HOLY CRAP!

Total Recall has the absolute worst transfer I've yet to see on Blu-ray.

Absolute horrible grain (worse than Blackhawk Down), print artifacts up the wazoo (like hair, dirt specs, you name it). The colors are muted and lifeless. The image detail was just average.

I dunno what happened with Lionsgate, but the picture transfer on Total Recall totally blows.

This was one of my fav Arnie movies (along with Terminator 1&2, Predator), and I was completely unimpressed.

I never saw the DVD transfer, but I can't imagine it being any worse than the Blu-ray transfer. :mad:

I just got this the other day, and while I admit its nothing stellar, I certainly didn't think it was that bad. Its obviously 17 years old and it shows. But I certainly found it watchable and pleasing.

I just got this the other day, and while I admit its nothing stellar, I certainly didn't think it was that bad. Its obviously 17 years old and it shows. But I certainly found it watchable and pleasing.

I appreciate your opinion.

But Total Recall did not deserve this shoddy of a transfer.

I only hope FOX comes through with a nice transfer of Predator and Commando when they eventually come out on Blu-ray.

It's same master as the dvd. It was never remastered prior to being put on Blu-ray.

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

I appreciate your opinion.

But Total Recall did not deserve this shoddy of a transfer.

I only hope FOX comes through with a nice transfer of Predator and Commando when they eventually come out on Blu-ray.

I completely agree. It is the most disappointing transfer on either format for me to date. It's one thing when FMJ looks horrendous, and it's another thing entirely to ruin a classic sci-fi action flick like TR.

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.
glad i don't own nor do i plan on purchasing any of those listed titles.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

You have to understand that many were rush jobs, although they knew HD was coming and started the process way before now. Also, you KNOW that these studios who jump into this first won't sell as much as they could on a DVD, so once the format sells like 20 million players or so(maybe 10-15 million), you can be that you will see "special editions" with pristine transfers and the best sound, as they could have done from the start, but they knew that they would sell but so many.

My player comes tomorrw so I can finally see how the older films stack up. I don't mind too much film artifacts IF the film was at least attempted to be cleaned. If they just put it on disc like a lot of DVD's of lesser fame, then that is not good.
I just hope that they do Shaft(original) and Superfly right this time!

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..

Yeah, I think you are wrong. I guess they give certain films the high class treatment based on popularity and box office sales. I expect all but the worst of films to have the full HD treatment. I mean, I like The Toxic Avenger, The Final Comedown(Bille Dee Williams) and a few other obscure films. I don't expect them to get the AAA treatment. I don't even expect to see them on HD! If they did come it, I expect it to be of quality, picture wise.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..


upscaled?

true hd?

are you talking audio codecs? cuz there is no such thing as TRUE HD.

Film is higher resolution than anything out for sets now, cept maybe CRT (which can be closer to original film res)


film (even 1965) is like 4k res.

The HD DVD is superb... there's grain yes.. but there's almost no print damaged and there's some scene that are so clean, that makes everything look fake. At the End when Arnold takes the Elevator, you can clearly see the cutout, it flash in you're face. I watched the DVD a lot and never saw that so obvious.

I compared it to the German WMVHD 720p release and the German is the same master as the NTSC DVD, with TONS of print Damage!

Lionsgate need to get the French Master...

The Blu-ray version is still better than the DVD. However, I agree it's a bit disappointing. I have the same opinion regarding a few other Lionsgate titles (Basic Instinct, Terminator 2, etc.).

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

I don't believe they would look worse than the DVD. In fact, Jay and Silent Bob, Silent Hill, American Psycho, and Talledega Nights I know for sure were definitely better than the SD DVD versions.

xXx had some scenes which looked better than DVD while some other scenes which were very close.

I would expect nearly all movies to be better than dvd, but for those that bought into dvd when that was new, there is a night and day difference between many of the first (a lot of bad ones) vs the recent ones that all seem close to stellar (barring limitations in the format of course) for that format. History will to some degree repeat itself I'm sure.

