DVDBeaver

Discuss internationally-released DVDs and Blu-rays or other international DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

#76 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:54 pm

I just wanted to comment that adding "aka Hulk 2" to the review of The Incredible Hulk is a wonderfully droll touch, considering the efforts of all concerned in the 'reimagining' to distance themselves from the Ang Lee film! =D>

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

#77 Post by Gary Tooze » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:38 pm

New...

Warner Home Video (Single disc release) - Region 1 - NTSC "The Matrix" vs. Warner Home Video (The Ultimate Matrix Collection Disc 1) - Region 1,4 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Cheers,

User avatar
psufootball07
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:52 pm

#78 Post by psufootball07 » Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:01 pm

Still havent seen the new release of Psycho up even though Rear Window and Psycho have been updated already. Any chance we see the new Psycho release reviewed?

User avatar
Darth Lavender
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:24 pm

#79 Post by Darth Lavender » Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:00 am

Will you eventually be reviewing 'The Animatrix'? That's the one that I'm really curious about.

Also, just an FYI, the Matrix HDDVD was about 27gb as well (remember, dual-layer HDDVDs are 30gbs. You're thinking of single-layer Blu-Rays which are 25gb)
I can check my disk and tell you exact file size if you want (but, even without checking, I remember it's 27.something)

However, interestingly, some of the reviews are saying that The Matrix TrueHD is 24bit on Blu-Ray (an upgrade (albeit, a probably unnoticable one) from the 16bit HDDVD.
(The same reviews list The Animatrix as still being 'only' 16bit Lossless audio but, interestingly, someone in another forum posted screencaps of the menu listing a Japanese TrueHD track not listed on the box (presumably only for Animatrix))

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

#80 Post by Gary Tooze » Sat Oct 11, 2008 12:13 am

Thanks Darth - I'll correct that.

I'll do the best I can but I am swamped with DVDs and Blu-rays to cover. I'm watching about 4 a day.... I haven't had a chance to open Psycho yet...
Stuff coming up:
Comparisons with Spellbound and Notorious, reviews of Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, Omen Blu-ray boxset, Icons of Horror Hammer boxset (great!),Blu-ray Standard Operating Procedure, Stuck... review of Ophuls La Signora di tutti... and many more.

New...

BFI Region 2 - PAL "Revenge of a Kabuki Actor" vs. Animeigo - Region 1 - NTSC

New...

ITV DVD (UK) Region FREE Blu-ray "Capricorn One" vs. LionsGate (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC

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

Cheers,

User avatar
Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#81 Post by Tommaso » Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:10 am

Gary, if I click on the link on your homepage for the new "Notorious" comparison, I only get the comparison between Anchor Bay and Criterion, but not the one with the new MGM. Wrong link perhaps?

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

#82 Post by Gary Tooze » Mon Oct 13, 2008 8:08 am

Hi Tommaso,
No, it's the right link. In both the image and text hyperlink I see the 3-tiered comparison.
I suspect you need to clean your cache. Try refreshing first.
Best,
Gary

User avatar
Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#83 Post by Tommaso » Mon Oct 13, 2008 10:08 am

Thanks Gary, it was indeed a problem on my side. After refreshing, it worked. Wow! Those extras on the MGM look excellent indeed; guess I can finally give up looking for the Criterion on ebay...

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

#84 Post by Gary Tooze » Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:12 pm

Sorry for the delay...

Universal (2-disc Legacy Series) - Region 1- NTSC "Psycho" vs. Universal Studios - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal Pictures (Benelux) (Psycho Collection) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Universal Tri-Star (Australia) - Region 2,4 - PAL

New...

Universal (2-disc - 50th Anniversary Edition) - Region 1- NTSC "Touch of Evil" vs. Universal Studios (US) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Universal Studios (UK) - Region 2,4,5 - PAL

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

Best,

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

#85 Post by Gary Tooze » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:51 pm

New...

MGM - Region 1 - NTSC "From Russia With Love" vs. MGM (2-disc Ultimate Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL vs. MGM / Fox - Region 'A' Blu-ray

MGM - (Special Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL "Thunderball" vs. MGM - (2-disc - part of Ultimate Collection Vol. 2) - Region 1,3 - NTSC vs. MGM / Fox - Region 'A' Blu-ray

Note...

Our Blu-ray review of Dr. No has 2 screen capture comparisons with the Special Edition SD-DVD.
This Bond Blu-ray looks exceptionally good.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Best,

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

#86 Post by perkizitore » Fri Oct 17, 2008 10:04 pm

Gary,will we ever see the comparison between Vampyr's Criterion and MoC?Also,i'd like to see a direct comparison of La Ronde's editions.Finally,it would be fantastic if you could make a full review of BFI's Salo Blu-Ray.Thanks.

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

#87 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:03 pm

Er...

Vampyr comparison

Salo BD review/comparison (I dunno what you mean by "full review," but this is as detailed as any of the the standalone BD reviews)

No La Ronde comparison yet.

