVDs, there will likely be expanded-cuts versions which have better picture due to later release.
True. You are right about the DVD's inferior picture quality despite the DVNR. Truth by told, I wasn't positive whether I should put the Star Trek Movies on the list or not. I personally relished the Theatrical Cuts and wasn't too bothered by the DVNR. The BD is definitely a noticeable upgrade and honestly, I personally would go to the BD first. I think I'll remove that one from the list.
digitalfreaknyc said:
It does blip out (has since been fixed) but it shouldn't be too often.
Oh yeah, it isn't often at all. I just thought I should point it out.
Here's a list of Blu-Rays arguably inferior to their HD-DVD, DVD or even LD counterparts due to some fault, such as DVNR, revisionist color timing, modernized audio mix (ie. bad foley), digital tinkering, heavy cropping, or missing scenes:
(list structure: movie- flaw- superior DVD/HD-DVD)
Inferior BD Releases
HD-DVDs are italicized, for those only interested in HD alternatives to BD.
Note I haven't included ones, such as Evil Dead II or Halloween: H20, that already have had a superior BD re-release.
---
I'd like to make the list as complete as possible, so I really want to here suggestions to add to the list. If you do suggest something, I'll be sure to put your name next to it in italics (i.e. Added by...) so credit is given where credit is due.
captainsolo said:
Notorious
The Criterion DVD is the best way to see the film, as it was struck from the nitrate OCN, IP and a fine grain master. It has more fine detail than the MGM disc or Blu-ray with great 1.0 mono. My favorite classic era DVD mastering period.
Really? I was about to order the BD for this, but I stopped once I read this. Judging by your comments, I'm better off getting the Criterion DVD. So, the BD was taken from an inferior source? It really strikes me as awful whenever a BD has less detail than a DVD release. Out of curiosity, have you compared both directly?
In any case, I decided to go on a Danny Boyle Triple Feature:
28 Days Later
The movie still honestly holds up to me. I enjoyed it. It's certainly a stark contrast to Romero's films. The fast moving "zombies" are menacing without being over the top. The scenes in a deserted London are especially frightening. You really get a good sense of isolation and desperation. All the actors did admirable jobs in their respective roles, in my opinion. Unlike others, I have absolutely no problem with the social commentary once they reached the military base; it simply enriches the movie.
Truly, a pinnacle in horror. The visual style is intriguing and unfortunate at the same time. This is a movie that barely benefitted from the BD.
9 out of 10 balls.
Trainspotting
This was the first time I'd seen the movie. It was fantastic to be honest. I got a very A Clockwork Orange-vibe from it; I suppose that was intentional, considering the visual references at the club. Ewan McGregor's performance was excellent: just the right amount of repulsiveness and sympatheticness. All the supporting actors were excellent too. The mix of comedy and tragedy is really effective here; the dark humor was razor sharp. To be absolutely honest though, I failed to truly empathize with any of the characters, even Renton. It was interesting watching their story, but, in no way, did it reach to me emotionally. For a director's second film, it certainly is astounding. I'd be interested in them adapting the sequel; if capably made, it could be great.
The Japanese BD is the best, as it's uncut.
9.5 out of 10 balls.
Shallow Grave
This one caught me by surprise. I never saw it before and never heard anything about it. Out of the three movies I watched, this is my favorite. It explores the classic theme of money's corrupting effect, yet it manages to feel undeniably fresh and at times shocking. The movie is stylistic and active but never to a point of being obnoxious. There were few characters, a fact that I relished since I could really have the time to understand each one of them. All of them had devilishly dark sides, yet were completely believable. The dark humor here worked better, for me, than the humor in Trainspotting. This is the most spectacular directorial debut I can remember since Citizen Kane. After the film ended, I had Andy Williams stuck in my head for days. If you've got the chance watch this movie.
The Criterion BD's picture looks great: vivid with good contrast. I understand this was shot under relatively low budget circumstances, so it doesn't look quite as professional as contemporary big budget productions.
10 out of 10 balls.
I finished downloading this now. Thanks a billion, DFNYC! I burned both discs to BD and printed cover art. So far, I've watched Episode 1. Excellent quality I must say, far better than my recording on my DVR; of course, the lack of commercials is great.
I noticed some occasional, non-bothersome digital artifacts; I assume this is a side effect of the capture. It manifests as slight distortions (i.e. an odd row of pixels lower section of the image). It certainly doesn't seem like a bad burn to me. In any case, it doesn't bother me one bit. Just thought I should point it out.
Also, I forgot. Where did the replacement for the missing section of your recording come from?
Unfortunately, on both torrent pages on Demonoid, the message now appears: The torrent you requested was deleted by its owner or a moderator. Any plans for a re-up to an alternative torrent site?
EDIT: Never mind. The torrents are on Demonoid again.
Great! Thanks, schorman13.
