captainsolo

Fang Zei said:

I should clarify for everyone on these forums that Lowry's 2004 restorations were only done at 1920:1080 (a.k.a. "Full HD"), not 2K. I know this because there was an audio recording of a press conference that I downloaded from TF.N back in '04 and someone asked the Lowry guys what resolution they were working at. They answered "1920:1080" and the journalist went "oh, so, 2K?" and the Lowry guy specified "Uhhhh, no, 1920:1080 HD."

re: The DNR on TPM.

You've gotta be kidding me if that's how the actual blu-ray looks. That's Predator: Ultimate Hunter Edition levels of bad DNR.

So after reading Vidiot on the Steve Hoffman boards say that the 2K scan was reduced to HDcam 1080 tape for workflow and that the process was rushed:

I think LFL just used that 1080 tape reduction for the whole project and then sent the 04 1080 master to Lowry for cleanup. It would be cheaper, but more distressingly, the added effects would be stuck at 1080p. This is sooo freaking stupid. Why even do a 2K scan in the first place? Why restore the trilogy in 1997? There was no point whatsoever!

georgec said:

TPM blu-ray shots look awful. Sharp, yes, but waxy and fake. Seeing it in motion will be much different, but from the still shots CGI Yoda looks more like an oil painting.

Wait, why do I care about the prequels? I guess I just need something Lucas-related to criticize...

You know, I like to revisit TPM occasionally....but this is just plain bad. I don't care about the added 8% detail. This transfer sucks. And the digital Yoda just doesn't work thrown in there like that. I've found that I've grown used to our old friend Crack Yoda.

Not right. This is starting to look like a TPM GOUT!!! WTH!

Congrats Anchorhead. Does this mean we can have a Tosche Station? ;)

Either it was toned down, or more likely it just didn't come out looking right. I don't think they would've been able to make that look convincing with the first version of sabers.

Bringing Up Baby. I managed to get a copy of the late 90's Image pressed LD. While it won't compare to the restored 2 disc DVD, I like the fact that the film print used was presented as-is with some reel change markers and occasional light damage/splices. The PCM was a real treat. And I'm still looking for that confounded intercostal clavicle!

10,000 "bones" out of 10,000 leopards

msycamore said:

captainsolo said:

The 97 LDs indeed do not have the motion smearing. However, on ANH the Mos Eisley section went pink in the transfer. Otherwise they're probably one of the best looking LDs I own.

I skimmed through ANH on the US LD set yesterday and I saw the exact same DVNR-smear that is seen on the digital broadcasts. Maybe there are differences in various pressings, but what I saw wasn't nice.

Do you remember any specific locations where you noticed this? I'll check my copy.

In my opinion, no. There are many other releases in HD that I have avoided due to image problems or tinkering. Then again I'm an analog geek so I can be happier with a well made Laserdisc version if the Blu-ray is problematic.

Jaitea said:

Yep its there on the BD

....and on the GOUT

J

It's always been there AFAIK. It wasn't a good shot to begin with and that's why they hid it with a cut as soon as those pilots get to the other side of the frame.

Rebecca-Criterion SE.

I got really lucky in finding a copy of the Criterion edition in a library. Brilliant transfer-just like my Notorious disc. Wish I could like the film as much. It's not top drawer Hitchcock canon, and even he acknowledged it as a picture that wasn't really his. It's too tied to both the novel and to Selznick's whims and demands. Hitch's real first American film will always be Foreign Correspondent.

3.5 creepy housekeeping balls out of 4 Oliviers not doing very much.

Limitless-unlimitedly boring. 1.5 balls out of four.

The Long Goodbye

I didn't hate it. I'm a major Chandler nut, and not a huge Robert Altman fan-but this film works because it ignores the novel and becomes a societal criticism. Gould as Marlowe? Not as bad as I thought. Watched on Laserdisc.

Review: http://thehificelluloidmonster.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/the-long-goodbye-1973/

3.5 balls out of 4 Mexican humping dogs. (Seriously. There is a shot of two dogs humping in this movie.)

White City: A Novel-Pete Townshend

Still that's not too outrageous. That's what all the IB prints I've seen sell for. Hmm....perhaps....a collection might be in order....

Phil Tippet said:

George and Richard Marquand, the director, came in and Richard was saying, "George, I don't totally get where we need to go with this picture." And George said, "Well, did you see Benji?" "No George, I didn't see Benji." "Well, what we're doing now is kind of like a cross between Benji and what we did on Empire Strikes Back."

