There's a bunch of titles coming out on blu-ray 4/8 (next week) in the UK from Optimum Home Entertainment, I wonder if they will have better PQ than the US versions:

Terminator 2
Total Recall
Stargate
Cliffhanger
Escape from New York
The Fog
Rambo 1-3

Unless T2 is the extended version I wouldn't care about the PQ.

Unless T2 is the extended version I wouldn't care about the PQ.

IMO T2 requires frame-by-frame restoration to prevent Studios from dipping for the 85,881,224th time.:o

Total Recall - Check dvdactive.com for review
Escape from New York - Check dvdtimes.co.uk and dvdtherapy.com for review
The Fog - Check dvdactive.com and dvdtimes.co.uk for review

I preordered T2, Total Recall, Escape from NY, and Rambo 1+2, but they haven't shipped yet. I'll post specs etc. whenever I get them.

T2 is the Special Edition cut aka "Director's Cut".

It appears all of these are direct ports of the Studio Canal HD DVD encodes (some with upgraded audio) despite claims of dual layer discs.

EDIT: The Total Recall review includes MP3s showing that they have indeed fixed the pitch problem the HD DVD had, nice! The screencaps on that page are resized directly from the BD it says, and they match the colors of the HD DVD as expected.

Are all these release region free, or at least Region A and B?

There's a bunch of titles coming out on blu-ray 4/8 (next week) in the UK from Optimum Home Entertainment, I wonder if they will have better PQ than the US versions:

Terminator 2
Total Recall
Stargate
Cliffhanger
Escape from New York
The Fog
Rambo 1-3

I ordered Escape from NY. From what I've heard it looks nice. The HDNet transfer was nice so I'm hoping for something on par with that. Don't bother with the Fog, from what I heard its the same as the terrible HD DVD.

Are all these release region free, or at least Region A and B?
my concern too, ordered stargate, would like total recall too, if any better than us editions, any reviews yet

ordered stargate and cliffhanger.

The grapevine has it that Cliffhanger is region locked (to B).

Stargate and Cliffhanger are supposed to be Region B locked while the others are AB.

ordered EFNY as it got a pretty good review

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=68349

but sadly The Fog is suppossed to be the same as the previous HDdvd which looks poor and has the pitch issue.

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=68323

Really would like cliffhanger. But region locked so I will have to wait for the US version. Hope it comes soon

ordered EFNY as it got a pretty good review

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=68349

but sadly The Fog is suppossed to be the same as the previous HDdvd which looks poor and has the pitch issue.

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=68323


THE FOG has the pitch issue? It is never listed on the listings of the affected titles...

Can anyone with the DVD post audio samples along with those from the HD DVD? I can tell if there's an issue pretty easily, but I wouldn't know in this case as the HD DVD is the only version of this film that I've owned (and my only point for comparison).



I will likely TRIPLE DIP on all of the pitch issue titles (Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Rambo, etc). Domestic BDs aren't good but have extras, the HD DVDs had far better PQ but botched audio, and word is that these have the better PQ w/o the botched audio...but still no extras. I'll be happy. :)

Lots of people who had the HDdvd confirmed the pitch issue. Should be in some threads in that section.

Audio samples for Total Recall posted in dvdactive.com.

Stargate and Cliffhanger are supposed to be Region B locked while the others are AB.

where did u see? so no go for US PS3 i guess?:rolleyes:

Please check dvdtimes.co.uk

Cliffhanger and Stargate being Region Locked is extremely annoying.:

( Indeed! it is! canceling my order with amazon. How abt upcoming MATRIX BR?

Indeed! it is! canceling my order with amazon. How abt upcoming MATRIX BR?

No idea but they shouldn't be Region Locked as they are released by Warner.

Lots of people who had the HDdvd confirmed the pitch issue. Should be in some threads in that section.
I never noticed any pitch issue with my copy, and certainly not on the order of a typical 4% sped up quality. Recently someone bought the UK King Kong (76) HD DVD and said they could detect a glaring pitch issue with that. Again, I'm at a loss as I have that soundtrack ingrained in my skull and would think I would know instantly if something wasn't quite right.
<p> As far as the video quality of The Fog (based on the HD DVD) the problems I saw were limited to the opening credits which looked unstable around the edges-like a poorly compressed sd dvd- and aliasing that was visible in a shot with bleachers, in a car grill, and on a shingled roof. While I agree that flaws like these keep the disc from being a stellar representation, it was far from unwatchable and still a HUGE improvment over the R1 DVD, which is suffused with compression related nasties. I don't regret my purchase at all and will likely never bother upgrading should a better version come along.<p> I pulled out the SE of EFNY last night and that's another poor looking MGM disc. Soft, smeary...very difficult to watch. I want badly to order the Bd, but neither of those reviews mentions if there is a pitch problem or not. Even if there isn't, it would be nice to see the concern at least addressed.

I can't wait for someone to confirm whether EFNY is region locked as well...I'm ready to pull the trigger if it isn't!!

:(

I can't wait for someone to confirm whether EFNY is region locked as well...I'm ready to pull the trigger if it isn't!!

:(

EFNY has been confirmed region free, see here:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=67905

Escape From New York - The Blu-ray is a single-layer disc coded for all regions (A, B and C). Features include:

* 1080P 2.35:1 Widescreen (AVC)
* English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 5.1 Dolby Digital
* Return to Escape from New York (23 mins)
* New and exclusive John Carpenter interview (31 mins)
* 3 x original trailers
* Snakes Crime (deleted original intro)
* Commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell

Its Evil Dead II, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Terminator 2, and Total Recall that I'm unsure of and would love to know.