I don't believe they would look worse than the DVD. In fact, Jay and Silent Bob, Silent Hill, American Psycho, and Talledega Nights I know for sure were definitely better than the SD DVD versions.

xXx had some scenes which looked better than DVD while some other scenes which were very close.


The Punisher is by far the worst Blu-Ray movie I've seen. It has more grain and blur than the DVD, it's really weird. Silent Hill looked good in some scenes, and in others there was nearly zero difference. Same goes for Jay and Silent Bob, and American Psycho. Talladega Nights was barely better than the DVD, but it was still unacceptable. Total Recall really bugs me though because that's one of my favorite movies of all time.

The image quality on Total Recall is not that bad as some here would make it out to be. It does not have the pop of the new films, but it's much better than the SD DVD version.

And to say that Black Hawk Down has poor image quality is pure HD-FUD. Simply untrue.

These threads pop up all the time and are simply a complete waste of bandwidth.

None of the professional reviews support any of these claims.

Reviews:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/totalrecall.html

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=23982&___rd=1

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so....

Warner's Adventures Oof Robin Hood, 1930's is awesome on HD-DVD. It'll be on Blu at some point. It has some nice HD cartoons to boot. Casablanca, 40's, it nice on HD-DVD also. It'll bloom in Blu too someday. A pixel is a pixel no matter how old or what aspect ratio the film has.

I also have the Studio Ccanal HD-DVD of Total Recall. It's flat out better visually. The BD has numerous motion artifacts and the bleached out colour is the pits. The HD-DVD's audio doesn't bother me as much as Steeb but it's not the strong point for sure. Pick your poison.

Lionsgate's first 10 discs were distributed by Sony in a hurry and they didn't do a very good job on most of 'em.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..

Trading Places looks absolutely amazing.

I love the movie Total Recall, and have it on dvd, but because the blu-ray reviews of it have been less than spectacular, I'm probably not going to double-dip again.

Yes, you are very "wront." Film resolution was no lower back in 1990, when Total Recall came out. Of course it can benefit from being in high-def.

Just like The Road Warrior, a 1981 film, which I recently bought on Blu-ray.

Also like all the following movies I've rented on Blu-ray, all of which look miles better than any DVD I've ever watched in my life:

The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Getaway (1972)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Superman II (1980)
Reds (1981)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Lethal Weapon (1987)

Try "The Searchers - 1957?" with John Wayne. I am not a fan of westerns (or John Wayne for that matter) but I saw the HD DVD version and it was WOW. I don't doubt the blu-ray is any less WOW.
Folks who think older films can't look fabulous in HD? Shakes head.

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

There's nothing wrong with Devil Wears Prada. In fact, it looks great.

The image quality on Total Recall is not that bad as some here would make it out to be. It does not have the pop of the new films, but it's much better than the SD DVD version.

And to say that Black Hawk Down has poor image quality is pure HD-FUD. Simply untrue.

These threads pop up all the time and are simply a complete waste of bandwidth.

None of the professional reviews support any of these claims.

Reviews:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/totalrecall.html

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=23982&___rd=1

Not enough time and money was spent on TR as far as I'm concerned. I agree with you about BHD though...it's beautiful IMO.

I'll wait for the inevitable improved re-release on this, much like Stargate (no theatrical cut? come on!).

One thing, you can guarantee all the Lionsgate catalog titles will be released over and over and over again. How many Total Recall releases were there on DVD? How many Stargates? The first was a flipper, sucked. Then two non-branching versions on one side of the disc, sucked. Then the cleaned up ultimate edition (or whatever they called it), not perfect, but vastly superior. When we get the equivalent of that on BD I'll buy.

As for Total Recall. Still waiting for an unrated cut.

I'll hold out on this title or wait until it hits the bargain bin. Let's bring on Running Man in the meantime. :D

The Punisher is by far the worst Blu-Ray movie I've seen. It has more grain and blur than the DVD, it's really weird. Silent Hill looked good in some scenes, and in others there was nearly zero difference. Same goes for Jay and Silent Bob, and American Psycho. Talladega Nights was barely better than the DVD, but it was still unacceptable. Total Recall really bugs me though because that's one of my favorite movies of all time.

