8 / BD 16 Metropolis

[mfunk9786]

aox: Getting the joke since 2008

[aox]

jesus.. I am just failing this thread left and right. Sorry Mfunk. The first fuck up was lack of coffee, this one is now due to too much alcohol.

[domino harvey]

Not a fair comparison. Vinyl is a superior format.

Yeah, people need to hear pops and snaps and that shit.

I only watch foreign films

Hey, I think that guy posts here


















under sixty different user names

[RossyG]

I only watch foreign films

Ninety percent of British cinemagoers could say that.

[tenia]

Just received my Steelbook today. It couldn't have been a better timing since I also received my Yamaha amplifier, so I was able to wire everything (PS3, Yamaha, Jamo speakers, yeah I only lack an HD TV) together, and will hopefully test the disc tomorrow.

But, at the moment, I can only say that altogether (as usual), the packaging is really marvelous.

[gcgiles1dollarbin]

The only satisfactory solution is for Kino to pay for a Region-Free repressing of the MoC blu-rays...

Amen. I want German intertitles. Gimme gimme gimme.

[mfunk9786]

Tenia, where are you from? Have any U.S. residents received this yet?

[tenia]

I'm living in the North-East of France, halfway between Strasbourg and Paris (near Metz, exactly).

[Paupau]

What a ride this was! Literally seeing the film for the first time. Absolutely blown away by the image on the BD, and the package overall. Still haven't listened to the commentary, but i watched the documentary right after the film, and it was extraordinary.

IMO, your best release so far. Congratulations! Now begins the wait for Nibelungen...

[matrixschmatrix]

Tenia, where are you from? Have any U.S. residents received this yet?

I mentioned this in the Where's My Moc? thread, but I'm in the US (on the East Coast) and I got mine today.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix

[Erikht]

Have I misunderstood something? I ordered - and payed for - the steelbook dvd+Bluray edition. Today, I got a plastic case (looks a bit like a steelbook, but defenitely plastic) with two discs in it. I thought it would be two DVDs plus 1 Blu-ray. Is this what I payed for, or has some mistake occured?

[Duncan Hopper]

The 2 disc thing has already been addressed.

We were trying very hard for an extra documentary, a great Argentinian documentary called METROPOLIS REFOUND, which would have necessitated 2 discs. Eventually push came to shove, and despite being about a week away from it happening, we had to make the excruciating commerce-influenced decision to not include it. Instead of having only a 54 minute disc 2, we opted to put everything on one disc.

There are a number of reasons why we didn't mind not stretching it out to two discs. Over the last five years (ie. since we last issued METROPOLIS in the MoC Series) encoding has got much better plus we now have an altogether superior format (the Blu-ray, where we've optimised the image and sound as much as we can). We're happy with the DVD encode of the feature. The difference between not putting the documentary on disc 1, and putting it on a disc 2, was negligible.

Amazon displayed the updated information a month ago, as did the artwork stickers, and http://www.metropolis1927.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; -- We've been so busy with the release we haven't had the catalogue page added at our main website (which we're doing now).

[Michael Kerpan]

Wouldn't Kerpan's be ;~}

Hey, that's trademarked!

On another topic -- We still have all our LPs (a whole wall-full -- almost up to the ceiling -- just enough space for a row of CDs on top). ;~}

[Ozu Teapot]

Have I misunderstood something? I ordered - and payed for - the steelbook dvd+Bluray edition. Today, I got a plastic case (looks a bit like a steelbook, but defenitely plastic) with two discs in it. I thought it would be two DVDs plus 1 Blu-ray. Is this what I payed for, or has some mistake occured?

That sounds odd about the box - are you sure? Mine is definitely made of metal with a printed cover design, but has a clear plastic interior which houses the two discs and the booklet.

[McCrutchy]

Just got my Metropolis SB in PERFECT condition. Oh my, this is a gorgeous package MoC have put together. I cannot wait to find the time to watch the new restoration!

Also, thank you so much for keeping the original German-language intertitles and texts--this, to me, was one of the most unforgivable things Kino had done with their release.

