Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack ;)

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary

I'll have to pick this up if I can ever find it. Funny how some were complaining about the quality. To each their own I guess.

Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack ;)

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary

Thanks for the head's up Gary, I will be checking out this title ASAP!

Yeah I thought it looked pretty good but did have some dirt on the film here and there. In another thread I was complaining about a review that gave it 4/10 for video http://www.dvdtown.com/review/armyofdarknesshd-dvddvdcombo/19807/4018/

Gary

Just a couple of scenes which are problematic early on but those daytime scenes are sharp with very well saturated color. The night scenes are well defined and clear. I have no problem for the most part with the film grain. With an older film stock it still looks far better than any sd version I've seen.

The daytime scenes in particular are simply amazing. They couldn't look any sharper or detailed if they tried. The night scenes still exhibit wonderful depth and detail albeit with more grain. This was a blind buy for me and I was very pleased with the overall transfer.

This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.

Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack ;)

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary

If you say so...

My expectations for HD DVD are much higher than what it was for SD DVD or VHS for that matter. I am a fan of Army of Darkness and I was pretty damn upset by the transfer considering this combo disc retails at most places for around 30 bucks. I'm not on crack or any other drug for that matter but this transfer is lacking in many departments and deserved a full restoration before making it to a high definition format. Interior scenes are covered with heavy grain and there is an abundant amount of dirt present all over the place. Some people find this acceptable and some of us don't. I guess thats why some people are still happy with their VHS tapes.

I havent watch my copy yet but since the SD DVD is pretty dire I'm expecting a reasonable upgrade.

Yeah I thought it looked pretty good but did have some dirt on the film here and there. In another thread I was complaining about a review that gave it 4/10 for video http://www.dvdtown.com/review/armyofdarknesshd-dvddvdcombo/19807/4018/

Catalog film should be reviewed VS their older nearest release and not VS Batman Begins or Other.. That how i do my review...

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack ;)


-Gary


Actually, it looks a lot better after smokin' crack. :D

Looking for opinions? Here's five existing review threads from this forum...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735847

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735074

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735436

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=734995

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=733245

I'm holding out for the director's cut, or another Boomstick edition, which has both cuts.

HD-DVD Digests' review quote:
"weakest HD DVD release I've seen yet from Universal"
Really goes to show that one must evaluate a disc on his or her own.

it very well could be the weakest universal title and still be a great transfer for aod. AOD's dvd releases stateside have been god aweful, i own the hd-dvd and it straight kills the dvd release i own.

HD-DVD Digests' review quote:
"weakest HD DVD release I've seen yet from Universal"


Yes, but please remember -- that's exactly the way the director wanted it.

This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.
Are you sure they weren't refering to Charlie, Alot of people seem to be confusing the two.

I just finished watching it...and aside from the Evil Dead 2 footage...this is simply beautiful! I was upset by the lack of features...but am more than pleased with how it looks.

They biggrst issue people seem to have is with print defects and grain, and those two are bound to be applenty, consider yourself warned. On the Otherhand if your looking for the best transfer and most detail you can get out of Army of Darkness then this disc is for you. There really should be a difference between Transfer quality and Print quality on these reviews. Specs and stuff are expected, but what alot of us care about how how the detail looks, and the 3d pops you keep hearing about, and this I am pretty sure this disc has in spades. I would suspect any self respecting Army of Darkness fans would be ashamed not to pick this up.

I watched it again tonight and imo for 98% of the movie it is crystal clear with a lot of 3D effect. There is some film grain but I bet that was there in the source and of course the already mentioned dirt. BTW Robert Harris over at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/forumdisplay.php?f=71 highly recommend this transfer so it can't be all that bad.

Great to hear that the transfer is good. I was expecting it to be terrible similar to the DVDs. Btw, does anyone know what the AR is? If I recall the original DVD had a funky AR that wasn't quite 16x9 but not 4x3 either. Are there pillarbars?