I have to disagree to some extent. However, the Blu-ray versions while maybe not showing a ton more detail in some scenes do have fewer or no digital artifacts and better color rendition.

There's nothing wrong with Devil Wears Prada. In fact, it looks great.

I wondered about this myself, I got this movie when it was released and don't recall it looking that bad. I guess I need to view it again.

HOLY CRAP!

Total Recall has the absolute worst transfer I've yet to see on Blu-ray.

Absolute horrible grain (worse than Blackhawk Down), print artifacts up the wazoo (like hair, dirt specs, you name it). The colors are muted and lifeless. The image detail was just average.

I dunno what happened with Lionsgate, but the picture transfer on Total Recall totally blows.

This was one of my fav Arnie movies (along with Terminator 1&2, Predator), and I was completely unimpressed.

I never saw the DVD transfer, but I can't imagine it being any worse than the Blu-ray transfer. :mad:


it's quite poor for the first 10-15 minutes or so but picks up considerably after that. But I agree. Around Tier 3.

It's same master as the dvd. It was never remastered prior to being put on Blu-ray.

Anyone know if the BD uses the same master as the unreleased D-Theater tape? I looked up the BD and it's MPEG-2 at a lower bitrate than what D-Theater was (I believe), but I have a D-Theater demotape which has some footage from this movie and I'm wondering if it's probably the same PQ. I thought the PQ on the footage of that tape looked pretty good, and really wish it would have been released as I love this film.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..

Oh, I guess this Blade Runner set that I was going to watch tonight will suck. The one with a TrueHD track, and a super amazing restoration. I'll just watch my 1992 Director's Cut DVD from eons ago, since it'll be the same quality.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..


I think you are very "wront".

I don't mind the quality of the BD for Total Recall, it could be a bit better but it doesn't suck. Maybe a 3 out of 5? Jay and Silent Bob sucks, that's as blurry as the DVD version. I bet there is little difference there.

There's PQ issues with both the blu-ray and hd-dvd version of total recall. The HD-DVD look like it's had the contrast boosted and has been digitally noise filtered, which makes the image look cheaply artificially enhanced. The blu-ray disc looks more like a dull dirty film print, almost as bad as the first release of The Fifth Element.

The HD DVD is superb... there's grain yes.. but there's almost no print damaged and there's some scene that are so clean, that makes everything look fake. At the End when Arnold takes the Elevator, you can clearly see the cutout, it flash in you're face. I watched the DVD a lot and never saw that so obvious.

I compared it to the German WMVHD 720p release and the German is the same master as the NTSC DVD, with TONS of print Damage!

Lionsgate need to get the French Master...

I agree with you. The pic and audio qaulity it excellent just like T2!

The HD DVD is superb... <snip>
Visually? Yes. However, the pitch issue makes that title completely unwatchable for me. YMMV.

Imo, combining the video from the import with the audio of the domestic release would give us the best of both worlds. I'm not holding my breath...

It seems like the most prudent course of action when it comes to collecting these quintessential classics in the newest format is to simply wait for the "anniversary remaster" edition, rather than scoop the "money grab" version that is released right away.

The anniversary edition is the one where the studio has monetarily deemed it worth making and will thus invest in some real work in the remastering, targeted to the pinnacle format of that time. That is also the time where they will drop in the "premium audio" soundtrack and various "extras" to further the enticement of the anniversary package. That is when you get your money's worth for a catalog title.

I think you are very "wront".

guys, I think he gets it after 6 months.

*looks at original post date ;)

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

I can't even come close to agreeing with you in any way, shape, or form.

Total Recall, while not the greatest, looks pretty good.
Here's what HighDef Digest said:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/48/totalrecall.html

And The Punisher looked very good:
High Def Digest:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/22/punisher.html

I've been very pleased with High Def Digest's reviews. They seem to be fairly accurate and I value their opinion.