WTF? HAHA!!! This is almost better than George's old preservation quotes!

Sky, do you remember that asking price? I'm curious as to what people would ask for SW. I've seen some IB prints on collector listings sell for usually several thousand or so.

Super 8. Got the feeling this was a movie about kids in the 70's that was deemed too noncommercial...so they added government conspiracy...and a mysterious thing causing havoc in order to have action.

2 balls out of 4.

Kane. The Blu-ray is due out in a few days...with a new 4K transfer with NO LOWRY DIGITAL INVOLVEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! And on Amazon there's an added bonus: an official DVD release of Ambersons.

16mm of the SE? I didn't think any were made. Then again, there were supposedly some 70mm engagements in 97 so who knows.

I've got a nice 20" sanyo that I use for old games and LD viewing. Will keep it until it dies.

The 04's had the bad video with screwy audio. Now the video is screwy and the audio bad. It seems all the levels have been messed with and every sound element scrubbed clean of any hiss or information.

WHY?

Hopefully this should kill the revisions.

The problem is that I always get the mediocre ones mixed up.

No. 18. Shared on wall after making several angry posts.

-OOT

-Daley Han Solo Trilogy

-NPR Drama

-Dark Forces/Jedi Knight

-Thrawn trilogy

-Jedi Apprentice

-Han Solo trilogy

and some other pre-1999 Bantam novels.

I turn away for for a day or so...and madness. un-freaking believable.

Noooooooooo. Magic rocks. Fake door pans. A Dug in Jabba's Palace. Blinking Wicket. That awful noise. More crap just scribbled on the same 04.

More people will notice this time around. It's too obvious this time.

He's a freaking kid scribbling all over his own coloring book. It's that simple. This could be the new winner of "worst home video release ever". What does it take the crown from? The 04 discs.

EyeShotFirst said:

Here is what I have:

 

Those MDR-150's are still my on the go headphones, but I switched to primarily using these Sennheiser HD-202s. Sound is much improved at the same price point. ($20) I use these for personal listening and even as my vinyl headphones. best inexpensive headphones I've ever come across.

Here is what I want:

The sony's are still pretty damn good.

I've used a pair of Sennheiser like that model back when I was in the college radio station, but I felt the sound to be slightly lacking and they were freaking uncomfortable!

I just can't do earbuds. I use flac on my Sansa Clip+, so why sacrifice sound quality of headphones?

Books 2 and 3 in the Jedi Apprentice series.

Book 2:

Qui-Gon Jinn's past is not at rest. How can he forge a bond with young Obi-Wan Kenobi while he is haunted by the betrayal of his first apprentice Xanatos? Xanatos was also a promising student, until the dark side of the Force intervened. Qui-Gon thought he was gone forever.
But now Xanatos is back. And he wants revenge.

Simple, brilliant story and great action. 4 dark former apprentices out of 4 boys not wanting to be farmers.

Book 3:

After Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are hijacked to the planet Phindar, they find themselves trapped in a world gone mad. The ruling Syndicat controls the people by erasing their memories. The planet's only hope lies with a band of thieving rebels.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are caught in a mind war. And if they're not careful, their own pasts will be wiped out forever.

Interconnects with Book 2, just as that book interconnected with the first book. Great plot device in the Jedi being hijacked to a planet in dire need of their help. Fantastic subplot about the Padawan birthday gift (Qui-Gon gives Obi-Wan something a little...unexpected) and the villain weapon of the human memory wipe is great writing.

4 "Not so's" out of 4 "maybe I lie's"

As others have said these books give much needed depth to the Prequel setting and characters.

I've taken a break and randomly jumped into The Truce at Bakura.

Also, forgot that I was wearing a SW shirt at my local arthouse yesterday and one of the employees mentioned that he had just watched ROTJ the night before. We got to talking about the versions because he had admitted that he had watched the "screwed-up one" and hated how it looked really bad. I asked him what he meant by that and he basically said all the stuff about color saturation, brightness, sharpness etc. that supposedly are the wonderful "creative decisions" that none of the general public ever notices.

People still remember the OT. Instead of just putting stickers on the Blu-rays, we should just stand in stores on the release day and hand out copies of the PG to anyone who wants the real SW they remember. If there was ever a title I wish I could just hand out to people on the street-it's that one.