I want Escape from New York:eek:

Its Evil Dead II, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Terminator 2, and Total Recall that I'm unsure of and would love to know.

Terminator 2 has been confirmed as region A/B by "Batman2" over on Blu-Ray.com. His picture:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x11/Batman2468/Temporary/a1de146c.jpg

I want Escape from New York:eek:

You and me both. So what's the best place to order from. I usually get my imports from Amazon or Tony. Any other sites that offer import or ship to US?

Terminator 2 has been confirmed as region A/B by "Batman2" over on Blu-Ray.com.

Thanks! It sounds like it is the director's cut too. I have pre-ordered this and Total Recall along with EFNY. Has there been any definitive word on the region coding of Total Recall?

You and me both. So what's the best place to order from. I usually get my imports from Amazon or Tony. Any other sites that offer import or ship to US?

I ordered Escape from NY from here http://www.dvd.co.uk/
Same place I ordered Transformers the Movie (1986) a while back.

The Fog HD DVD is an mild improvement over the R1 DVD, (although in some areas the red push makes the picture look worse than the DVD) but when compared to the HD broadcast version of the movie you can see how poor the overall quality and color truly is. I didn't care for the audio either.
I took some super crappy photos and posted them a while back here. The point should still get across.
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=10645

Thanks! It sounds like it is the director's cut too. I have pre-ordered this and Total Recall along with EFNY. Has there been any definitive word on the region coding of Total Recall?

I cancelled my stargate, would wait for final word

I may have to get EFNY one of my favorite movies. I wanted cliffhanger to but I hope the US gets it soon. I have the DVD, SB DVD and laserdisc so I'm a fan

I cancelled my stargate, would wait for final word

The webmaster at DVD Active was good enough to point out where the region coding information was in their reviews, which I completely missed the right time around. Total Recall is confirmed Region A/B.

http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/total-recall2.html

Posted this over at Digest, but probably of use to some here as well.

All of next weeks Optimum disks turned up today. According to the back covers, some are region free and others are not, but I haven't checked them yet to confirm.

Total Recall - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
T2 - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
Cliffhanger - Region B - DTS HD MA
Stargate - Region B - DTS HD MA
The Fog - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
Escape from New York - Region A/B/C - DTS HD MA

I'll test them all when I have a chance to confirm if the covers are accurate.

I'll test them all when I have a chance to confirm if the covers are accurate.

Very much appreciated!

Just checked Stargate and Cliffhanger and the cover art is telling the truth - wouldnt play in a US BD10.

Its Evil Dead II, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Terminator 2, and Total Recall that I'm unsure of and would love to know.I can confirm that T2 and Total Recall both play on my US player :D According to the menu T2 is the director's cut as well.

I can confirm that T2 and Total Recall both play on my US player :D According to the menu T2 is the director's cut as well.

Sweet!

Posted this over at Digest, but probably of use to some here as well.

All of next weeks Optimum disks turned up today. According to the back covers, some are region free and others are not, but I haven't checked them yet to confirm.

Total Recall - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
T2 - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
Cliffhanger - Region B - DTS HD MA
Stargate - Region B - DTS HD MA
The Fog - Region A/B - DTS HD MA
Escape from New York - Region A/B/C - DTS HD MA

I'll test them all when I have a chance to confirm if the covers are accurate.

Any word on the region codes of the Rambo films?

And are these worth upgrading over the U.S. releases in terms of picture and sound quality?

Any word on the region codes of the Rambo films?

And are these worth upgrading over the U.S. releases in terms of picture and sound quality?
What's wrong with the US releases of the Rambo films?

What's wrong with the US releases of the Rambo films?

I don't think they're bad, but I'm just wondering if these releases are better.

What's wrong with the US releases of the Rambo films?

First Blood only has a lossy track on the Lion's Gate US release. That's one thing that can be improved.

According to the menu T2 is the director's cut as well

What!? Ok...This has peaked my interest. When you say the menu do you mean scene selections? Can you confirm by playing the movie, that it's the directors cut? (Assuming you know the DC scenes).

Thanks!

What!? Ok...This has peaked my interest. When you say the menu do you mean scene selections? Can you confirm by playing the movie, that it's the directors cut? (Assuming you know the DC scenes).

Thanks!When the disk loads, the Optimum logo comes up and then the music starts playing, the truck bursts through the wall of the aqua duct and the T2 logo comes up with the words directors cut underneath. The the normal BD menu comes up - i.e. scene selections etc.
Not familiar enough with T2 to know the differences between DC and non DC i'm afraid.

When the disk loads, the Optimum logo comes up and then the music starts playing, the truck bursts through the wall of the aqua duct and the T2 logo comes up with the words directors cut underneath. The the normal BD menu comes up - i.e. scene selections etc.
Not familiar enough with T2 to know the differences between DC and non DC i'm afraid.

It should be a rather simple matter to check if you go to the last chapter and check the running time, it should be in the 150 minute range vs. the theatrical cut, which is in the 130s.

The webmaster at DVD Active was good enough to point out where the region coding information was in their reviews, which I completely missed the right time around. Total Recall is confirmed Region A/B.

http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/total-recall2.html

so A/B we are good to go for US PS3s? Some how reviewer failed to compare this with US Artisan BR disc!

so A/B we are good to go for US PS3s?

Yep.

Some how reviewer failed to compare this with US Artisan BR disc!

True. However, this release should be identical to the HD DVD release, which was widely reported to have a superior transfer in comparison with the Lionsgate BD.

My UK "Escape" is now in "preparing to be shipped" statuf from amazon UK

:)

What's wrong with the US releases of the Rambo films?

DNR on First Blood I & II.

