The system can't find a Blu-ray thread about SLITHER (did find some old HD DVD ones) so I'll start one.

I picked this up today in Winnipeg. I was quite happy (and a bit surprised) to finally find it. Ironically, back when I was an HD DVD guy, this movie wasn't released in Canada on HD DVD but was released in the U.S.. I'm a fan of horror/comedies but I never got around to ordering it. I kinda' lucked out now that I'm a Blu-ray guy and the tables have turned...seems to be a Canadian release but not a U.S. release.

It's distributed in Canada by TVA. The disc starts off with an odd collection of trademarks and logos. First, the Sony Pictures logo appears. Then the TVA logo appears...looking like a tenth generation betamax dupe. Finally, the movie starts with the Universal logo.

At that point, I assumed this might be a straight port of the Universal transfer. However, I noticed the encode was AVC. That doesn't seem like any Universal HD DVD that I remember. Transfer rate was in the low 20's Mbps. Audio is Dolby 5.1 TrueHD (I'm using a PS3 so I don't get the full effect). Transfer looked just fine to me. It's not something that you'll pull out for reference but I couldn't see any obvious flaws. A good, solid, average BD transfer.

There's quite a stack of extras listed and I've viewed none of them (I just finished watching the movie and it's just after midnight here). But I see listings for deleted scenes, extended scenes, gag reel, multiple featurettes and a commentarty track. Most of the recent Canadian exclusives have been uber bare bones. This one seems to be loaded. Worth an import if you're a fan.

Nice, I'll have to look for this one at Future Shop or HMV.

Unfortunately, its not listed at FutureShop's site.

Cool, glad to hear this. I managed to get someone to import both this and Fido for me, and I'll be watching them soon. Thanks for the post.

the HD-DVD looked great, so hopefully the used the same encode

Just received my Dutch copy (1080p) and was able to compare it to the Canadian version.

*Disclaimer - I'm not a screengrab pro by any means. TMT3 is a b/tch for direct frame grabs. It's tricky getting good shots from the interlaced disc.

It appears the Dutch version has DNR applied which I didn't find offensive when viewing - unless there was a re-shoot for pic#1 after she used Proactive . Not sure if I'll keep both discs. If you're in the US and love the movie go ahead and grab either copy. Get some popcorn and enjoy. ;)

Live viewing was done on htpc (TMT3) Panasonic PT-AE4000u projector & Carada BW screen

Screenshots:


Canadian
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3940/47408713.png (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/47408713.png/)


Dutch
http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/6743/30624541.png (http://img594.imageshack.us/i/30624541.png/)

Canadian
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2599/45096416.png (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/45096416.png/)


Dutch
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/6296/62326727.png (http://img408.imageshack.us/i/62326727.png/)


Canadian
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5157/80018937.png (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/80018937.png/)


Dutch
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/7399/47789365.png (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/47789365.png/)


Canadian
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6678/25109171.png (http://img404.imageshack.us/i/25109171.png/)


Dutch
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3176/52566504.png (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/52566504.png/)


Canadian
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3452/88510363.png (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/88510363.png/)


Dutch
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8328/97769536.png (http://img525.imageshack.us/i/97769536.png/)

Canadian
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/8035/83952917.png (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/83952917.png/)

Dutch
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/8554/53310317.png (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/53310317.png/)

That Dutch edition looks dreadful in comparison, going off the facial comparisons. I wonder if it truly is sourced from a high-definition master? The Canadian BD is in 1080i, but does not appear to have been processed to remove grain and detail.

Are you sure you didn't get them mixed up? The Canadian disc I have is overflowing with DNR.

Just double checked. This is one I just grabbed from the Canadian disc with Dolby TrueHD. I'm 100% sure it's the interlaced disc because I get random scan lines when pausing making it tricky to get a good shot.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/318/slithercan1.png (http://img40.imageshack.us/i/slithercan1.png/)

yeah it's 1080i, but I really wouldn't that be a problem.

Thanks for checking.

TMT appears to be skipping the AVC in-loop deblocking. I get the same results as you, which matches the output of ffdshow with deblocking disabled (breaking spec).

With deblocking enabled the output matches my initial impressions of "heavy DNR" (worse than the Dutch shots) which I believe were prompted by viewing on my PS3. Unfortunately I can't check now since it is suffering YLOD.

PowerDVD's decoder seems to produce the heavily deblocked/blurred output as well.

At this point I'd say TVA's encoder used an overly zealous deblocking setting, unless someone can say with certainty that a STB produces the unblurred output...

I would love to upgrade my so-so HD DVD of this film. This movie is one of a very few that are the reason I'm still holding onto my XA2, even though it hasn't been so much as turned on in a couple years. But, I've given up on over-priced Alliance imports. I've bought several and, for the money, I feel it's better to wait for a proper release from the studio that actually owns or has some control over the property, rather than using a broadcast master, no extras, and giving the kind of attention to the encoding process that assumes everybody will be watching on 50 inch or smaller TVs.

Even the studios packaging is consistently inaccurate - it's as if they approach the home video market with the same level of care typical of most bootleg operations. Seriously, I've unwittingly bought bootleg dvds off ebay before that were more accurately labeled than any of the five Alliance releases I've invested in.