Are you sure they weren't refering to Charlie, Alot of people seem to be confusing the two.
There are a couple of "professional" reviews that for the most part say good things about Willy Wonka's video quality. DVD Town gave it an 8 for video, and HighDefDigest liked the video as well. While the softness was mentioned, no one mentioned the grossly obvious aliasing occurring all over the screen. I don't understand how anyone could miss it or not mention it.

This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.


I agree mate, if i just read this forum i wouldnt have bought enter the dragon as it doesnt get many good reviews on here. But im glad i did buy it as compaired to the other releases of this movie it looks outstanding. I think each disc shouldnt be reviewd against the best hddvds it should be reviewd against the best release of the movie. This way you get to know if it is a big step up from the sd release of the movie which is all i want to know when i buy a hddvd, i dont expect all movies to be poto or riddicks of this world.

no one mentioned the grossly obvious aliasing occurring all over the screen. I don't understand how anyone could miss it or not mention it.

Sorry to carry on offtopic, but have you considered what you are seeing is possibly related to your display setup?

nothing wrong with film specs and grain, I have never been one bothered by that, anyone ever been to a theater? movies don't look like crappy shined TV shows :rolleyes:

I am amazed at AOD, it is one of the best yet

whoever says this is one of the worst Universals, needs either some new eyes or a new display, I'm sorry but that is the way it is, I have never seen a particular movie reviewed so "off-base" like this AOD disc, I just don't get it

my advice like I have always said, DO NOT listen to reviews for media or film critics, they are a waste of time unless they have your exact setup(in the case of media reviews)

I sometimes wonder what kind of drugs all these reviewers are on, I could go on forever but I will leave it at that

-Gary

I watched it again tonight and imo for 98% of the movie it is crystal clear with a lot of 3D effect. There is some film grain but I bet that was there in the source and of course the already mentioned dirt. BTW Robert Harris over at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/forumdisplay.php?f=71 highly recommend this transfer so it can't be all that bad.

Was there just a single release yet Mr. Robert Harris did not rave about and recommend ever so highly??? :rolleyes:

Damn, I don't know what to do now. Is the HD side of this the extended version like the region 3 release or is it the theatrical release?

Robert Harris is one of the top guys in the game, he knows how films should look, he says it's good then well it's good

very very few men I trust for pro reviews and he is one for sure

I suggest a google search on Harris if one is not fimiliar with him ;)

-Gary

nothing wrong with film specs and grain, I have never been one bothered by that, anyone ever been to a theater? movies don't look like crappy shined TV shows :rolleyes:


-Gary

Gary, there in lies part of the problem. Some prints that make it to the local cinema are downright terrible. Often, they are a far cry from the 'shiny' original they came from. Then there's those theaters who use lamps way past spec resulting in a lifeless dull/dim image. I have no objection to any studio going the distance to make as pristine a transfer as possible.

of course neither do I, but a few film specs do not bother me, in fact I kinda like them

Film grain is normal and if HD-DVD or BR wants to start getting rid of that, then I will be gone quick

AOD (like already mentioned) has many spots on it's film due to optical effects and lots of them, 12 million is not a high budget but it is not really really low

AOD is perfection to me and I love it

does anyone think that Universal is going to send AOD to Lowry or etc. to make it look like perfection and remove the spots and specs due to large amount of optical effects(much like opening credits in movies 10 years and older)?
nope!!

these shined movies like Swordfish are what look like crap to me, not one spot of film grain in that entire movie

film is film and all these pro-reviewers need to get over that, if they don't like it, then go watch some HDNet, or hdcam sitcoms :rolleyes:

-Gary

Actually, it looks a lot better after smokin' crack. :D

somehow most of the comedy was lost on me with this new HD release after someking crack. I was oddly paranoid...

[QUOTE=Gary Murrell ...I sometimes wonder what kind of drugs all these reviewers are on....[/QUOTE]

Gary, why is crack the drug of choice for film reviewers? ;)

I watched AOD this morn and I don't see any major problems with the pic. I didn't see all the EE that's been claimed. I saw a couple of high-contrast outdoor shots with edge halos caused by the original photography. I saw, I think, some very mild EE on a few shots.