The 3 Rambo discs were already reported as AB when they were released in the 4-disc set. In other words yes they will work in US players.

"Dispatching Soon"/"Dispatch estimate:5 Aug 2008". Their idea of "soon" differs from mine. :D

@lfletcher

So I guess Cliffhanger is uncut now from what I read recently about it being passed. Have you had a look at it yet for quality of picture?

According to blu-ray.com (post 46 if you can find the thread) the run time for Terminator 2 is 153 minutes. :) So this is ALMOST the full version. The Ultimate Edition DVD has a version with another three minutes...Which is some what of an easter egg. I can live without the extra three minutes. It's also Region A & B, which I think was reported here. I will a wait a review of the video and if it's good, I'll be all over this.

@Majestyk

I'm in Vancouver, actually Burnaby! If this BR Cliffhanger is Region B only, doesn't anydvd make this moot for us.

Majestyk's post is about T2 by the way. Confused the hell out of me after the Cliffhanger question.

The "Extended Special Edition" on the Ultimate Edition DVD was kind of a joke cut, including the alternate ending that Cameron correctly decided was retarded.

tyee, region coding isn't a problem if you have a Blu-ray drive yes (or that combo player that has hacks).

Sorry for the confusion. I thought I put T2 but I didn't. This is actually a weird thread. Each of these titles should have their own...Or just use the existing 'US' threads. Now we have Rambo in here too. :)

Jeff

My take on Escape from New York. Well, it would figure for me that this of all movies, is THE single worst Blu Ray I've seen. It makes Gangs of New York look spactacular, I **** you not. It offers the very slightest of upgrades over the DVD(took an A-B comparison to tell any difference at all), and at times is actually worse than the DVD. I do worry with the way my luck has been lately that this is my doing somehow. Shadow detail is awful, colors are horrible in general(heavy over saturation in low light, so yeah thats 80% of the movie ****ed), massive edge halos everywhere(far worse than the DVD), and glaring compression artifacts throughout. The audio is a joke also.

Studio Canal is overseas, so I can't... but if MGM ****s the domestic release up this badly, I will burn their studio down. When is this coming on HDnet again?!

Are you talking about T2?
Escape from New York.

My take on Escape from New York. Well, it would figure for me that this of all movies, is THE single worst Blu Ray I've seen. It makes Gangs of New York look spactacular, I **** you not. It offers the very slightest of upgrades over the DVD(took an A-B comparison to tell any difference at all), and at times is actually worse than the DVD. I do worry with the way my luck has been lately that this is my doing somehow. Shadow detail is awful, colors are horrible in general(heavy over saturation in low light, so yeah thats 80% of the movie ****ed), massive edge halos everywhere(far worse than the DVD), and glaring compression artifacts throughout. The audio is a joke also.

Studio Canal is overseas, so I can't... but if MGM ****s the domestic release up this badly, I will burn their studio down. When is this coming on HDnet again?!



It's on Universal HD quite often and looks very good.
Unfortunately even though uncut, there are commercials so not a great way to keep it.
Mine came from amazon UK and I'm sending it back.

Escape From New York looks like an upconvert:

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?vergleich=escape_from_new_york

I don't remember the HDNet broadcast looking that bad. Confirmation:

HDNet
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2954/efnyhdnetdn2.jpg

Blu-ray
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2567/efnybrdyp8.jpg

ESCAPE does not look good but I doubt it's an upconvert...it looks appreciably better than the last MGM SE. Some scenes look HD, others don't. But this notion that it's "480p" is kind of baseless...it's just a bad transfer.

Either way I wouldn't recommend it :)

THE FOG is exactly the same as the HD-DVD versions, which was perfectly acceptable for the film it is. And it's much more consistent in its appearance than ESCAPE, obviously, though some expecting eye candy will hate it.

I don't remember the HDNet broadcast looking that bad. Confirmation:

HDNet
http://9.imagebam.com/dl.php?ID=10636154&sec=26088b4ec4145d0d51a99a532e373029

Blu-ray
http://9.imagebam.com/dl.php?ID=10636155&sec=88cc8fd5ef732a24d3f8b54fd1530f9d

"Hotlinking deactivated"...???

Looks totally like an upconvert to me with contrast boosting and EE.

blech.

Does audio on Total Recall still have pitch issues? How about the Rambo movies? If they just ported over the HD DVD (most likely), they likely still have pitch issues. T2 is one of the few movies Studio Canal did right, so I ordered that one.

Does audio on Total Recall still have pitch issues?

This review indicated the pitch issue has been corrected.

http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/total-recall2.html

Addendum: After I had finished writing this review I came across a forum post with audio examples of the the DVD and HD DVD releases that demonstrated the differences in pitch. After comparing this Blu-ray release to those samples I am confident that the track does not suffer from the pitch issues associated with the HD DVD release. If you would like to check the results yourself, simply click the following links to download the relevant .mp3 files (all files are under 106KB): Blu-ray, DVD, HD DVD.

I never had the HD DVD, but I did watch the BD Sunday night and never noticed any pitch problems.

Pitch is correct on the BD. I just played the clips and played along. On the DVD and BD, the first 3 notes are G, A and B flat.
On the Hddvd the notes are G sharp, A sharp, B approximately consistent with a PAL audio track, (4% higher in pitch) that's been digitally slowed down to match the 24 fps. video.

:)

What happened to all of the incredibly valuable discussion on the EFNY snafu that was in this thread? While there was personal bickering going on, it appears that the meat of the discussion has been stripped away because of it.

Mods: It's unfortunate that this can't be a place to come to for information any longer. Moderation should not be limited to deleting posts, guys.

