DVDBeaver

Discuss internationally-released DVDs and Blu-rays or other international DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

DVDBeaver

#1 Post by Gary Tooze » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:26 am

New...

Legend Films - Region 1 - NTSC "The Girl on the Bridge" vs. Fox / Pathè - Region 2 - PAL

Divisa - Region 0 - PAL "Werewolf Shadow" vs. Deimos (Export Version with Spanish Scenes) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Deimos (US Edit) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC

Deimos - Region 0 - NTSC "Curse of the Devil" vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC

ITV DVD - REGION FREE Blu-ray "Great Expectations" vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Carlton - Region 2 - PAL

Umbrella Entertainment (2 disc) - Region 0 - PAL "Picnic at Hanging Rock" vs. Pathe - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Second Sight (UK) 3-disc - Region 2 - PAL vs. Kinowelt (German) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Gaumont Boxset (France) CTVH - Region 2 - PAL

From the comments: "The extras (of the new Second Sight) actually include the longer theatrical cut giving many fans this rare chance to see it after all these years. Unfortunately, the condition is quite poor, and it is cropped, and we have added to full resolution screen caps at the very bottom of this comparison. Still, I was extremely happy to finally see it."

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers,

P.S. By the way, all our Black Narcissus Blu-ray caps have been replaced with ones that more faithfully represent what is on the ITV BRD.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

#2 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:36 pm

Seven different discs! That's got to be a record for you guys

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#3 Post by Gary Tooze » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:42 pm

:)
Domino, I think Henrik did 7 for Kitano's Zatoichi... promoting Manohla Dargis to cite it and mock us in the NY Times ('fetishistic geeks').
Oh well,
Gary

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#4 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:06 pm

Thanks David - sorry BN BRD is off the hard drive.
***
New...

Warner - REGION FREE - Blu-ray "Eyes Wide Shut " vs. Warner (2-disc Special Edition) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (Europe) - Region 2 - PAL

WARNING NUDITY

- I can't support my conclusions with the resized caps, but when you click to the linked, full resolution, ones - the grainy and diffused lighting sequences show much more as intended, IMO.

New...

Warner - (Limited Edition Gift Set) - Region 1- NTSC "Batman Begins" vs. Warner - Blu-ray - Region FREE
Image

NOTE: Server seems to be a shade slower due to the large screen capture downloads and guys (and gals?) perusing Ms. Kidman's buttocks.

This weekend we should have full comparisons with Criterion's High and Low, Vampyr and Trafic, plus Batman: Gotham Knight (Blu-ray vs. SD) if we get the chance.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

#5 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Jul 04, 2008 3:36 pm

Gary Tooze wrote:NOTE: Server seems to be a shade slower due to the large screen capture downloads and guys (and gals?) perusing Ms. Kidman's buttocks.
I did notice that the full resolution Blu-Ray image of that picture is saved under the file name "large %20 nicoles bum", which (if you'll pardon the pun) seems a bit cheeky! :)

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#6 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:00 pm

First you'll have to explain what you were doing looking at the full res of that particular cap. :)

I name them in such a way as I can remember the file - cause I have to link to it after.... and I believe Kubrick himself entitled that opening scene in the script 'Nicole's bum' - look it up! :)

BTW, just finished High and Low (Prince commentary) and caps are looking sweet... my top 5 Kurosawa films. Might have done later today.
Cheers,
G

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

#7 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:41 pm

No objections to Nicole's bum - just wondering if she might be offended by the word 'large' used with it (and 20% large to boot)! :D

I have to admit that I often save interesting screencaps as my computer screensavers, but since mine is a family computer that is why I often prefer the non-nudity pictures (though I usually allow the odd bottom to pass for the humour it can cause if such a picture turns up in the screensaver rotation!)

Actually on that note I was wondering if it would be possible for the Blu-Ray only reviews to feature similar sized screen captures to the normal DVD reviews (something I see you are doing with the comparison reviews) - only because I find the latter to be a perfect 'screensaver size'!

Though I don't mind if this would not be possible for space or bandwidth reasons.

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#8 Post by Gary Tooze » Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:19 pm

New...