[Erikht]

To both Duncan Hopper and Les Yeux Sans Visage, I think you have answered my question. I have misunderstood. After reading Les Yeux Sans Visage's post, I studied my book more closely, and found that it is metal, though a tad different than my other steelbooks. Tastefully done, though.
Thank you, both.

[matrixschmatrix]

I don't know if this is just the player I'm using, but I'm watching the Metropolis blu on my computer (a full screen monitor), and it's got forced black bars on both sides of the image- with the effect that I've got ridiculous windowboxing. It's not happening with the DVD version. Is that on my end, or the disc's?

[arsonfilms]

I don't know if this is just the player I'm using, but I'm watching the Metropolis blu on my computer (a full screen monitor), and it's got forced black bars on both sides of the image- with the effect that I've got ridiculous windowboxing. It's not happening with the DVD version. Is that on my end, or the disc's?

Have you watched any other 1.33 ratio films on your computer? Since blu-ray was designed with the 1.78 HDTV in mind, BDs with a 1.33 aspect ratio are encoded as 1.78 native files, and matted down to 1.33. My girlfriend has a really old 1.33 ratio 720p setup, and I'm not able to watch 1.33 ratio blus on that either because the TV plays the disc anamorphically with the bars at the top and bottom, and then the disc crops off the sides. If this is what you're talking about, it's really just the nature of the format.

[ambrose]

I don't know if this is just the player I'm using, but I'm watching the Metropolis blu on my computer (a full screen monitor), and it's got forced black bars on both sides of the image- with the effect that I've got ridiculous windowboxing. It's not happening with the DVD version. Is that on my end, or the disc's?

I have quite a few Blu-rays with "forced black bars" either side, the recent Carlotta Borzage's and the bfi ozu's for example,and on a personal level i do not find the compression at all detrimental!.(If you are talking about the Masters of Cinema Metropolis Blu-ray, quite a few MOC Blu-rays have that window-boxing effect.)

[matrixschmatrix]

I don't know if this is just the player I'm using, but I'm watching the Metropolis blu on my computer (a full screen monitor), and it's got forced black bars on both sides of the image- with the effect that I've got ridiculous windowboxing. It's not happening with the DVD version. Is that on my end, or the disc's?

Have you watched any other 1.33 ratio films on your computer? Since blu-ray was designed with the 1.78 HDTV in mind, BDs with a 1.33 aspect ratio are encoded as 1.78 native files, and matted down to 1.33. My girlfriend has a really old 1.33 ratio 720p setup, and I'm not able to watch 1.33 ratio blus on that either because the TV plays the disc anamorphically with the bars at the top and bottom, and then the disc crops off the sides. If this is what you're talking about, it's really just the nature of the format.

Damn, I was afraid of that- I just bought this drive specifically so I could watch Metropolis, and after checking that one out I put in The General, which has the same issue. That's irritating.

[Robert Wheeler]

So, I am guessing the pillar boxing makes the actual image's resolution close to 1440x1080? It is a tricky issue to overcome. I am not sure if the blu-ray or HDMI standards support alternate screen ratios, and even if they did, on most Full HD 1080 screens you would not actually gain any benefit. The best presentation on such screen should in theory be as it has been handled on the Metropolis blu-ray, which supports 1 for 1 pixel modes. Otherwise the image has to be scaled down to fit the display (although there are potential marginal benefits to this as well).

I am afraid that if you are watching the blu-ray on a 4:3 monitor the scaling solution needs to be addressed in your blu-ray playing software.

[TheGodfather]

So finally my copy arrived today. Very happy with it, it`s a beautiful release. Very tastefull with an interesting booklet.

[matrixschmatrix]

It really is a gorgeous release. I'm happy I got the dual-format version just for the steelbook, which is up there with the Mabuse set for my favorite MoC packaging that I've got.

There's no spine number on it though, I guess because the DVD and Blu-ray have different ones.

[zedz]

There is a spine number on it (16?), but it's on the printed green flap that wraps around the opening.

Agree on the absolutely gorgeous packaging. Still don't like the film much, but the additional footage definitely addresses some of the pacing issues. The time actually passed faster this time than with the last restoration, and I'm delighted that I'll never have to watch this film again!* (But I will listen to the commentary.)

* = what I said ten years ago