Exactly! I just noticed this thread resurrected, and frankly there was a lot of good information from the poster from Germany. Good info that any AVS'r could use to help discern upconversion vs. bad encodes/transfers.

Bummer...big bummer...

What happened to all of the incredibly valuable discussion on the EFNY snafu that was in this thread? While there was personal bickering going on, it appears that the meat of the discussion has been stripped away because of it.

Mods: It's unfortunate that this can't be a place to come to for information any longer. Moderation should not be limited to deleting posts, guys.

There were some great comparisons before.

:(

ESCAPE does not look good but I doubt it's an upconvert...it looks appreciably better than the last MGM SE. Some scenes look HD, others don't. But this notion that it's "480p" is kind of baseless...it's just a bad transfer.

So explain why there's no difference to a 480p downscale even at the letterbox edge, and even the StudioCanal logo at the start was shown to be in far lower res with pushed contrast vs their other releases.

Too bad Torsten Kaiser's great posts are gone now... It's not moderation, the whole forum was rolled back to Aug 2. At least this thread is now unlocked as a result. Perhaps we can be more civil this time.

So without looking at the file names which is from the HDNet broadcast and which is from the Blu-ray?

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2954/efnyhdnetdn2.jpghttp://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2567/efnybrdyp8.jpg

The crappy looking crushed black blurry ee riddled one is the BD.

What happened to all of the incredibly valuable discussion on the EFNY snafu that was in this thread? While there was personal bickering going on, it appears that the meat of the discussion has been stripped away because of it.

Mods: It's unfortunate that this can't be a place to come to for information any longer. Moderation should not be limited to deleting posts, guys.

There was a big server crash yesterday that required backup recovery from August 2. This means the informative posts from Torsten Kaiser are gone because of it.

Ah, I see. I'm a little trigger happy on the complaining lately it seems. :o Sorry. It's most unfortunate for the loss of info; his detailed examples and explanations on the EFNY issue were a huge highlight and a great read.

My EFNY copy is going back to Amazon.co.uk. I guess I'll wait it out for the day MGM gets off their duffs and get its out over here.

Now to pull the trigger on the fixed-audio Total Recall or not...

Can anyone confirm is Stargate (UK) is the same as the US release (MPEG-2) ?

DNR on First Blood I & II.

I've read reports that the UK blu-rays are the same as the UK HD-DVD masters and thus the PQ is worse (and Rambo III is cut). I'm still not able to decide whether to get the UK boxset or the US one because I can't get a definitive answer it seems on which is better!!

Rambo 3 is cut due to cruelty to a horse...Which i believe is a horse trip and it will always remain cut as we have strict animal cruelty laws in place...It's the reason Conan The Barbarian will also remain cut.

DVD Times have a picture comparison with Total Recall showing the Blu Ray by Lionsgate and the new UK release....It looks more colorful but i'm cautious as i'm asking myself where the grain is in the picture they show and the image seems slightly cropped on the new UK disc in the image they provided as Sharon Stone's hand seems to be slightly gone and the frame seems moved so that we see more on top but less on bottom....No idea why this is but i prefer the framing of the American Lionsgate disc as it seems more natural to me.

Go check it out and read their review and see the picture i am talking about. Personally i'm starting to wonder when studio's are going to hit a home run with their catalogue titles as at the moment it's very hit or miss and i think it's because they are just cleaning up the old catalogue titles with too much DNR and adding a little EE to compensate when they really should be spending money on new prints and creating specific HD masters for Blu Ray.

They also have had a reply from Optimum stating a fully High Definition master was supplied to them for Escape From New York....I think they are just covering their ass because they don't want to recall any Blu Rays but they are adamant it's fully HD.

If I remember correctly, the Total Recall HD DVD, from which this is ported, was slightly mis-framed. This was visible during the intro credits, they're not perfectly centered, more off to one side.

The other Optimum debacle at the moment,is that the surrounds on Cliffhanger are possibly mixed up on the lossless track.

It looks like that Terminator 2 is really the only one out of the bunch worth importing, IMO.

Jeezus...! Before I read your text I thought it was a comparison between the Blu-Ray and the DVD. The Blu-Ray looks totally like a DVD-upconvert. Look at the excessive EE in the window! :eek: Just horrible! :mad:

So without looking at the file names which is from the HDNet broadcast and which is from the Blu-ray?

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2954/efnyhdnetdn2.jpghttp://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2567/efnybrdyp8.jpg

The BD release screen grabs posted look very much like a Digital Betacam tape (or other unadulterated standard definition source) that has been scaled to 1920x1080 then processed. That would explain the SLIGHT gain in detail on the BD: it's not been low-pass filtered like the DVD will have been prior to compression. Since Optimum have denied that this is the case, we'll just have to say it's a poor HD release.

One thing doesn't change though: the review scores that this has received at some sites are cause for concern.

One wonders why an upconverted master exists at all. What would it be used for?

The BD release screen grabs posted look very much like a Digital Betacam tape (or other unadulterated standard definition source) that has been scaled to 1920x1080 then processed. That would explain the SLIGHT gain in detail on the BD: it's not been low-pass filtered like the DVD will have been prior to compression.

That makes sense to me. I realize the disc looks bad, my point was that it still looks better than the Region 1 DVD if you do an A/B comparison. There is some level of detail visible on the UK BD that isn't there on the upconverted DVD, more in some shots than others.

Either way it's a poor transfer not worth the trouble to import, regardless of what methods they used. :)

Anyone know whats up with all the negative reviews of the UK T2 blu-ray on amazon.co.uk?

Well they might have used a PAL master (576) and just slowed it down?

Well they might have used a PAL master (576) and just slowed it down?