Oh, and re: Flight of the Red Balloon: the green look is almost definitely intentional -- I saw it theatrically and clearly recall the "greenness" of some parts (the piano lesson, for example), and while I haven't seen the UK DVD, the French DVD exhibits the same tendency. The screenshots of the Network release at DVD Times aren't very big, but they show a clear green bias. (The Network disc is also a DVD-5, apparently.)

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

#88 Post by perkizitore » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:12 am

Gary on the MoC edition of Vampyr:
Looking solely at the captures he has provided I would tend to agree with his summation and if I feel the need to augment with further observations, Henry has agreed to allow to me to do so once my own disc arrives.

Gary on the BFI Salo Blu-Ray:
I was only sent the first disc - hence, this is all I can review at this point.

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

#89 Post by Gary Tooze » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:05 am

Apologies, yes.... always my intention to return to Vampyr (it's sitting right here by my computer) and I'm at least grateful that Henry was able to contribute that information. I never imagined that I would be this busy... I'm working about 55-60 hours a week right now.
I haven't received the final copy of Salo (Blu-ray) from BFI - postal times can really vary from overseas to Canada.
I don't have the Second Sight La Ronde.
Life of a DVD Reviewer:
I should note that I don't receive every DVD release in the world. BUT I do occasionally get some viable ones from studios/distributors (to augment what I buy myself) - this is with a cavalacde of lesser discs that I won't bother to relate. 100's come each month... with a few being premium DVDBeaver territory.
On this last Thursday a very large package came - extremely heavy and kind of bulky - sitting on my front step. I opened it as I was driving to pick-up my son from school. As I scracthed at the covering - it suddenly hit me - "ohh my God... it's Murnau-Borzage!" - just as the contents spilled out to reveal... [drum roll]..... The Complete Series of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #-o

perkizitore, I'll continue to do the best I can...
Cheers,
Gary

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

#90 Post by perkizitore » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:22 am

Every request/reminder is made as an encouragement, always keeping in mind how valuable your reviews are.I know it's not easy when you actually outline the general differences of some releases to get back to them,as always there is something new but when i see a 'return' comment,i can't wait for more.

User avatar
fiddlesticks
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:19 pm
Location: Borderlands

#91 Post by fiddlesticks » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:17 am

If you don't want that Man from U.N.C.L.E. set, you have my shipping address... :D

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

#92 Post by MichaelB » Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:26 am

perkizitore wrote:Every request/reminder is made as an encouragement, always keeping in mind how valuable your reviews are.I know it's not easy when you actually outline the general differences of some releases to get back to them,as always there is something new but when i see a 'return' comment,i can't wait for more.
Still, at least with Salo and Vampyr you got an interim report. I can only assume that the BFI's Jan Svankmajer package is one of the "lesser discs" that Gary referred to, since I know for a fact that he was sent a copy.

I shouldn't complain, though - its only mention on DVD Beaver was a place on the 2007 end-of-year Top Fifty, so his readers clearly rated it even if he didn't!

User avatar
Darth Lavender
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:24 pm

#93 Post by Darth Lavender » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:51 pm

Mods, feel free to delete, but I thought this was relevent to both threads (this and the Salo BFI thread)
Darth Lavender wrote:To revise my earlier thoughts on Salo's quality.

I was watching Battlestar Galactica on HDDVD the other day and it's a fine transfer indeed. Obviously exactly what the directors wanted, there's lots of grain throughout (in this case, intentional digital noise) no excessive sharpening... It's ranks with 'Bullit' as one of the most 'authentic-looking' movies I've seen on High Definition...
Then I happened to pause it and, in 'freeze-frame' it looked truly, utterly horrible...
Horrible in exactly the same way as the Salo captures :wink:

Tried the same with 'Elizabeth,' comparing freeze-frames with freeze-frames, and there's really no similarity there.


So, I'm completely revising my own estimation of the BFI blu-ray's quality. (Of course, the EE was silly as heck, just because it gives the reviewers something to criticise)

And, if I might offer a bit of free advice to the BFI (I might even send an email) this is one Blu-Ray which (if I'm right about the stills vs motion thing) could DEFINITELY benefit from a 1080p trailer online (all the major studios are doing those already, so the technology is there, and it's really the only way (aside from dubious-sounding praise) to convey just how good this Blu-Ray (I assume, based on BG) looks in motion.

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

#94 Post by perkizitore » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:38 am

The recommendation of the James Bond Vol.1 Blu-Ray set is the same as the one of Vol.2,the only thing that can make them apart is the rating (8 instead of 9).