I saw a disc that revealed the weakness of some shots in the film but das goode! I just love a format that allows that! The warts and moles of films don't bother me....too much.

Gary, why is crack the drug of choice for film reviewers? ;)



Accessibility, mainly. We reviewers are a lazy bunch of louts. ;)

...Film grain is normal and if HD-DVD or BR wants to start getting rid of that, then I will be gone quick

Mild film grain is acceptable, however, some of the interior shots look like they were sand blasted! The print they used just sucks.

film is film and all these pro-reviewers need to get over that, if they don't like it, then go watch some HDNet, or hdcam sitcoms :rolleyes:

-Gary

Cheers! I was kinda shocked at how badly this movie was reviewed. I did watch it based on your recommendation and it great. Never saw the flick before, so I can't say how much its improved and such, but it is good to me.

This is similar to what happened with Sleepy Hollow. I think that movie deserved better than how it was treated here. That grain was part of the movie itself, not something to be critiqued.

I watched it again tonight and imo for 98% of the movie it is crystal clear with a lot of 3D effect. There is some film grain but I bet that was there in the source and of course the already mentioned dirt. BTW Robert Harris over at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/forumdisplay.php?f=71 highly recommend this transfer so it can't be all that bad.

Well Robert, I tried your link because I was quite interested in what Robert Harris (whose opinion I greatly admire) had to say about the transfer of this film. However even after a search I was unable to locate his comments about "Army of Darkness." Can you supply another link? Does it really exist?

Well Robert, I tried your link because I was quite interested in what Robert Harris (whose opinion I greatly admire) had to say about the transfer of this film. However even after a search I was unable to locate his comments about "Army of Darkness." Can you supply another link? Does it really exist?

You're right, I guess I had my movies crossed and was actually thinking of Fast Times at Ridgemont High
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=243985

Since Mr. Harris comments on most HD DVD titles I will keep a lookout for his thoughts on AOD. :)

I watched this film tonight. I agree the first 5 minutes or so do show dirt/scratches on the print. After that it looks very good. Not excellent but much better than the SD prints I own. I am not disappointed in this press.

Watched this last night and I thought it was pretty good.

I may have come across a problem with the audio on the disc though. I have my player hooked up via Digital Coax for sound and the player set to bitstream. This gives me the DTS recodeing on Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks. On this AoD release I was getting no sound at all. I went into the players setup menu and switched it to PCM, played the movie again and got sound but it was in 2.0 with Dolby ProLogic II on top of it giving me a 5.1 output. All of the other HD-DVDs have worked perfectly fine for me with the player set to bitstream. I am wondering if I maybe got a bad disc?

Well I finally got around to watch this title. Overall I was happy with the the PQ on the movie. The first few minutes had me concerned since it was kind of scratchy and dirty. Heck at first I thought I was going to have to wipe off my screen since the dirt was pretty heavy on the left side at first and I thought my kids might have been touching the screen at first.

The AQ was pretty good too. I had the volume cranked since no one was home but me and it was nice having the bass that loud again. :D

Overall I think if your a fan of the series this title is a must have. I have the gold edition with the original ending worked into the movie and I think I prefer the SMart ending better. I still want to play Duke Nukem after I watch this movie.

"Give me some sugar baby.."

Well I finally got around to watch this title. Overall I was happy with the the PQ on the movie. The first few minutes had me concerned since it was kind of scratchy and dirty. Heck at first I thought I was going to have to wipe off my screen since the dirt was pretty heavy on the left side at first and I thought my kids might have been touching the screen at first.

The AQ was pretty good too. I had the volume cranked since no one was home but me and it was nice having the bass that loud again. :D

Overall I think if your a fan of the series this title is a must have. I have the gold edition with the original ending worked into the movie and I think I prefer the SMart ending better. I still want to play Duke Nukem after I watch this movie.

