woodsyallen

stretch009 said:

If you have a usenet subscription you can get it right now.  It was only uploaded 310 days ago.

Sadly, I don't...

There's one on TPB though. I should try that maybe...

Wish I had managed to grab this... would love to see this edition of the show.

TServo2049 said:

The film was shot Academy and matted. Moonwalker was intended for theatrical release, but also for the song segments to be shown on TV as music videos. So it seems to have been shot to work in both ratios.

Usually, "open matte" home video transfers lose a tiny bit on the sides but gain more on the top and bottom. On the other hand, if the visual effects scenes are in VistaVision format, those scenes have a little bit of extra image on the top and bottom but lose a lot more on the sides. (Some examples: the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jurassic Park.)

Dream Quest did the effects for the Smooth Criminal/Mr. Big segment, and I believe they used VistaVision. If this is the case for Moonwalker, then any time there's a scene with optical effects in that section, it will be the widescreen version that has more picture info, not the full-frame.

That said, the zoomboxed-to-hell YouTube clip of Smooth Criminal sourced from the Moonwalker remaster is absolutely not representative of the actual framing of the Blu-ray release.

This is from the Blu-ray:

This is the same shot from the YouTube clip posted by "MJacksonHD":

So don't worry TylerDurden, the actual BD is not horrifically zoomboxed.

I don't think this "MJacksonHD" channel is officially sanctioned by Sony or the Jackson estate, either; it seems to be a fan. Whoever it is, the crop job is almost certainly theirs, and not an aspect of the BD transfer itself.

As to *why* that YT clip is so severely zoomed - you got me. Maybe it's some kind of trick to fool YouTube's copyright-infringement-detection-bots? I have no idea.

Thanks for the extra info... I knew that the BRD wasn't that bad since I remembered watching it and it looked fine. I can also assure you that YouTube channel is 100% un-official and probably run by a 15 year old who knows next to nothing about video quality.

I'll tell you a little secret about Jackson fans: a lot of them are idiots when it comes to tech. They all *think* they know a lot, but most of them don't. Search for HD videos of MJ on YouTube and you'll find SLEWS of poorly up-rezed videos from DVDs riddled with the term "remastered" that have had their colour timing ruined, their blacks and whites crushed, it's just an absolute mess. 

Not that the Jackson estate is much better; putting out a VHS as a DVD in celebration of Bad 25. But still, the amount of garbage put out by the fans is far more staggering.

So thanks for clearing up the info regarding the visual effects. I figured for some time it was matted theatrical but framed so it would be okay in both presentations (of course many other fans told me I was wrong).

Regardless (and sorry to derail this thread so badly): Bluray looks great, apart from a slightly cool colour shift.

TylerDurden389 said:

Another one that got a very odd re-time is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. The bluray (which was only released in european markets but is region free and can be ordered to North America) its timed to be VERY cold. The detail level is very high, and its especially nice to see some of the old videos (namely Thriller) in HD since they have yet to get proper remasters, but the blue colour cast is distracting.

They may have remastered the pq, but it wasn't the entire picture. Do a side-by-side comparison of the old tapes (or dvd) and you'll see that they zoomed in the fullscreen video until it fit the entire widescreen window.

Pause at 0:09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntgq6qy1hyA

Pause at 0:59 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceU4ANZKdOM

 

Such a shame. All that time, money and effort goes into making those sets and costumes to provide a visual depiction for us, and it's partially lost due to laziness (and greed) in the editing rooms years later.

There was some back and forth about this in the fan forums for years... it did certainly appear that the film was cropped on the top and bottom but in some other shots it appeared there was more picture information on the sides. 

So I don't think the bluray was simply a cropping of a full frame image. I think it was shot open matte. But who knows, no one actually involved with the process/film has ever weighed in. 

Here's a post I found online discussing the AR:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-rays-dvds-download-services/1250818-mjs-moonwalker-now-blu-ray.html 

IIRC there was a DVD release that was nothing more than a cropped full-frame but this appears to be legit.

Of course it *is* the UK edit of the film which means it's been censored. So it's got that against it. 

rockin said:

The new remastered Se7en in blu-ray looks closer to the Criterion LD and DVD. The first blu-ray edition had framing problems and the colours weren't quite right either from memory.

Ah yes, I forgot about that terrible Alliance Bluray release. I remember reading all about the new line DVD and how it was sourced from one of the special prints. As someone who never saw the film in the theatre though I don't really know what to expect, but it always looked stellar to me. 

I must admit, it's pretty shocking the number of botched bluray releases. Considering the format seems to be designed more for film purists than your average consumer you'd think more time and care would be put into the releases. I remember reading about the horrific mastering of Gladiator the first go around that was so bad the studio had to recall all the discs. And of course the infamous Lord of the Rings mess up that people are trying to rectify (also surprised they haven't gone back to recall those).

Of course, there's also no accounting for taste as in the case of French Connection. Friedkin went back and RUINED the film with his terrible colour timing. But again, after enough complaints (including those from the DP himself) they went back and fixed it and released a new BD (albeit with little to no fanfare).

Another one that got a very odd re-time is Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. The bluray (which was only released in european markets but is region free and can be ordered to North America) its timed to be VERY cold. The detail level is very high, and its especially nice to see some of the old videos (namely Thriller) in HD since they have yet to get proper remasters, but the blue colour cast is distracting.

