I will have these tomorrow. Fingers crossed with Dragonheart.
Every broadcast ( one in HD ) and DVD was a soft blurry mess. Im hoping for the best but I feel Im rolling the dice on this one. Its an old movie so the transfer will ether surprise or flunk!

...i have both on pre-order, please let us know about PQ/AQ..... Thanks...

I never owned Dragonheart on DVD, but I remember the VHS seemed to really stand out compared to my other tapes. I remember being really impressed by it, so I had high hopes for the HD-DVD.

Love the movie though, either way it is on my next order list. Keep us updated :).

Where'd you order these from Alan? I would love to get my hands on The Frightners early, love that movie!

Joe

I'm hoping they both have all the extras of the DVDs which were all ported from the signature LD box sets.

I really want to hear the reviews for Dragonheart considering the DTS laserdisc I own has a really great boisterous aggressive audio mix.

I'm hoping they both have all the extras of the DVDs which were all ported from the signature LD box sets.

Ditto. I've been hoping for at least a scan of the back cover of each to confirm, but no one seems to have it yet. :(

Both of these have *fantastic* extras that I hope are carried over. The length of The Frighteners documentary may pose a problem, but since it is standard def, I hope not.

I really want to hear the reviews for Dragonheart considering the DTS laserdisc I own has a really great boisterous aggressive audio mix.

Dragonheart is one of the best sounding films I've ever seen(/heard). There are tons of "demo" moments in it. I have high hopes for this disc.

Please let us know if The Frighteners will contain the 3-hour documentary. I have a feeling Universal will put it on there.

Please let us know if The Frighteners will contain the 3-hour documentary. I have a feeling Universal will put it on there.
They could easily use the combo process to put it on the back like they did with the DVD.

It's a short enough film they might be able to get away with it on the same side though. Enter the Dragon had about 3 hours of 480i content.

Very interested in PQ and Extras for both of these, especially The Frighteners - update us ASAP please!

I got notification that The 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Frighteners shipped today to me. Can't wait!

Where'd you order these from Alan? I would love to get my hands on The Frightners early, love that movie!

Joe
I am guessing PacificDVD. I cancelled my Amazon order of the Matrix Trilogy and placed it with them last night, it has already shipped!!! :D

I really want to hear the reviews for Dragonheart considering the DTS laserdisc I own has a really great boisterous aggressive audio mix.

Yeah, I agree about the DTS laser. I wore that thing out, then snapped up the early DTS DVD, which in my view is still the DVD to beat in terms of audio.

That came before the half-rate DTS bitrate (768Kbps) became the norm, and was encoded at the max rate (1.5mbps). It's simply stellar.

Please update us on the HD-DVD ASAP, Alan :).

It's a short enough film they might be able to get away with it on the same side though. Enter the Dragon had about 3 hours of 480i content.

The supplements on the Director's Cut DVD, just over 4 hours of 480i video, used a bit over 8 gigs. Uni could simply port over the same DLT master they used for the DVD and that would still give them over 21 GB for the 123 minute feature with audio. Based on current VC-1 efficiencies, I'd not only say possible, but likely this will be a single HD-30.

BTW, the supplements listed for the HD DVD are also what is listed on the special edition DVD.

Where'd you order these from Alan? I would love to get my hands on The Frightners early, love that movie!

Joe

DVD Pacific....where else? They are the only ones that constantly break street date.

Nice, I'lll definitely buy these if they have good PQ.

Dragonheart was my very first DVD copy in DTS....you know at this time, you were proud owning a dvd which cover art with DTS logo on it :)

I am always impressed by the scene when the dragon opens his chest to let you see his heart pulping...with your sub, that goes deep... ;)

mine also has been shipped! :)

DVD Pacific....where else? They are the only ones that constantly break street date.

Axelmusic also shipped these two discs. They ship movies early as well (and are customs-secure for Germany)!

I'm really curious how both soundtracks for each film compare to their DTS laserdisc counterparts.

Sorry these really show my limitation with photography.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/509/IMG_6084.jpg

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/509/IMG_6083.jpg

"The Making of The Frighteners, A Full Length Documentary"

YES!!!! They put it on!

I need some PQ/AQ reviews..... if good, these WILL be mine.