"Give me some sugar baby.."
Damn. You had to bump this old thread and get me all excited to watch this disk again. Like I really have 2 hrs to spare when I have so many unwatched HD-DVDs to get to. :rolleyes: :p

Damn. You had to bump this old thread and get me all excited to watch this disk again. Like I really have 2 hrs to spare when I have so many unwatched HD-DVDs to get to. :rolleyes: :p
LOL, which is why I bumped this thread since I had a stack of HD DVD's to watch and so I threw that one in. Having two kids and a wife sure does cut into movie watching at times. Both kids are young, so its mostly Disney flicks around here. With my wife we try to find movies that we both want to watch and AOD is not one she will.

With a runtime of 81 minutes you have 40 minutes to spare of that two hour you mentioned. :D

LOL, which is why I bumped this thread since I had a stack of HD DVD's to watch and so I threw that one in. Having two kids and a wife sure does cut into movie watching at times. Both kids are young, so its mostly Disney flicks around here. With my wife we try to find movies that we both want to watch and AOD is not one she will.

With a runtime of 81 minutes you have 40 minutes to spare of that two hour you mentioned. :D
Ya but each time I watch it I have to replay all the great one liners at least once, so it ends up taking me closer to 2 hours to watch the movie. Too much fun! :D

I rented it being cautious about the transfer but bought it promptly afterwards. Yes there is grain on dark scenes and some dirt in the print but there are startling 3d shots as well. I had never seen the movie before and loved it which helped on the purchase decision. I'm very happy with the movie and quality of the HD-DVD as well.

U.S. Universal HD DVD / DVD Combo:
- Best HD presentation of the film.
- Best DVD presentation of the 81 Minute Theatrical Cut.
- Most accurate coloration to original intentions.

Hong Kong MGM / Deltamac (R3/NTSC) DVD:
- Best video presentation of the 95 Minute Director's Cut.
- Most complete presentation yet, 96 minutes w/ Evil Ash ripping Sheila's top down in the naked slave girl seen. It basically has all the Theatrical Cut, Director's Cut, and TV Version footage included, barring the "I ain't that good" and "Chinese fighter pilot" lines.
- Best 5.1 remix of the film, Dolby 5.1 that's noticably seperated and mixed better.

Purchase both and forget all the other releases. :cool:

U.S. Universal HD DVD / DVD Combo:
- Best HD presentation of the film.
- Best DVD presentation of the 81 Minute Theatrical Cut.
- Most accurate coloration to original intentions.

Hong Kong MGM / Deltamac (R3/NTSC) DVD:
- Best video presentation of the 95 Minute Director's Cut.
- Most complete presentation yet, 96 minutes w/ Evil Ash ripping Sheila's top down in the naked slave girl seen. It basically has all the Theatrical Cut, Director's Cut, and TV Version footage included, barring the "I ain't that good" and "Chinese fighter pilot" lines.
- Best 5.1 remix of the film, Dolby 5.1 that's noticably seperated and mixed better.

Purchase both and forget all the other releases. :cool:

Agreed. After watching the crappy AB director's cut, the R3 DVD was revelation. Man I love my Oppo 971... Back on topic, I think that the HD DVD version of AOD is very nice. I had never seen this movie look so good.

I havent watch my copy yet but since the SD DVD is pretty dire I'm expecting a reasonable upgrade.

I'm an Army of Darkness fan too. I always liked the picture quality of my widescreen laserdisc version. I bought the dvd version with the extended scenes and audio commentary, but found the picture quality absurdly bad. So, I hung onto the laserdisc!
I was tempted by the HD DVD but was dismayed with all of the professional reviews that I read. Also, the dearth of extras was disheartening...

Anchor Bay THX Theatrical U.S. R1 DVD:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1258/abyd7.jpg

Anchor Bay Director's Cut U.S. R1 DVD:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7826/vlcsnap64337ke8.jpg

MGM/Deltamac Director's Cut Hong Kong R1 DVD:

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/5783/mgmko4.jpg

Universal HD DVD / DVD Combo U.S. R1 DVD:

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4174/uniuf7.jpg