I really have to believe that you have some serious problems with your setup if you think these two titles are bad.

in think people should not forget that in the HD era the TV and calibration matters much so a movie looks horrible to one person on another TV set it might look ok.

It seems like the most prudent course of action when it comes to collecting these quintessential classics in the newest format is to simply wait for the "anniversary remaster" edition, rather than scoop the "money grab" version that is released right away.

I love your lingo, "money grab" version. :cool: Truly though, there's a growing swell of well-done discs, IMO. Maybe X-tras are less than the mature format/s will have but it doesn't bother me so much. I have alot of pent-up desire to collect films since I lost intrest in DVD six years ago.....DVD lost it's sheen once I saw D-Theater tape. Money grab versions, for the most part, for less than $20 at Amazon or elsewhere, look like Brad Pitt in the buff to me....;)

Keeping perspective here, Total Recall is one of the first 20 Blu titles. Those were the bad old days of Blur-ray and the Samsung 1000 as the primary player. Total Recall on BD is just poorly encoded beyond the obvious print defeciencies. Even when you play it on the newer, better players, it's chocked full of motion artifacts. Lionsrake, should pull a Sony and remaster this disc. It's faded colour jerkin' along begs for it.

It's definitely a "money grab" title! Renting or waiting for better with this one is certainly prudent advice.....

Anyone know if the BD uses the same master as the unreleased D-Theater tape?

To me it look to be about the same. But that was a long time ago as it was viewed on the old Samsung bdp1k with original firmware. Comparing most HDDVD/BD titles to D-theater is well .. boring. no significant improvements on optical formats.

To me it look to be about the same. But that was a long time ago as it was viewed on the old Samsung bdp1k with original firmware. Comparing most HDDVD/BD titles to D-theater is well .. boring. no significant improvements on optical formats.


Hi, I was just looking for a comparison. People are complaining here about the BD but the only 'HD' reference I have to this is parts of this in HD from a D-Theater tape. If they do look similar, I'll be alright with it until a new transfer that blows it out of the water shows up. I will say that I did go ahead and order this from Amazon yesterday as part of their $14 BD sale (includes a handful of early titles), so I'll see this for myself soon enough.

Crash was my second blu ray purchase and it looked terrible...Total Recall is a great movie too....glad I ran across this thread first. Hope more of these get re-mastered ...

The BD is not great neither is the D-Theater. A newer transfer does need to be used. They look HD, but not the razor sharp detailed best source elements most are expecting. They were fine for early 2002 adopters of D-theater, for getting a taste of HD but not for HDM. I sold off my Total Recall and Dirty Dancing tapes. I still have a half of Basic Instinct. So I really cannot compare them.

If you want to talk about a truly dreadful looking b-r disc, look no further than U2's "Rattle and Hum."

I know part of the problem is the poor photography, especially in the b/w sequences, but no one can tell me bad photography, wrong filmstock, grain or dragging the print through the mud can produce the kind of dancing pixel artifacting seen in the beginning interview sequence around the performance of "Desire." It's an almost mystifyingly bad transfer. It seriously looks as bad as a mediocre vhs tape. Add to that, the audio mix is timid and lacking any sort of real punch, noteably in regards to bass, especially compared to the old ac-3 laserdisc.

To add insult to injury, there's no real extras beyond the movie trailer. As a big U2 fan, I'm very familiar with almost every release of this movie since the original longbox vhs tape release. Even disregarding the awful transfer, there's so much in the way of extras that could have been included, from hours of unused footage from half a dozen live shows in '87 filmed for the movie to some or all of the 1990 New Years Eve concert in Dublin that was filmed that featured many songs from the "Rattle and Hum" album.

It's interesting that Paramount has used this title as one of their "showcase' releases for every single new video format down to psp movies and even vcds. Why each succeeding release of this title appears to be a step down from the previous release is anyone's guess.

IMO, the worst looking blu-ray release EVER.

T.B.