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

#95 Post by Gary Tooze » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:50 am

perkizitore - I'm sure Leonard (who wrote the review) is aware of that:
As a group, the titles in Volume 2 are higher quality than Volume 1, but both must-haves for the Bond aficianado. The earlier films benefit most from their restorations, already evident in the Ultimate DVDs, but the extra vivid dimensionality – that reach out and touch it feeling we get with a high definition image is worth the investment. It's also nice that all the titles come with their original audio tracks for the purists among us, though I found myself preferring to the uncompressed audio, despite its being exaggerated in moments of excitement. Thumbs Up.
He's commenting, albeit generically, on the packages as a whole. I don't have a problem with that.

P.S. Let's keep this thread about, its title, 'comparisons'. If you wish to email me - I am always accessible at gary@2ze.com.
Thanks,

New...

Mei Ah - Region FREE - Blu-ray "Mad Detective" vs. Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - NTSC

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

Cheers,

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

#96 Post by Rich Malloy » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 am

Gary Tooze wrote:Mei Ah - Region FREE - Blu-ray "Mad Detective" vs. Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - NTSC
Not knowing how this film is supposed to look, I find myself a bit flummoxed at the vastly different color timings of the two releases. I'm inclined to believe that MOC's cooler tones are more accurate, but that's solely based on my high opinion of MOC's prior work (and considerably lower opinion of Mei Ah's prior work). On the other hand, I disagree with your reviewer that cranking the contrast on the MOC disc will emulate the look of the Mei-Ah. Color timing issues aside, I'm seeing what appears to me to be a real - not perceived - increase in fine detail on the Mei Ah release. Facial skin textures, in particular, seem to bear this out.

I'd love to hear some additional comments on these transfers, particularly as I suspect the warmer color timing of the Mei Ah is incorrect.

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

#97 Post by Gary Tooze » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:34 am

Hey Rich,
You may not belive this but I was just thinking of you when this email notice of response came in... weird. Hope you and Avril are well...

Actually, I am the reviewer. What I did was zoom in to a few screen grabs (even ones not matched or posted) and I don't *think* the Mei Ah is actually sharper (more detailed). I think they are the same. I agree that it does look sharper but that could be simply boosting black/ darker red levels - which, btw, I didn't do when boosting the contrast to get that image. I've no doubt that the folks at Mei Ah spent more time manipulating than the few seconds I did (trying to match their color using a MoC grab). Its pretty astounding what you can do with elevating black levels slightly - too much and we can see evidence - but I'll admit in my limited zooming I didn't see EE or extravagent halos on the Meh Ah. But I don't on many Criterions either and they often boost black levels to avchieve a higher perception of detail. Others in email to me have noticed the minor EE on the Mei Ah.

I agree with you about the differences though... 'flummoxed' was pretty much how I felt. I guess its our 'official' first Blu-ray comparison.

Cheers,

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

#98 Post by HerrSchreck » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:09 pm

Rich Malloy wrote:
Gary Tooze wrote:Mei Ah - Region FREE - Blu-ray "Mad Detective" vs. Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - NTSC
Not knowing how this film is supposed to look, I find myself a bit flummoxed at the vastly different color timings of the two releases. I'm inclined to believe that MOC's cooler tones are more accurate, but that's solely based on my high opinion of MOC's prior work (and considerably lower opinion of Mei Ah's prior work). On the other hand, I disagree with your reviewer that cranking the contrast on the MOC disc will emulate the look of the Mei-Ah. Color timing issues aside, I'm seeing what appears to me to be a real - not perceived - increase in fine detail on the Mei Ah release. Facial skin textures, in particular, seem to bear this out.

I'd love to hear some additional comments on these transfers, particularly as I suspect the warmer color timing of the Mei Ah is incorrect.
I was thinking the exact same thing, but wasn't in the mood for controversy (after the Sirk). But the color scheme issues aside, in terms of getting what you're supposed to get viz Blu versus SD--increased definition-- the Mei Ah (thought I'd never articulate such a thing) seems far more of an HD transfer in terms of detail, crispness, etc.

Perplexing for sure, as I don't doubt the transfer used by MoC matches the color scheme of the film upon release.

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

#99 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:25 pm

New...

HBO Home Video (Extended Version) - Region 1 - NTSC "La Vie En Rose" vs. Sony/TVA Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/

Have a good weekend,

peerpee
not perpee
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:41 pm

#100 Post by peerpee » Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:33 am

HerrSchreck wrote:in terms of getting what you're supposed to get viz Blu versus SD--increased definition-- the Mei Ah (thought I'd never articulate such a thing) seems far more of an HD transfer in terms of detail, crispness, etc.
Boosting contrast increases the perception of detail, more pronounced blacks and whites increase the sense of depth, etc - but as seen with these two discs, it also introduces a whole host of other problems.

These are details from both discs (from grabs taken by DVDBeaver):

Image

The "grain" on the Mei Ah is not extra 35mm grain or facial skin texture, it's just contrast boosting. Look at the haloing on the thumb in the Mei Ah, the blown out whites in the reflections on the metal rack. It looks like a 35mm cinema print in comparison to the MoC's more subtle rendering of the original neg.

Post Reply