The amazon reviewers are crazy. Although T2 is from an old master it is HD and looks much better than the DVD. It looks marginally better than the US blu-ray. There arn't any extras stated on the product so I don't know why these people are expecting them.

The amazon reviewers are crazy. Although T2 is from an old master it is HD and looks much better than the DVD. It looks marginally better than the US blu-ray. There arn't any extras stated on the product so I don't know why these people are expecting them.

So it's not the same as the studio canal HD DVD? I have that one and its way better then DVD.

So it's not the same as the studio canal HD DVD? I have that one and its way better then DVD.

It probably is the same as the HD-DVD, which almost the same as the US blu-ray except for VC1 compression instead of MPEG2. Earliest version in HD is on the 2003 T2 Extreme DVD bonus disc when Microsoft were experimenting with putting WMV files on standard DVDs, the version on this latest blu-ray has better bit rate, compression and is full 1080p but I think it's made from the same master.

The UK BD is EXACTLY the same as the UK HD DVD. The comments on Amazon.co.uk are by liars and idiots. The 'upscale' remarks are laughable.

This is the statement released by Optimum regarding their release of Escape From New York on Blu Ray...

"We at Optimum always try to provide our customers with the best possible quality video from the best source available to us. All our titles meet the required line count to qualify as 'High Definition', i.e. 1080p or 1080i. Contrary to reports on some fan forums, we have been assured by our supplier that the original source for the Blu-ray of Escape from New York is HD. We have not released and we will not release films on Blu-ray from masters we know to be up-scaled from SD PAL. The quality of HD masters of older films can vary and we are sorry if you are unhappy with the quality of picture on Escape From New York Blu-ray. Should a better master become available for this or any other Optimum title then we will endeavour to publish it as soon as feasible".


I think personally it's a disgrace and it's releases like these that damage the format. I know certain posters here get annoyed when we all start opening threads talking about DNR and bad releases like this but if we just let things slide then the studio's will screw us over again and again with sub par releases....If we complain on a board like this which is one of the biggest on the internet then there is more chance we will get quality releases and i hope the posters who are getting upset about all the DNR threads understand this.....I would also like to see Xylon post some positive screenshots of great releases to counterbalance the bad screenshot threads and thus hopefully silence the critics who say only the bad releases are being shown on these boards.

"We at Optimum always try to provide our customers with the best possible quality video from the best source available to us. All our titles meet the required line count to qualify as 'High Definition', i.e. 1080p or 1080i.

Well that explains everything. :D

Contrary to reports on some fan forums, we have been assured by our supplier that the original source for the Blu-ray of Escape from New York is HD.

That should read "is from a HD tape."

We have not released and we will not release films on Blu-ray from masters we know to be up-scaled from SD PAL.

SD NTSC on the other hand...

The quality of HD masters of older films can vary and we are sorry if you are unhappy with the quality of picture on Escape From New York Blu-ray. Should a better master become available for this or any other Optimum title then we will endeavour to publish it as soon as feasible".

Translation: We know it sucks and we're working on getting UHD and HDNet.

The whol thing is a classic example of zero quality control. No one noticed it wasn't real HD. Probably no one looked at the disc after reports came in. In the end it's going to be the supplier's fault. At least they didn't pull a total Universal and not say anything about it.

So what we need here is the DVD, the HD broadcast and the Blu-ray for a complete comparison. I think it may be better if I post the PIX here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=811102). Only fair ;)

Any suggestion for a good scene to grab? timestamps?

Go for it Xylon!
I am pissed! About to mail my BD back to amazon UK!
left a response on amazon UK with this thread as proof for those who needed to see it.

I just received a rental copy of this today. As someone who's authored and encoded DVDs, it is my opinion that the source looks like a processed standard-def studio tape (and not a very appealing one, either): that is, marginally better than DVD, but way below 1080p standard. The film grain structure (or what's left of it) is thick and clumpy, it looks undoubtedly SD.

If Optimum are reading this, I urge them to look into it. Did the master tape come from France? Could there possibly have been a language barrier issue? For example, if Optimum requested an HDCAM SR tape of "Escape from New York", the facility could have made them one, using a Digital Betacam tape as a source. Optimum receive the HDCAM SR tape and make a disc out of it, completely unaware of the original source material.

Screen captures on Whiggles:

http://whiggles.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2008/08/jesus_christ_what_a_horrible_t.html

The 1st commentor is a moron, the Universal HD DVDs looks awesome compared to this. It's the worst transfer I've ever seen, including Gangs of NY.

Hey, I'm that first commentor. :p

So the WORST Universal releases like Traffic (also SD upconvert), Spartacus, Tremors, Cat People, 40 Year Old Virgin, Waterworld, etc. look so much better compared to this? C'mon. It's an upconverted abomination on a disc but at least it isn't a DNR tranwreck. :D

Well yeah Traffic is obvious as it was shot at DVD res(good thing I didn't like that move lol). Didn't see Spartacus or Cat People in HD. Tremors, Waterworld and even 40yr old Virgin look alot better than Escape From New York. Those are not upconverted half arsses as some may have been(Tremors looks great considering it's low budget source), EFNY is purely upconverted, and looks worse than the R1 SE DVD in places thanks to the massive edge halos, which were amot more minimal on DVD.

Well yeah Traffic is obvious as it was shot at DVD res(good thing I didn't like that move lol). Didn't see Spartacus or Cat People in HD. Tremors, Waterworld and even 40yr old Virgin look alot better than Escape From New York. Those are not upconverted half arsses as some may have been(Tremors looks great considering it's low budget source), EFNY is purely upconverted, and looks worse than the R1 SE DVD in places thanks to the massive edge halos, which were amot more minimal on DVD.