Criterion (2-disc REISSUE) - Region 1- NTSC "High and Low" vs. Madman - Region 4 - PAL vs. BFI - Region 2- PAL vs. Criterion Region 0 - NTSC vs. MEI AH (Hong Kong) Region 0 - NTSC
****

Atlantic Film (Jacques Tati Collection) - Region 2 - PAL "Trafic" vs. Criterion (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

Warner - (Single Disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC "Batman - Gotham Knight" vs. Warner - Blu-ray - Region FREE

Trafic

Atlantic (Scandinavian edition)
Image

Criterion (more info in 'le' frame)
Image

New...

Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC "Vampyr" vs. Criterion (2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

Image Entertainment
Image

Criterion
Image

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

User avatar
Person
Joined: Sat May 19, 2007 3:00 pm

#9 Post by Person » Sun Jul 06, 2008 4:52 pm

I was not expecting the transfer to be as brilliant as this. Gorgeous.

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#10 Post by Gary Tooze » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:12 pm

New comparison...

Warner SD (Single disc) - Region 1 - NTSC "Blood Diamond" vs. Warner - REGION FREE - Blu-ray

New...

Warner (original) - Region 1 - NTSC "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" vs. Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Original 'snapper cased' SD
Image

Blu-ray
Image

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

User avatar
miless
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm

#11 Post by miless » Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:25 am

any chance you'll be doing the new Facets Satantango?

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#12 Post by HerrSchreck » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:04 am

Ditto? Was wondering the same thing since I held it in hand in store last wk..

User avatar
The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
Location: Teegeeack

#13 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:04 am

Don't take this the wrong way, Gary, but I was kind of amused by this bit from the Help Me Eros review:
...filled with sex and nudity but I do endorse seeing it...
I'm glad you're not letting your legendary prudery keep you from recommending a film :)

(No big surprise that the disc itself turned out the way it did...I should mention that the running time suggests a PAL-to-NTSC transfer -- pretty much everyone, Strand included, gives the proper runtime as 103 minutes.)

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#14 Post by Gary Tooze » Mon Jul 14, 2008 2:29 pm

I'll try to get Facets Satantango, but it ain't cheap and I'm running low on funds. Facets has only sent me stuff once - many years ago. I'm not as optimstic as some about the transfer... we shall see. I understand the phone call went like this:
"Hey Bela - they are finally releasing Satantango on DVD in the US"
"Really - that's great"
"Yeah - will you approve the transfer?"
"But I'll need to see it first"
"Well, they have those pics of your wife - and they'll put them on the Net..."
"Okay, okay - fine - whatever"
***
Is "Prudery' really a word? Come one. Really?
***
New...

LionsGate - Region 1- NTSC "Dirty Money (Un Flic)" vs. Anchor Bay - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Optimum Home Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL

Artisan Entertainment - Region 1- NTSC "First Blood" vs. Lionsgate (Special Edition - 2-disc) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Lionsgate (Ultimate Edition) - Region 1- NTSC vs. Lionsgate - REGION FREE - Blu-ray

Warner (original) DVD - Region 1 - NTSC "The Cowboys" vs. Warner Deluxe Edition 1,2,3,4 - NTSC vs. Warner REGION FREE - Blu-ray

Columbia Tri-Star (old edition) - Region 1, 3, 4 - NTSC "The Professionals" vs. Columbia Tri-Star Region 1, 2 ,3 ,4 - NTSC (Special Edition) vs. Sony REGION FREE - Blu-ray

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

P.S. Regarding the AE Satyajit Ray's - there was a problem with the transfer of two of the films (Nayak- layerbreak freeze and Charulata - chapter freeze) and they are redoing them. Our reviews will be up as soon as we can.

.

User avatar
Kirkinson
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 5:34 am
Location: Portland, OR

#15 Post by Kirkinson » Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:58 pm

Gary Tooze wrote:Is "Prudery' really a word? Come one. Really?
It is, actually.

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#16 Post by Gary Tooze » Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:51 pm

New...

Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL "Satantango" vs. Facets - Region 0 - NTSC

I kind of rushed through this hoping to catch those who may wish to cancel their pre-orders.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#17 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:23 pm

Hey Gary--

Just a heads up that-- among some potentially dubious information-- a reply from Facets came in regarding Satantango that, if true, should probably find its way into your overview/stats on the film. He claims (among other stuff) that Tarrs film was not shot with an anamorphic lens (i e there's nothing to unsqueeze in the transfer process) and that this is the reason the two video releases of the film are non anamorphic widescreen transfers. Here's his quote:
Ed Husayko wrote:Dana forwarded your message and your concerns about our SATANTANGO release to me. I wanted to address the anamorphic issue you raise -- SATANTANGO is not, in fact, anamorphic and the aspect ratio that you see in the Facets DVD release is exactly as it should be. Are there other issues which disturb you in the SATANTANGO release which would lead you to conclude that it is a "poor release"? For your information, the transfer and digitization were checked against all existing source materials by the Hungarian Film Laboratory which controls the negative, and personally by Bela Tarr at several stages of the production process. The gray scale and tone that you have in the Facets Satantango release is that specifically preferred by Bela Tarr.
Of course another major issue is whether they observed this as a Pal transfer off of a pal digibeta on Pal equipment, in Hungary. This would not include the image-degradation that would occur when encoding a nonpreconverted PAL tape to an NTSC encode. So of course unless he's responding after having spun the Facets discs themselves on NTSC equipment, his observations regarding the image are less authoritative.

User avatar
chaddoli
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 11:41 pm
Location: New York City
Contact:

#18 Post by chaddoli » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:38 pm

Does this guy not get what an anamorphic transfer is? Obviously there is a difference between an anamorphic transfer for dvd and an anamorphic cinematographic process (2.35:1). On a 16x9 TV, Satantango should have vertical small black bars on the sides, instead there are larger 4x3 bars AND small horizontal bars. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that no one at Facets knows what an anamorphically enhanced dvd looks like.

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

#19 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:53 pm

In that sense, you're of course right... they could anamorphiize the transfer from the spherical-lens shot film, ie widescreen enhance. Methinks either Tarr wanted a low def, dark foggo look to it, or Tarr himself and whoever did the transfer really just don't know what they're doing in videoland.

Did Facets themselves actually do telecine on this release? Anyone know?

User avatar
denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"

#20 Post by denti alligator » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:37 pm

If the film itself was not shot using an anamorphic lens then it's best that the DVD remains non-anamorphic. This is why Criterion's release of Withnail and I remains non-anamorphic, even after CC began releasing anamorphic discs.

Now they could have created an anamorphic DVD anyway, by some process that actually results in a less sharp image. For an example of the difference, compare the beautiful Czech DVD of The Cremator (non-anamorphic) with the hazy Second Run edition (made anamorphic). If the result would have been similar, it's best to have a non-anamorphic transfer, even with the resulting loss in resolution. I'm assuming that's why AE and Facets did it this way.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

#21 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:59 pm

It looks to me as though there's a single master telecine, framed at 1.66:1 but not anamorphically enhanced, and that both the Artificial Eye and Facets releases have been sourced from that - given the cost of telecineing the film from scratch, it's highly unlikely that either label would have done their own if an existing one could be pulled off the shelf.

But because the master is presumably PAL (coming from a Hungarian source), Artificial Eye has a built-in advantage because no standards conversion was required.

I'm also guessing from that message from Ed Husakyo that Tarr approved the master Digibeta, but not necessarily the Facets encode from that Digibeta. Anamorphic enhancement is pretty rare on Hungarian DVDs (even recent ones), so Tarr may well have thought this was normal practice.
denti alligator wrote:If the film itself was not shot using an anamorphic lens then it's best that the DVD remains non-anamorphic. This is why Criterion's release of Withnail and I remains non-anamorphic, even after CC began releasing anamorphic discs.
Actually, the lens is utterly irrelevant - anamorphic lenses are only normally used for Scope ratios, whereas countless 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 films that were shot flat and masked are available in excellent anamorphic DVD transfers.

The crucial thing is whether anamorphic enhancement was applied at the time of the telecine from the film materials, which may not be the case if it was done cheaply or several years ago. And if it wasn't, then you're right in saying that the distributor has two choices - release it non-anamorphically, or apply artificial enhancement, which won't add any detail.

That said, there are two acclaimed releases out there from respected labels which I know for a fact were sourced from non-anamorphic masters - but I'd best not name them here!

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#22 Post by Gary Tooze » Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:16 am

Two new...