Well, I received Total Recall BD in the mail yesterday, and man, it's now one of the 2 worst looking HD titles I've seen (the other being Spartacus HD DVD which has about as much detail as a standard DVD). Disappointed, but thankfully I only paid $14 for it. I'll replace it with a newer transfer at some point, I guess. I didn't do a comparison side-by-side with my D-Theater Demonstration Tape w/ the footage from Total Recall, but I can say for sure that the BD looks easily worse. The D-Theater demotape scenes were bright and colorful, with a lot of grain. The BD looks dull/washed out, and blurry. I figured it would likely look the same, that perhaps my standards are lower than those who have complained about the disc. The scenes from the demotape look so much better. It's like they went heavy on noise reduction for the BD. Hopefully whatever is being broadcasted on HD cable stations resembles the tape and not the BD. On another note, I got a few other titles with this (including Species, Fifth Element RE, and Terminator) and they all look good.

The D-Theater tape did look a bit worse than the D-theater demo tape. Why I have no idea.

The D-Theater tape did look a bit worse than the D-theater demo tape. Why I have no idea.

That does sound odd (about the tape looking worse than the demo). I really wish Artisan wasn't bought out by Lionsgate..otherwise I could have had this as well as Basic Instinct and Reservoir Dogs..TR and BI being two films I love.

Well this is typical and redundant.... This has happened before with many DVDs, they are re-mastered for better video quality and audio quality. I can see this happening with Blu-Ray as well, lets just hope they get it some what right or right on the first time. I didn't think Total Recall Blu-Ray was bad at all, and I am using a 1080p 92" FP system, looked very good in some parts and in other a tad grainy, but lets not forget some times remastering a film doesn't always bring huge differences, it all depends on how the movie was shot etc... Now first release of "Full Metal Jacket" was not so good, just make sure you get the remastered version of this and not the "White" covered one....

Total Recall can most certainly be remastered better than the current poor lookin' disc. First of all, the Euro HD-DVD clearly demonstrates that. It doesn't look washed out to begin with. The video is smoother devoid of blantant motion artifacts.

For the Blu format, Total Recall looks poor. That doesn't preclude it lookin' a tad more detailed than a DVD but that's about it. I think it's akin to the first release of The Fifth Element. A proper re-release ought'a demonstrate a similar leap in quality, IMO.

I'll hold out on this title or wait until it hits the bargain bin. Let's bring on Running Man in the meantime. :D

Every time I see Running Man, I wish they kept the story exactly as in the book. That would have made a great movie.

are there any movies that are old worth even buying in HD..makes no sense to me to bother doing so, just buy the old one and have it upscaled..Your not going to get a TRUE hd anyways from a pretty old flick..or am I wront..


This has been run into the ground ,quality film elements give incredible HD regardless of age. Film exeeds HD resolution and color palette. Total recall looks like crap.

Art

I just rented Total Recall from blockbuster on blu ray. Gesh. Worst transfer I have ever seen. This was by far the most horrible film for PQ on blu ray. It was so grainy that I had to force myself not to grit my teeth.

There is absolutely no reason to ever buy this film on blu ray. I liked the story but rental is the only way to go. You will be so happy that you could return it.

marcus

Total Recall, The Punisher, Jay and Silent Bob Striekback, xXx, Devil Wears Prada, Silent Hill, Talladega Nights, American Psycho, and Crash all need to be redone. Some of them actually look worse than the DVD versions.

Don't forget HOFD.

If anyone here is neutral, do yourself a favor and import the UK HD DVD of Total Recal for $21.95. It looks superb.

I dont think the UK edition looks superb.

It feels flat.

Total Recall have ALWAYS looked like crap.
Every time I bought a new "Special edition" on LD or DVD of the movie I was always disappointed with the PQ.
Isn´t it time that Lions Gate goes back to the original negative?
Because the BD and HD-DVD (Studio-Canal) versions must have been from an crappy print found in Carolco´s trash bin ;)

Total Recall has the absolute worst transfer I've yet to see on Blu-ray.

Absolute horrible grain (worse than Blackhawk Down), print artifacts up the wazoo (like hair, dirt specs, you name it). The colors are muted and lifeless. The image detail was just average.