Traffic was not shot at DVD res. It was shot on film and the comparison thread clearly shows how much better the true HD version looked when it was done overseas.

Traffic(VC-1) 24.2 GB

DVD......................................................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ................HD broadcast 720p........................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ .........................................................HD DVD

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u98/adzez/DVD/5686f35a.pnghttp://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u98/adzez/d96e91e3.pnghttp://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u98/adzez/HD%20DVD/31386424.png
[/QUOTE]
and the new HDdvd transfer...
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/7727/trafficfrenchhddvd041mpas9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

and TREMORS looks horrific with some of the worst DNR and EE I've yet seen.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u98/adzez/Tremors/85da7a52.png

How dare you come up with visual evidence. Bad Dave, bad. :D

So how long is it before we see a US release of EFNY?

Bad as that Tremors shot is, it still looks better than EFNY.

Kram, since the abomination that is the UK release came out during an ongoing bad luck streak of mine(I seriously feel a bit responsible), I fear it will be a long time before we see a domestic release. And really, the longer it takes the less chance there is of it looking this bad.

I'm not actually saying tremors looks WORSE than EFNY, just that for an actual true HD transfer it looks godawful.

:)

if you guys want to see the worst DNR/EE title, check out Liar Liar on HD-DVD....xylon, any screencaps of this one? :)

Hey, I'm that first commentor. :p

So the WORST Universal releases like Traffic (also SD upconvert), Spartacus, Tremors, Cat People, 40 Year Old Virgin, Waterworld, etc. look so much better compared to this? C'mon. It's an upconverted abomination on a disc but at least it isn't a DNR tranwreck. :D
Yes it is, it's an upconverted abomination AND a DNR disaster :D

if you guys want to see the worst DNR/EE title, check out Liar Liar on HD-DVD....xylon, any screencaps of this one? :)

I personally didn't find DNR offensive on this title. It did have really bad EE though, which made people look like they were cut-out figures. Looking beyond that (which is hard to do), I thought it looked otherwise good. Much better than the awful Traffic, Tremors, Gangs of New York, or these Escape From New York screencaps.

Spartacus and Waterworld didn't look good, but I don't recall those looking very DNR'ed at all. I remember a tad of EE on Waterworld, but my only gripe was lack of detail. They didn't look like they were from SD masters, but in the end they looked like they had barely more detail than SD. They looked like they were consumed by either grain or video noise.

Here's Rathbone's post that got lost in the meltdown (copied from someone who copied it to another forum...).

Optimum has answered to a member of the German DVD forum Cinefacts. Torsten Kaiser is an DVD industry insider and works for TLE Films, who did the restoration work of the German editions of Fistful of Dollars and For a few Dollars more.

http://forum.cinefacts.de/5622214-post72.html

I'll try to translate:

Kaiser analyzed the Blu-ray on professional equipment and found out that the transfer has the typical issues of a standard definition upconversion: pixelation, jagged edges, EE, softness caused by low rez etc.

Answer from Optimum: They did not check the master they got from Studio Canal on a HDCAM. They were surprised and disappointed of the reactions and will look into it. They also stress that Optimum always tries to deliver best quality. Yeah, we can see it. :p

Then Optimum's later response posted by DaveF in the comments section of the the DVD Times review (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/68349/escape-from-new-york.html).

We at Optimum always try to provide our customers with the best possible quality video from the best source available to us. All our titles meet the required line count to qualify as ‘High Definition’, i.e. 1080p or 1080i. Contrary to reports on some fan forums, we have been assured by our supplier that the original source for the Blu-ray of Escape from New York is HD. We have not released and we will not release films on Blu-ray from masters we know to be up-scaled from SD PAL. The quality of HD masters of older films can vary and we are sorry if you are unhappy with the quality of picture on Escape From New York Blu-ray. Should a better master become available for this or any other Optimum title then we will endeavour to publish it as soon as feasible.

Lots of split discussion about this with links from here on there and vice versa. :p

Ironic that StudioCanal provided this terrible transfer when they released "Traffic" from a proper master. What I want to know is how the statement about StudioCanal sending Optimum the master on a HDCAM to encode could be true. SC has their own BD release scheduled for Oct 2 in France, and I can't see them making a different encode. Especially considering the Optimum BD of T2 used the same VC-1 as StudioCanal and Momentum's HD DVDs. So StudioCanal sends their tapes to the UK to be encoded by their subsidiary and sent back to France in finished form? What, why?

Someone posted some comparison PIX ;) (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14474813#post14474813)

This sites got some mouserollovers of Escape From New York....The Blu Ray looks edge enhanced and doesn't seem to have any more detail than the DVD although the colors and contrast look different ( artifical on the Blu Ray )

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?full=1&image=9&vergleich=escape_from_new_york&action=1#vergleich

This sites got some mouserollovers of Escape From New York....The Blu Ray looks edge enhanced and doesn't seem to have any more detail than the DVD although the colors and contrast look different ( artifical on the Blu Ray )

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?full=1&image=9&vergleich=escape_from_new_york&action=1#vergleich

The DVD actually looks better! This is very bad indeed!

What I want to know is how the statement about StudioCanal sending Optimum the master on a HDCAM to encode could be true. SC has their own BD release scheduled for Oct 2 in France, and I can't see them making a different encode. Especially considering the Optimum BD of T2 used the same VC-1 as StudioCanal and Momentum's HD DVDs. So StudioCanal sends their tapes to the UK to be encoded by their subsidiary and sent back to France in finished form? What, why?

