Last night I received my copy of "The Deer Hunter" from Blockbuster Online. I have a question about the audio on this release. In the scene towards the beginning of the movie where they are all at the Wedding Reception there are scenes where I can see the characters talking to each other, yet no dialog is heard. You can only hear the band playing their music. Also I notice when the MC is on stage speaking to the audience, it is difficult to hear him. It really only happens in the Wedding Reception scene. Is this how the movie is intended or am I having an audio problem with my HD-A1? Has anyone else experienced this?

For equipment I am using an HD-A1 into a Denon 2807 via HDMI.

~Josh

Its been a while since I watched this but I don't remember seeing characters talking and not being able to hear them. I thought the audio for this movie wasn't that great. I had to really turn the volume up on my receiver to hear dialog.

Last night I received my copy of "The Deer Hunter" from Blockbuster Online. I have a question about the audio on this release. In the scene towards the beginning of the movie where they are all at the Wedding Reception there are scenes where I can see the characters talking to each other, yet no dialog is heard. You can only hear the band playing their music. Also I notice when the MC is on stage speaking to the audience, it is difficult to hear him. It really only happens in the Wedding Reception scene. Is this how the movie is intended or am I having an audio problem with my HD-A1? Has anyone else experienced this?

For equipment I am using an HD-A1 into a Denon 2807 via HDMI.

~Josh
While I never saw this movie in the theaters have something to directly compare this disk to, I noticed the exact same issue, but just assumed that it was the way the dialog was recorded. Since the first half of the movie was about conveying the community and the lifestyle these men knew before going to war, it kind of made sense for the director to concentrate more on the overall atmosphere these guys lived in, as opposed to a particular conversation one of them happened to be having on that particular night. At least that's the impression I got. So I didn't really think much about it, and like you said it's only the party scene, iirc. GREAT looking movie though! And a great movie too.

I have basically the same setup as you, except I have the equivalent of a 2307. But I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with anything other than that was the way the movie was recorded.

While I never saw this movie in the theaters have something to directly compare this disk to, I noticed the exact same issue, but just assumed that it was the way the dialog was recorded. Since the first half of the movie was about conveying the community and the lifestyle these men knew before going to war, it kind of made sense for the director to concentrate more on the overall atmosphere these guys lived in, as opposed to a particular conversation one of them happened to be having on that particular night. At least that's the impression I got. So I didn't really think much about it, and like you said it's only the party scene, iirc. GREAT looking movie though! And a great movie too.

I have basically the same setup as you, except I have the equivalent of a 2307. But I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with anything other than that was the way the movie was recorded.

I just felt it was a bit akward. During the Wedding Reception scene there is a part where Christopher Walken is dancing with Meryl Streep and they both occupy the entire screen and they are speaking to eachother somewhat animatedly and yet you can hear no dialog, only the band music playing in the background. I really wanted to hear their conversation.

~Josh

I've seen this movie about 10 times (once on HD DVD) and I didn't notice anything unusual with respect to the sound during the wedding scene compared to my previous viewings. I'll listen more carefully next time and see if I notice anything. The only time I remember Linda saying anything noteworthy during the wedding scene was when she was dancing/getting a Rolling Rock with Michael and when Nick asks her a particular question at the end. I suppose it's possible that all home video formats have been missing some dialogue, but I never felt like I was missing anything per se.

I've seen this movie about 10 times (once on HD DVD)

Wow. Having just finished this movie, I can't imagine ever wanting to watch it again in my lifetime.