I'm watching it right now and can safely say this transfer is nowhere near as bad as some of the other comments indicate. In fact I think portions of it look really good -- you have to consider the film's budget and age, and also that portions of it are indeed, well, "dark." And sure there's a little dirt and such here and there in the print, but nothing at all that was out of the ordinary for a film that's 17 years old, or diminished my enjoyment of the film in any way (IMO taking a few screen caps doesn't really show you the quality of the transfer. If you see this in motion I doubt many DARKMAN fans are going to complain too much!).

Character close ups are well-detailed and the robust colors are all representative of HD and I think this one is getting a really undeserved bad rep. I can think of a dozen transfers in HD-DVD or Blu Ray that are less "satisfactory" than this one.

Either way I'm quite satisfied with it and the thundering TrueHD soundtrack. I also would have no problem recommending it to someone who liked the film....in the end, I just think people have totally unrealistic expectations as to what a High Definition DARKMAN would ever possibly look like. I for one can't see it looking any better than it does here.

I liked the film, and ordered it today. 11.89 shipped. Just waiting a week probably till it comes

$11.89 shipped from where? Darkman is one of my favorite movies.

buy.com and use googlecheckout for 10 off

I thought DARKMAN looked great on HD DVD. It has never looked this good. The Laserdisc and standard DVD were not good at all.

I thought DARKMAN looked great on HD DVD. It has never looked this good. The Laserdisc and standard DVD were not good at all.

Agreed totally Brad. I think seeing some dirt during the F/X in this movie is par for the course -- this was a very old fashioned film that used blue-screen/rear projection shots, opticals, etc. The scenes that don't use those look basically blemish-free.

Reading over some of the earlier comments about how "awful" this HD-DVD looked, it's as if I watched a totally different disc. Seriously.

Again, I can't see DARKMAN ever looking better than it does here, and I saw the film in theaters, and on laser and video too as you did.

Agreed totally Brad. I think seeing some dirt during the F/X in this movie is par for the course -- this was a very old fashioned film that used blue-screen/rear projection shots, opticals, etc. The scenes that don't use those look basically blemish-free.

Reading over some of the earlier comments about how "awful" this HD-DVD looked, it's as if I watched a totally different disc. Seriously.

Again, I can't see DARKMAN ever looking better than it does here, and I saw the film in theaters, and on laser and video too as you did.


Funny, I thought the transfer looked clean compared to other releases of the film. The color hues and flesh tones seemed on target to me, the blacks were solid, some of the more colorful scenes had punch. I honestly could not find any fault with it.

Have to echo everything said here thus far. Had read "reviews" of this title that made me think about returning it sight unseen, but am very glad I watched it anyway. This may not be demo material, but like STREETS OF FIRE, this is easily the best this movie has ever looked on home video. If you're a fan of the film, do not hesitate to pick this one up.

Great to hear, I love this film...especially the Bruce Campbell "cameo" at the end.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/darkman.html.


Hi Def Digest gave it high marks for PQ.

Good to hear our thoughts have been confirmed by other outlets.

Perhaps folks ought to take a look at this one for themselves before cancelling pre-orders based on a couple of posts that couldn't have possibly been more inaccurate! ;)

i dont trust reviews, Meet Joe Black got 4 stars and it definitly didn't deserve more then 3.

i dont trust reviews, Meet Joe Black got 4 stars and it definitly didn't deserve more then 3.

I wouldnt trust anything I read unless I saw it for myself. This DARKMAN transfer was supposed to be godawful and instead it's really good. Just look at the other thread at the amount of people who said they were canceling pre-orders based on the first comments that came out.

I wouldnt trust anything I read unless I saw it for myself. This DARKMAN transfer was supposed to be godawful and instead it's really good. Just look at the other thread at the amount of people who said they were canceling pre-orders based on the first comments that came out.

Exactly. People around here are way too quick to jump the gun. Either that, or they probably didn't really want the movie in the first place.

i dont trust reviews, Meet Joe Black got 4 stars and it definitly didn't deserve more then 3.