Thanks for the pictures. I'm excited to listen to the Peter Jackson commentary. It's also nice to see Universal labeling the video encoded in VC-1. Do these discs include the newer menu system with the Clips feature? I believe Universal is moving to make it standard.

I do not have time to screen these until the weekend but I did put both on and i scanned through the chapters with no audio.

Both are winners. The Frighteners looks great. Nice sharp image. Only saw the slightest EE in a few bright outdoor scenes other then that it looked great:)

I was really impressed with Dragonheart because I was not expecting much. Its great. A few soft scenes in the faces but the rest is dead on. Solid sharp and clean.

Both are winners in my book and I am picky :)

"It's an old movie"


I haven't seen Dragonheart but I own The Adventures of Robin Hood on HD-DVD and it looks great! It's pretty old.

"The Making of The Frighteners, A Full Length Documentary"

YES!!!! They put it on!

I need some PQ/AQ reviews..... if good, these WILL be mine.
Let's hope they haven't gutted it like they did with the first Jaws release.

Thanks, Alan, I'm looking forward to these.

Thanks for the pictures (and quickie review) Alan. I'm ordering both of these today!

Its an old movie

I think by pretty much any measure, it's difficult to consider a film released in the summer of 1996 as "old". I've got underwear older than that film. ;)

Thanks for the pictures (and quickie review) Alan. I'm ordering both of these today!



I think by pretty much any measure, it's difficult to consider a film released in the summer of 1996 as "old". I've got underwear older than that film. ;)

Well I have to admit I have underwear that old as well but Ive out grown them and use then for car rags :) Ive never seen The Frighteners before and this movie looks cool. Im looking forward to watching it. Maybe I should put on an old pare of underwear to bring back the old nostalgia while Im watching this :)

The Frighteners is a great film. Easy buy for me.

The Frighteners looks pretty good, with plenty of detail and strong colours. As Alan said, there is some ringing around a few edges but it's nothing major. There's a fine layer of grain which is nice to see after the softness of 40-Year-Old Virgin.

The sound is great though, and to my ears it sounds better than the DTS track on the recent DVD. There's a bit about 10 minutes in where Lucy pulls up at a house and gets out of her car and some birds twitter above her. It sounded so real I had to rewind and check that it wasn't some birds outside.

One other minor thing: Universal have changed their chapter selection screens. Instead of having the chapters clumsily cycle up and down in the menu, the image pulls back and the chapters line up at the bottom of the screen in clumps of five. When you pick the chapter you want, the image then zooms smoothly back out to fill the screen.

I just recieved The Frighteners in the mail. I'm anxious to watch it again, but will wait for the weekend to watch it.

I am really looking forward to the Dragonheart review. I don't recall seeing The Frightners.

Tading Places Special Edition and Norbit have also shipped as well.I should have both along with The Freighteners tomorrow.

Why Universal Why No Spanish Subtitles!!!!!??????

One other minor thing: Universal have changed their chapter selection screens. Instead of having the chapters clumsily cycle up and down in the menu, the image pulls back and the chapters line up at the bottom of the screen in clumps of five. When you pick the chapter you want, the image then zooms smoothly back out to fill the screen.

I noticed this on The Nutty Professor disc. I like it better than the old way Universal did it.

The Frighteners looks pretty good, with plenty of detail and strong colours. As Alan said, there is some ringing around a few edges but it's nothing major. There's a fine layer of grain which is nice to see after the softness of 40-Year-Old Virgin.

The sound is great though, and to my ears it sounds better than the DTS track on the recent DVD. There's a bit about 10 minutes in where Lucy pulls up at a house and gets out of her car and some birds twitter above her. It sounded so real I had to rewind and check that it wasn't some birds outside.

One other minor thing: Universal have changed their chapter selection screens. Instead of having the chapters clumsily cycle up and down in the menu, the image pulls back and the chapters line up at the bottom of the screen in clumps of five. When you pick the chapter you want, the image then zooms smoothly back out to fill the screen.

The chapters are all once again titled like ontheir DVD counterparts, as well.

Tading Places Special Edition and Norbit have also shipped as well.I should have both along with The Freighteners tomorrow.
Where did you buy these at?

I have the dvd version of dragonheart and even it has spanish subtitles....I dont go to the insiders thread often....has there been any updates on downloadable subtitles?

I'm in for Dragonheart...should be great in HD.