Replying to myself since no one else has. :p

Now that I actually have the disc in hand along with the others that aren't locked out of Region A, it appears that it could very well be the case that Optimum made their own encode of this (and here's hoping).

Certainly the disc authoring will have to be different for the French release, if nothing else. The other discs all boot up to a country selection menu that lead to disc menus customized for each language. One-disc-fits-all, for multiple countries and studios. On EFNY, there is no country selection, no non-English language track, no non-English menus, no subtitles whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the encode is actually AVC, while all the previous StudioCanal encodes are VC-1. And at the odd exact 24 fps framerate instead of 23.976.

Stargate is also AVC 1080p24 (not 23.976) with only English audio and subtitles.

Replying to myself since no one else has. :p

Now that I actually have the disc in hand along with the others that aren't locked out of Region A, it appears that it could very well be the case that Optimum made their own encode of this (and here's hoping).

Certainly the disc authoring will have to be different for the French release, if nothing else. The other discs all boot up to a country selection menu that lead to disc menus customized for each language. One-disc-fits-all, for multiple countries and studios. On EFNY, there is no country selection, no non-English language track, no non-English menus, no subtitles whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the encode is actually AVC, while all the previous StudioCanal encodes are VC-1. And at the odd exact 24 fps framerate instead of 23.976.

Stargate is also AVC 1080p24 (not 23.976) with only English audio and subtitles.

Hold on, I'm confused. You say "Now that I actually have the disc in hand along with the others that aren't locked out of Region A", and then you talk about Stargate. Is Stargate Region B-only or not? I would import it if it was region free.

The DVD actually looks better! This is very bad indeed!

It's definitely a crap transfer, but it still looks better than SD DVD by an appreciable margin IMO.

Definitely not worth the time to import it though -- easily the worst "HD" transfer on Blu-Ray.

Hold on, I'm confused. You say "Now that I actually have the disc in hand along with the others that aren't locked out of Region A", and then you talk about Stargate. Is Stargate Region B-only or not? I would import it if it was region free.

STARGATE is most definitely Region B. I had to set my LG BH200 on Region B for it to play.

It's a definite improvement on the US Blu-Ray -- superior transfer and sound, and more extras outside of the lack of commentary.

STARGATE is most definitely Region B. I had to set my LG BH200 on Region B for it to play.

It's a definite improvement on the US Blu-Ray -- superior transfer and sound, and more extras outside of the lack of commentary.

Thanks, what cut of the movie is it? Or what is the runtime?

Hold on, I'm confused. You say "Now that I actually have the disc in hand along with the others that aren't locked out of Region A", and then you talk about Stargate. Is Stargate Region B-only or not? I would import it if it was region free.

Sorry for the confusion, I don't have Stargate. I just read the specs posted by a member at cinefacts.de. It's Region B only and someone said it was DNR'd anyway.

It's only the Director's Cut still. The TC was supposed to be included originally but they scrapped it along with other features.

The DVD actually looks better! This is very bad indeed!

Even if you could say that is maybe 5-10 % better than the DVD, that's still pretty damn sad. Especially because the HD version on Universal and HDnet looks way better

Thanks, what cut of the movie is it? Or what is the runtime?

It's still the extended version (same as the US BD).

Even if you could say that is maybe 5-10 % better than the DVD, that's still pretty damn sad. Especially because the HD version on Universal and HDnet looks way better

I'd say it's probably a good deal better than 5-10% over the last MGM standard-def DVD. Even if it was taken from an "SD Master" the image is appreciably better than watching regular DVD. The problem is that it's still pretty bad as far as high definition goes, and it's not anywhere near as good as the HDNet broadcast. Easily the worst BD on the market I've seen...but to say the VHS or the last DVD were superior is completely inaccurate also.

Except that the Blu-ray has heavy black crushing not present on the DVD and a strange tint to the colors. (see Xylon's shots)

Except that the Blu-ray has heavy black crushing not present on the DVD and a strange tint to the colors. (see Xylon's shots)

The blu-ray looks like they have taken the DVD, turned up the contrast and sharpness and randomly played with the colour. Whoever passed this as HD should be shot!

I'd say it's probably a good deal better than 5-10% over the last MGM standard-def DVD. Even if it was taken from an "SD Master" the image is appreciably better than watching regular DVD. The problem is that it's still pretty bad as far as high definition goes, and it's not anywhere near as good as the HDNet broadcast. Easily the worst BD on the market I've seen...but to say the VHS or the last DVD were superior is completely inaccurate also.
Gangs of New York.

Gangs of New York.

GANGS OF NEW YORK is better than ESCAPE FROM NY...yeah it's that bad! lol.

Thanks, what cut of the movie is it? Or what is the runtime?

Can I rip it with my pioneer BDROM, and re burn it? or save as data discs?

or may be some one can rip it REMUX 20+GB 1080P files?

GANGS OF NEW YORK is better than ESCAPE FROM NY...yeah it's that bad! lol.

daaaaaaaaamn

Escape From New York is better than Gangs because at least you can say it's just SD upconverted. The actual HD transfer undoubtably blows it away. GONY is actually 1080p.:eek:

The UK BD is EXACTLY the same as the UK HD DVD. The comments on Amazon.co.uk are by liars and idiots. The 'upscale' remarks are laughable.

Well I ordered T2 blu-ray from blahdvd since they gave me a £2 credit. I should receive it sometime next week. Stuff from UK usually has arrived within 5 to 7 days and AU in 10 days.

STARGATE is most definitely Region B

Could you check to see what video codec it uses - MPEG-2/VC-1 etc?

I received the UK Total Recall disc yesterday. WOW!
I was not expecting it to look so vibrant and colorful. Straight from the first scene on the Mars surface, this looks gorgeous. I've never seen the blood look so... well... red.