That sounds great! Can't wait. Very interested.
DisgruntledFan said:
Bah - any suggestions for a host ? (pm me)
PM sent.
Nice sounding release, digitalfreaknyc! Out of curiosity, where will the torrent be uploaded? I'm very interested. Myspleen may not be the best place considering the recent take down of movie torrents, such as the custom BD of Big Blue (another ot.com project)...
DisgruntledFan said:
If you head over to 'spleen. You might find something to your advantage.
Thanks for the great upload; it was really a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, in keeping with the new rules, it appears to have been taken down from myspleen. Is there any chance of making another torrent? I wasn't able to catch it while it was up.
FYI, there's already a full frame LD transfer of the old US Cut of Yellow Submarine on the Pirate Bay. It's pretty good quality though I can't remember if it was IVTC'ed.
Bingowings said:
The Thing prequel is not that bad.
It too was a film that was screwed up by twitchy suits.
The character building was cut, the lovely practical effects were scribbled on with CGI and the ending was buggered up but at it's core is a much better film than Prometheus and much more respectful to the original film than Prometheus was to Alien.
The Thing prequel was really screwed up. Though it does seem like it could be salvaged easily. Reading about the original version of the film before negative test screenings, it sounds much better. Also, the less bad CGI the better, considering that they already had practical effects set up. The original ending could have been cool sans the "tetris" board. I hope a Director's Cut is released one day.
That'd be a mildly interesting twist for Prometheus 2... though it kinda elevates the Space Jockeys ridiculously. With that in mind, they'd be the seeming makers of our makers, making humans pretty irrelevant, which begs the question what makes us fit for termination?...DuracellEnergizer said:
One is that the Engineers are emissaries of the Space Jockeys or something like that, and that their Space Jockeyesque suits are some form of bioengineered outfit that allows them to interface with Jockey technology.
I wonder if Ford could reprise Deckard for a BR sequel. His age wouldn't be as much as a problem if they moved it to the further future, and it rather fits his character of a world-weary detective. He doesn't even necessarily need to be the main character though.
Although, if he did age/was alive for more than 4 years, that would probably put an end to the whole "Deckard is a Replicant" thing.
evan1975 said:
Good sci-fi can raise questions, but these are questions like "Who am I? Why am I here?" "Does mankind have a future?" "Can a machine be alive?" "What is reality?"
The questions raised by Prometheus are nothing of the sort. "What was that black goo?" is not a deep question. It's just shitty storytelling.
This. I completely agree with this.
This sounds very exciting! Thanks for this update, -1. I can't wait. Myspleen sounds like a good torrent site to upload to; considering how many ot.com members are willing to give out free invites, it's a perfectly reasonable option.
Sounds good and exciting.
You know what, I think that combining Holloway's death and Fifield's return will be completely effective. It would help make the story much more cohesive in general. Fifield's story seemed especially tangential to me and having Shaw kill him would help tie it to the general plot line. Additionally, the pay off of Vickers killing Holloway would work out much better, being caused indirectly by Fifield; Holloway's sacrifice would have more resonance (with the audience knowing the consequence of his infection), and Vickers wouldn't be as cardboard. I wonder if it was resuffled since last minute, someone was afraid that it would be awkward for Holloway to be suffering while Shaw fights Fifield.
That change would certainly assist this muddled section of the movie. Another scene that seemed awkward to me was when the Captain was telling Shaw about Fifield. It struck me as a possible post-production pick-up scene. If the change Bingo suggested is true, this is most likely the case. The dialogue wasn't particularly good. It interrupted the flow of the movie: being sandwiched between Weyland's unveiling and Shaw's much better acted and more relevant conversation with David; it annoyed me the just-aborted "pregnancy" was completely ignored in that scene.
Anyway, Prometheus is a movie I actually want to like but I just can't in it's current state. It screams for a fan edit. With a little FX work and whatever deleted scenes the BD bestows upon us, I have no doubt that this movie could be really helped. The sheer strength (I believe/perceive) of this possible sequence helps validate that in itself.
An unreservedly positive review for Prometheus on OriginalTrilogy.com? How strange. ;)
Interesting review, Ziggy. You thought the surgery scene was well paced and edited; out of curiosity, could you say the same in terms of pacing and editing about the movie as a whole. I'm just curious since the uneven (to me) structure was my biggest issue.
Jetrell Fo said:
I'd like to use Adywan's Theatrical Reconstruction. I sent him a pm but have not heard back from him as of yet.
That's cool, so it will be SD video only?
Rehnquist said:
What's the format going to be for version 2.0? 720p AVCHD again? How easy will it be to burn it to Blu Ray?
I believe Harmy said he was also considering doing a higher bitrate version possibly with a menu for BD-25s in addition to the 720p AVCHD. In any case, either should be very easy to burn to a BD-R, provided you have blanks and a burner.