New Line Home Video (original) - Region 1 - NTSC "Dark City" vs. New Line Home Video - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Artisan - Region 1 - NTSC "King of New York" vs. Artisan (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Lions Gate - Region A - Blu-ray

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

Rich Malloy
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:29 pm
Location: Boston MA

#23 Post by Rich Malloy » Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:10 am

denti alligator wrote:If the film itself was not shot using an anamorphic lens then it's best that the DVD remains non-anamorphic. This is why Criterion's release of Withnail and I remains non-anamorphic, even after CC began releasing anamorphic discs.

Now they could have created an anamorphic DVD anyway, by some process that actually results in a less sharp image. For an example of the difference, compare the beautiful Czech DVD of The Cremator (non-anamorphic) with the hazy Second Run edition (made anamorphic). If the result would have been similar, it's best to have a non-anamorphic transfer, even with the resulting loss in resolution. I'm assuming that's why AE and Facets did it this way.
I take issue with this. Almost every Super-35 film, whether masked to 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 is routinely given an anamorphically-enhanced DVD (as well, of course, for 'scope films shot with an anamorphic lens). In short, I don't think anamorphically enhancing a DVD has anything whatsoever to do with whether a film was shot 'scope.

After some discrepancies early on, nearly all 1.66:1 films are now anamorphically enhanced. And I think most viewers greatly prefer this.

In the early days, Criterion did not enhance their discs solely because the downconversion on non-widescreen/non-squeeze capable sets had reduced resolution when compared to un-enhanced discs. Criterion subsequently changed its policy - rightly, IMO - and now enhances every film with a ratio wider than your TV screen, including 1.66:1 ratios. And I don't think "Withnail" was released un-enhanced for the reasons you provide - after all, why single this one film out and yet release every other 1.66:1 film with anamorphic enhancement?

As for the Second Run "Cremator" disc - which I haven't seen - there may be a variety of other factors causing it to come up short against the un-enhanced disc, including poorer original elements, an improper standards conversion, bad telecine or compression, or a non-progressive/interlaced transfer.

That said, I have on very rare occasions seen the softening you mention on some releases compared on the Beaver - I believe Gary has referred to this as "mouldering" - and I don't have a clue as to what causes this.

EDIT: my apologies for a totally superfluous post. I now see that MichaelB has already addressed this much better than I.

User avatar
Gary Tooze
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:07 pm
Contact:

#24 Post by Gary Tooze » Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:35 pm

Frankly, I'm at a loss to ascertain the what the controversy here is. Now Facets themselves are sending me emails - asking if I even own the DVD set because 'they never sent it to me'.

Whether Facets had the resources, money, or contacts to produce or obtain an entire a new telecine to create an anamorphic video master is really not my concern. I am simply reporting that their DVD transfer, of a 1.66:1 ratio film, is non-anamorphic. Simply put this is not an improvement, in this specific area, over the existing Artificial Eye release. We also indicated the Facets was from a PAL source (see the running times) yet is housed on NTSC discs. This creates certain artefacts as well as 'ghosting/combing/trailing' anomalies. We showed a screen capture example of this and many others comparing the two editions.

The bottom line is that the AE, with the superior image quality, is almost half the price of the Facets. If the poorly encoded 4th Facet disc is worth the $25+ difference to you then it might be worth obtaining. I happened to think it's not. My opinion.

Best,
Gary

P.S. Rich the 'moulding' term we used may be described as the softness produced through transfer of a non anamorphic video master encoded anamorphically. To steal from 'volger' in the other thread on this topic:
This is because the resolution has to be adjusted and the image blown up to fit the anamorphic DVD format. There are probably quite a lot of DVDs that have been authored this way by converting non-anamorphic masters to 16:9 DVDs. This is just fake anamorphic though. No resolution is being gained, only the shape is changing and probably some image quality lost in the process. The new 'remastered' Dario Argento DVDs of Tenebre and Phenomena have been made this way. "
Looking now, I believe he is correct.

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

#25 Post by Matt » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:29 pm

Gary Tooze wrote:Now Facets themselves are sending me emails - asking if I even own the DVD set because 'they never sent it to me'.
Wow. They just keep setting new standards for customer relations, don't they?

Post Reply