First blu-ray? Wait, there was more than one? 

Jebus... these guys. 

Third. I'd love to help with the Captain Eo project...

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but wasn't that song cut from the film originally and only added back into the home video release since "children could fast forward if they wanted"?

This is what I always read. So the widescreen version is the intended version of the film.

But that commentary would be great! 

I believe those sections appeared in one of the numerous Python specials, Python Night or perhaps Almost the Truth. I don't recall them ever being in the film itself. 

When I was a kid I rented the movie every week for months, when it was on VHS (and the Jesus Christs were edited out). Then I had the first DVD which was AWFUL (seriously, the colour was so bad I had no idea the green night was actually green) and saved up all my pennies to buy the special edition the DAY it came out.

I remember the discussion of Graham looking off screen for his lines, but I don't recall them ever being in any version of the film proper that I watched. 

Was just telling friends about this the other day... great to hear a new transfer is on it's way.

I remember seeing the uncut version as a kid...  

Surprised no one has mentioned the atrocity that was The French Connection when first released to BD. Thankfully that was rectified on a later edition.

Did Fincher supervise the colour timing of Seven/Fight Club for BD? I know the Seven DVD was carefully re-timed but I thought it was under Fincher's supervision (after all he is quite the notorious perfectionist).

Finally, The Godfather series was re-timed for the Coppola restoration. But apparently none of us saw how it was supposed to look, at least on home video since every previous home video release was mastered from terrible prints.

Man, Disney really sucks at this whole preservation thing don't they?

Maybe I'm glad Mary Poppins hasn't been transfered to Bluray yet... (looking forward to the Winnie The Pooh bluray though...) 

Forgive my ignorance, but did we ever nail down this question? 

Jebus. I had no ide about all this! I knew of the Jessica Rabbit stuff but the nip slip!?

I guess I can understand why Disney would clean this up, but I wish they didn't.

It also reminded me of just how great this movie is. 

I hope this sees the light of day!

Wow! I've always been interested in the Godfather Saga version. Now I may finally get to see it.

Any chance someone will do a compressed 720p version? I don't need the massive 1080i version myself... 

Man I love this place...

Just recently picked up the bluray boxset which was on sale and since I'm seeing Prometheus (in IMAX 3D tomorrow... sort of like 70mm haha) tomorrow afternoon thought it might be worth while re-watching Alien (which I have only seen once before I should mention).

I don't have a fancy surround set up at home (yet) and so normally I try to opt for 2.0 mixes when I can but was intrigued by this 4.1 mix, especially since it was for the Theatrical Version only (the version I watched).

A quick google led me here. Of course, it doesn't seem anyone has a definitive answer as to where the heck this mix came from but whatever.

Regardless, I'd love to see this special 70mm mix synced to the BRD video if at all possible... thanks in advance.

Also, might I add, what a film. So, so, so good. 

walkingdork said:

woodsyallen said:

Maybe someone here has a better answer since I cant seem to see any mention in the FAQ: what are the rules for Ratios? Are there warnings/bannings/restrictions? 

Obviously I want to try and keep mine up but I'm trying to get my hands on the despecialized Jedi and I know that if I DL it my ratio is going to PLUMIT which I want to try to avoid, especially because it looks like a great site and hopefully I'll one day have more stuff to contribute. 

We don't have specific rule about ratio, we just want to keep stuff seeded without having to enforce rules.

So if you want the Despecialized torrents, have at it. Just seed afterwards :)

I like the cut of your jib!

Thanks mate. 

Maybe someone here has a better answer since I cant seem to see any mention in the FAQ: what are the rules for Ratios? Are there warnings/bannings/restrictions? 

Obviously I want to try and keep mine up but I'm trying to get my hands on the despecialized Jedi and I know that if I DL it my ratio is going to PLUMIT which I want to try to avoid, especially because it looks like a great site and hopefully I'll one day have more stuff to contribute. 

Looking forward to it!

Just checked MySpleen on the off chance I could just attempt it... it mentions the 1.0 versions are depricated. Is this true for Jedi as well? Am I looking at the right thing?

Moth3r said:

In answer to pittrek's question in another thread: yes, Astraweb can be used by non-USA customers.

I am in the UK, I use Astraweb to supplement my ISP's Usenet service (that only has a week's retention). I signed up and paid nearly two years ago, and I still haven't used all my GB yet. Definitely recommended.

I too am outside the US so its good to know.

I got mine from Demonoid where I have lots of bandwidth to spare and the first two were indeed ISOs with MD5s. Jedi however was lacking an MD5 which is what I think might be causing the issues with mounting in Disk Utility for the Mac.

I dont mind grabbing it from MySpleen my concern would only be destroying my ratio with a 7+ gb file. Bandwidth from my ISP isn't an issue, just ratios. Blah.

As for usenet, thats sadly not an option since my ISP doesnt have newsgroup abilities. Double BLAH.

Yeah, like I said first two were perfect. 

Maybe it's a corrupt file. I could try downloading again... though it'll use up another 7gb of bandwidth. 

I am also having some trouble with this one. The ISO does not want to mount using Disk Utilities on the Mac.

I haven't tried with Toast yet but was curious if anyone on the Mac has found a solution that's working for them...

First two burned flawlessly.