Sorry for the rant. I'm sure the Alliance BD, even with an innately unfaithful 1080i presentation (almost every 35mm film mastered since the late 90's has been mastered at 1080p/24) looks better than a standard 480i DVD presentation is capable of and is probably less compressed than broadcast 1080i. It may also be more affordable for people who actually live in Canada. But, I don't find the effort that goes into Alliance BD releases compelling enough to pay the import premium. I'm sure when Univeral gets around to a domestic BD, it'll be easy to find for $15 or less and be worth the wait. I'm surprised they haven't already. Hopefully they're not basing interest on sales of the HD DVD.

This isn't an Alliance disc.

It's released in Canada by TVA Films as mentioned in my original post (from 2008...this is an old thread).

Whoops. Forgot about that even though I saw the TVA logo like 4 times while testing before posting. :)

TVA sure haven't released many BDs.

This isn't an Alliance disc.

It's released in Canada by TVA Films as mentioned in my original post (from 2008...this is an old thread).

Thanks for the correction. I saw Alliance in the previous post and couldn't stop myself. Guess I'm still venting from the last couple Alliance BDs I imported, mistakingly giving the company the benefit of the doubt because they bothered to correct Outlander. Sorry.

If it's 1080i, I'd still recommend anyone who isn't a die hard fan, avoid paying the import premium when a higher fidelity domestic release is inevitable. But, bear in mind, that advice comes from someone who's been hanging onto a seldom used $500 doorstop for several years, just for this and a few other favorites that don't deliver their full HD potential either. In fact, in addition to lossy audio, I think Slither is encoded on an HD15, which might explain why blacks are crushed so.

Hey Chad, nice HT! Looks like an awesome spot to enjoy movies .


Maybe Universal will release it this fall. :cool:

I'd still recommend anyone who isn't a die hard fan, avoid paying the import premium when a higher fidelity domestic release is inevitable.

I always tell people that they are welcome to wait...it's our right as consumers.

But the idea of "inevitable" is rather nebulous.

I've got a lot of Universal HD DVD releases from 2007 that are still MIA on Blu-ray. I've got titles like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, DARKMAN, DANTE'S PEAK, CAT PEOPLE, TREMORS and maybe a half dozen more. I don't know how high up SLITHER is on the Universal priority list.

Will these inevitably be released in the U.S. on Blu-ray? Well, I guess most of them will be...eventually. It's only been a 3 year wait so far. Maybe they'll show up in another couple of years.

Personally, I'm 52 years old and I've had cancer once. "Inevitable" has a different meaning in my case. I'll wait a couple of months so that I can buy something on sale and save $5.00 or $10.00. On the other hand, I'm not prone to waiting more than 3 or 4 years for inevitable releases. As mentioned, this thread is from 2008 so it's not like it just came out in Canada and the U.S. release is just around the corner*


*Of course, in the world of BD, Universal could announce this title tomorrow...or in 2015.

Good points. I'm still hoping that Paramount will release Stardust on the format and a few others that they've even promoted as coming soon for two years.

Catalog BDs with smaller followings that Braveheart have taken a serious hit on studio priority lists, ever since the format war ended. No doubt some need to be remastered, even ones hastily released on HD DVD previously. But Slither shouldn't be one that needs much work.

Here's a thought...which version of SLITHER will a U.S. domestic release look like?

Based on those screencaps, I'd rather take a the 1080i Canadian version than a "Pattonized" 1080p clone of the Dutch release.

If we learned anything from the APOLLO 13 Blu-ray, it's that a Universal BD may not be an improvement on the HD DVD.

Good points. I'm still hoping that Paramount will release Stardust on the format and a few others that they've even promoted as coming soon for two years.
.

Paramount released Stardust region free in the UK, I have it.
You should get it.

Here's a thought...which version of SLITHER will a U.S. domestic release look like?

Based on those screencaps, I'd rather take a the 1080i Canadian version than a "Pattonized" 1080p clone of the Dutch release.

If we learned anything from the APOLLO 13 Blu-ray, it's that a Universal BD may not be an improvement on the HD DVD.


I'm sure it'll be more akin the domestic HD DVD than either. I haven't seen Apollo 13. But Slither is new enough I wouldn't expect Universal to be compelled to do any kind of tinkering. They'll probably just add DTS MA, roughly the same extras and re-encode at a higher bitrate. Any visual difference between the BD and HD DVD will likely be attributed to differences in compression.

Paramount released Stardust region free in the UK, I have it.
You should get it.


Thanks. Next time I put an order together from amazon.uk, I'll check it out. The only thing I don't like about UK releases is that I can never watch the extras and it's sometimes hard to tell if the UK version has been censored.

I got my PS3 fixed a couple weeks back and just remembered to check this again.

The Canadian disc definitely looks like crap on the PS3 and all "proper" decoders. The heavy deblocking filter employed by TVA makes it blurrier than the screencaps of the Dutch disc.

TMT even produces this output when DXVA 2.0 is used on my card. With hardware acceleration disabled, though, it skips the deblocking and looks like the screenshots posted by wizzack. Not sure whether it does this in all cases or just so my modest AMD dual-core CPU can keep up with the decoding.

So ironically, decoding it incorrectly makes it look much better.

So ironically, decoding it incorrectly makes it look much better.
So, that's another feature we need on the players: a variable loop deblocking control as well as DNR control and, dare I say it, a grain/noise insertion control (to return the waxworks to a semblance of their previous state).

I performed an experiment with an extract from the overly-plasticky "The Last Starfighter", and added a small amount of noise to the picture. Whilst it didn't increase the level of detail, it did look better somehow.

Although I would rather the studios not mess with the original grain, for those titles already released from Tussaud's, noise addition might improve the palatability, if it can be provided in the player.