I disagree with that completely. Meet Joe Black looked terrific. One of Universal's best catalog efforts.

I'm totally confused about Darkman though. People on here are bashing the video quality and saying it looks awful. Yet HighDefDigest gave it 4/5. And the opposite happened with In Good Company. It got decent marks on here yet a 2/5 rating from HighDefDigest. I personally think it's a little better than that rating after watching it last night.

sure there's a little dirt and such here and there in the print, but nothing at all that was out of the ordinary for a film that's 17 years old

I don't understand why there's dirt, though? Scratches I can understand, but the film should have been cleaned immediately before the transfer. That's just how it works.

I'm totally confused about Darkman though. People on here are bashing the video quality and saying it looks awful. Yet HighDefDigest gave it 4/5.
Not "people" - just beatboy. Consider the source...


Most people on here who have seen Darkman have praised its PQ.

I'm totally confused about Darkman though. People on here are bashing the video quality and saying it looks awful. Yet HighDefDigest gave it 4/5.

As Steeb just mentioned, most of the people who have actually SEEN "Darkman" think it looks great.

No confusion here :)

Beatboy's "review" had me worried, but I pre-ordered Darkman anyway. After reading the HighDefDigest review, someone was way off. I can understand 1 star difference, but 2/5 and 4/5 is a big difference. Things that make you go hmmmm...

Exactly. People around here are way too quick to jump the gun. Either that, or they probably didn't really want the movie in the first place.

I wouldn't call it jumping the gun.

Darkman was going to be an impulse buy for me. It's not one of my favorite films but I do like it. Given the fact it has received negative marks (along with positive) from more than one person, I didn't think it was rash to take a wait and see approach. So now I have it coming from Netflix and will see for myself. If it looks good to me, I will pick it up for my collection.

The fact remains that with some recent catalog titles not looking so great at all from Uni, it's not unreasonable to be cautious with their future catalog releases. Right now things seem to be hit or miss.

Given the fact it has received negative marks (along with positive) from more than one person, I didn't think it was rash to take a wait and see approach.
To be fair, I've only seen two posters who have said that the PQ was poor: beatboy and a guy who (in the same post) said that an import SD DVD version of Army of Darkness "blows away" the HD DVD version (which is complete and utter BS.)

i just popped this movie in and an update downloaded on my 360... what was it all about??

I just watched Darkman and all I can say is being a huge fan of the film and having had to watch the crap ass sd dvd all these years that the HD DVD Release of Darkman is a revelation to me, It made it brand new again like i hadn't seen it all of these years. Being in TrueHD too rocks and the Danny Elfman score sounds great. The is no oomp in the explosions but that's ok I know that the film is old but it has alot of character.

To be fair, I've only seen two posters who have said that the PQ was poor: beatboy and a guy who (in the same post) said that an inport SD DVD version of Army of Darkness "blows away" the HD DVD version (which is complete and utter BS.)


Well Like I said, it was more a cumulative thing - that is, negative comments plus the fact Uni has been turning out some subpar transfers as of late.

I'm definitely going to give it a fair shake on rental, and I'm not expecting King Kong.

My guess is reality will be somewhere between beatboy's score and Bracke's score.

I am looking forward to Darkman more than 300...:)...the last time I bought this movie it was on LD... :p

Here's another great review for Darkman.

http://www.***************.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/138063/

I have never owned Darkman on any format! I am really excited to finally own the movie!

I was initially going to buy this one for sure, but later wavered back and forth as to whether it is worth buying. I'm only a casual fan of this film. After seeing numerous positive reviews (especially David Vaughn's, whose reviews I happen to always agree with), I finally bought this. $11.89 using Google Checkout certainly made the decision easier for me.

Finally got around to watching Darkman tonight. I must say, I was not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. The detail is excellent and the HD disc is lightyears beyond my old laserdisc. 2/5? Not at all. A solid 4/5 for video and audio. I'm glad I bit down for the purchase.