The same goes for "Terminator". It's a re-scan, with no cleaning up, so all the scratches & drop-outs are all there. Had I known I would have just kept the SD.

I just picked up "Terminator 2" and you guys are already saying that it isn't all that great a transfer. groan. Well, it's HAS to be better because the Ultimate Edition has the Theatrical and Extended versions on a double disc - dual layer disc (one of the few), which means that each side, 8.5 GB, is compressing a 156 & 136 minute movie along with all the extras.

So, yeah, the BD is a single layer 137 minute MPEG 2 edition. But I still expect it to look slightly better than the Ultimate Edition.

So, if anyone has the Ultimate Edition and the BD Theatrical Edition and you feel very strongly that there is no difference and that the BD is not worth owning, tell me now, before I open the package. Thanks.

Just got my first BD player, and had to get 3 of my favorite films on the format. So far, I've watched The Fifth Element, which looked absolutely spectacular, and Total Recall, which looked like CRAP. Hope Stargate is better, though I'm not hopeful, seeing it's a Lionsgate.

Just got my first BD player, and had to get 3 of my favorite films on the format. So far, I've watched The Fifth Element, which looked absolutely spectacular, and Total Recall, which looked like CRAP. Hope Stargate is better, though I'm not hopeful, seeing it's a Lionsgate.

A few of the outdoor shots on Stargate look ok but most of the movie is washed out and full of grain. I'm waiting to get my corrected (subtitle) copy back from Lionsgate.

I sure hope Total Recall gets a makeover... I could not believe how bad it looked. The only other HDM I've seen that comes close in An American Werewolf in London but it is still a bit better.

To the poster that questioned the worth of buying older titles on HDM just look at The Thing, Trading Places, The Shining, etc. night and day improvement IMO.

This has been run into the ground ,quality film elements give incredible HD regardless of age. Film exeeds HD resolution and color palette. Total recall looks like crap.

Art

Agreed...on both counts.

We need a new transfer or even a restoration on Total Recall.

Total Recall is one of my favorite sci-fi films. It does an excellent job of keeping you guessing as to what is reality & what is a dream or implanted memories, etc. The action is good, and has some great Arnold one liners.

But because of the reviews I've read about the BD transfer, I'm sticking with my standard def dvd for now. I'd absolutely love to get a top quality transfer on BD and would double dip in a heartbeat, but I'm not double dipping for the current BD transfer.

I dont think the UK edition looks superb.

It feels flat.

It's also got the raised pitch issue.

No thanks.

i did a back to back comparison watching the SD DVD and the UK HD DVD... the pitch issue is not all that noticable with one exception... shattering glass

It looks better than the special edition DVD.

i did a back to back comparison watching the SD DVD and the UK HD DVD... the pitch issue is not all that noticable with one exception... shattering glass

Perhaps with the UK HD DVD, but the French HD-DVD is very distracting. This may not be the place for it, but the soundtrack gets very off by the end of the film. Luckily, I treasure this movie enough to buy a new copy when a re-issue is released on whatever format in whatever year the powers that be see fortunate. Luckily, the Studio Canal release doesn't look terrible as compared to the first DVD release I owned.

Perhaps with the UK HD DVD, but the French HD-DVD is very distracting.

from what i've been told the UK disc is the french disc repackaged

I hope they remaster this film at some point.

U.K BD Review

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

Good news is we have the best AV presentation of the movie that doesn't seem to suffer from high pitch audio.
Bad news is there are no extras as announced earlier.

You trust that site for reviews ?

You trust that site for reviews ?

No way. Will keep an eye on reviews from other U.K based sites like avplay, dvdtherapy, hdwars, dvdtimes etc.

No way. Will keep an eye on reviews from other U.K based sites like avplay, dvdtherapy, hdwars, dvdtimes etc.

I've been waiting for a quality transfer of 'Totall Recall' for awhile now.

I'm willing to take a chance and import this one on August 4th.

http://www.sendit.com/sendit/9979406.product