I received the UK Total Recall disc yesterday. WOW!
I was not expecting it to look so vibrant and colorful. Straight from the first scene on the Mars surface, this looks gorgeous. I've never seen the blood look so... well... red.

Thats good to hear but i just wish the framing was correct and that's what has put me off it.

Thats good to hear but i just wish the framing was correct and that's what has put me off it.

It's not missing enough for it to even matter IMO.

I'll be honest, I noticed how bad the framing was on the HD DVD, the credits at the start were clearly off to the side. The blu-ray didn't offend me as much, so maybe they corrected it, but by doing so threw the framing off in another way. Ack, I'm happy with it and that's saying something given these Optimum jobs.

They just reused the same VC-1 encode (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14470394#post14470394), so the framing is the same as the HD DVD. From what I saw in a quick comparison, the actors' credit text seemed MORE centered on the UK release.

Well I ordered T2 blu-ray from blahdvd since they gave me a £2 credit. I should receive it sometime next week. Stuff from UK usually has arrived within 5 to 7 days and AU in 10 days.

How is there a voucher?

How is there a voucher?

I don't know why. I order Leaving Las Vegas from them but they ended being out of stock at the moment and ezydvd au had it for half the price. Several months ago they emailed me a coupon which expired so I contacted blahdvd customer service and they refunded me 2 pounds. So my my price for the UK T2 ended up being $21.66. Needless to say the next time they have a region free or region A/B blu-ray that is better then the region A I will order from them.

What do you guys think of this sites review....

http://www.dvdtherapy.com/review_info.php?id=1810

From the review....

"The question I was asking myself was how good can this film look. The film is nearly thirty years old, the original budget was fairly meager, and as a result, on DVD it never looked like anything other than a low budget movie. When I say there are moments when Escape From New York on Blu-ray looks like a brand new release, I’m pretty sure you will be as surprised as I was.

Blacks are deep and strong while detail is very good throughout. On the whole contrast is good even though a couple of scenes become a little muddled with dark clothing in particular loosing definition. Although a handful of scenes feature over saturated reds and oranges, the overall quality of the transfer is way beyond anything I could have hoped for. Very impressive".


You have to wonder if some of these people actually watch the film they are reviewing.

I frequent the forums run by DVDTherapy, the owner who does the reviews is a nice guy, but... That review made me do a complete 180 on taking anything he says seriously ever again. Check out the Evil Dead II review as well... Vague.

I frequent the forums run by DVDTherapy, the owner who does the reviews is a nice guy, but... That review made me do a complete 180 on taking anything he says seriously ever again. Check out the Evil Dead II review as well... Vague.

Yah i actually like the site but the review is terrible.

Sucks about EFNY, I would have bought this in a heartbeat. Hopefully a domestic release is done right.

Did anyone buy Stargate ? is it better than the Lionsgate ?

Did anyone buy Stargate ? is it better than the Lionsgate ?It's only playable in Region B.

I am in region B as are alot of people on here :)

It's only playable in Region B.

and we were wondering if could be ripped to region free and watched possibly?

If you have a Blu-ray drive in your PC you can play it back without ripping, just use PowerDVD and change the region to B temporarily.

If you have a Blu-ray drive in your PC you can play it back without ripping, just use PowerDVD and change the region to B temporarily.

Yes! But how can I watch on my big set.

Hey has anyone done an A/B screen shot compare on the US vs UK total recall? I've been looking everywhere on the web and can't find a thing...

Hey has anyone done an A/B screen shot compare on the US vs UK total recall? I've been looking everywhere on the web and can't find a thing...

All that i can find is this comparing the DVD to the HD DVD edition.

http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?vergleich=total_recall

Hi guys!

I was not sure where to put these, and did not want to start a new thread, so here you go - some screenshots from the French EfNY BRD:

http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/thumbs/020271.png (http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/020271.png)

http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/thumbs/062895.png (http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/062895.png)

http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/thumbs/095986.png (http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/095986.png)

http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/thumbs/131662.png (http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/escapefromnewyork/images/131662.png)

(They match Xylon's screenshots here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14474813#post14474813).)

Seems to be the same upscaled-from-SD* transfer the UK BRD "boasted"... :(

Cheers!
Peto

* ...what is it that it is - this opinion of mine. Well, this is what it is - my opinion that I have, that is to say, which is mine, is mine! ;)

Dear God! That's horrible.

Dear God! That's horrible.

Amen. I must admit to finding it rather unethical to pass off upscaled SD as HD. Its ripping you off!

EFNY is one of my favourite movies. I own the Special Edition DVD from MGM and have been quite satisfied with the way it looks. I am really looking forward to a high def presentation of this film. My question is do you think MGM will strike a new master for the Blu-ray, or will they use the same elements that were used on the SD-DVD?

The version playing on Universal HD isn't bad and is certainly much better than that upscaled junk. EFLA is a different story, it looked OK but that CGI looks like it had been rendered with a N64.

It actually put me right off the company releasing this movie and i have bought nothing from them and will not until i know for sure that the transfer isn't just upscaled trash as this is not the last movie to receive this upscaled treatment from them. ( obviously i also have to like a movie to buy it too )

For me i think they tried to hoodwink the public and its unscrupulous to say the least but it's also damaged their reputation a lot and dare i say it this type of thing can damage Blu Rays reputation if it isn't stubbed out quickly and a quality control brought in.

The version playing on Universal HD isn't bad and is certainly much better than that upscaled junk. .

agreed, MUCH much better.

Escape from NY is on HDnet now and tomorrow... :)