It is from a HD DVD studio right? Also I watched this movie tonight on DVD and it's really a weird one imo. I assume the vertical lines, noise, and other on-screen items is there by design? Very strange artistic style but I guess they were going for the 1950's B movie look. :)

I don't think these movies will look much better as they were intended to have "C movie" look to them.

Isnt high def about recreating the look as well as possible? High Def would preserve that look much better than would a washed out 480p transfer would. Being lifted from film and all.

Nobody knows... especially since Weinstein has been completely mum lately.

Rumors have been circulating about Weinstein releasing Blu-ray Discs... but there's no actual evidence of it and these rumors usually fail to clarify if they are switching allegiances altogether or just going format neutral. For now, Weinstein is still HD-DVD exclusive... but they really haven't been releasing anything lately.

It just boggles the mind that they didn't go for day and date with HD versions of the two films... You'd think they'd realize by now that HD movies sell better when they're new releases than when you're releasing catalog titles that people already own on DVD.

They may feel with the low sales of their movies in HD that it's not the right time to be releasing films for either format or as been stated before they are looking at becoming format neutral.

Death Proof is announced for Jan/08/08 in Germany on HD-DVD

No word on Planet Terror yet.

It is from a HD DVD studio right? Also I watched this movie tonight on DVD and it's really a weird one imo. I assume the vertical lines, noise, and other on-screen items is there by design? Very strange artistic style but I guess they were going for the 1950's B movie look. :)

1970's. The whole Double Feature thing was a blast from the past. specifically the 1970's B horror movies as seen in a Drive-In theater.

Why would anyone want these Grindhouse movies in HD. The whole reson to get these movies is to get the feel of the 70's Drive-In theater experience. In the case of these movies a crappy picture quality is better just to get the full experience. Why waste money on an HD version when all you will be seeing is a crappy picture quality anyways

Why would anyone want these Grindhouse movies in HD. The whole reson to get these movies is to get the feel of the 70's Drive-In theater experience. In the case of these movies a crappy picture quality is better just to get the full experience. Why waste money on an HD version when all you will be seeing is a crappy picture quality anyways

As someone said earlier, it's about seeing the original film 'as intended' without any 'digital' artifacts furthur degrading the image. So the Grindhouse movies will benefit as much as any other film would in HD. Throwing macro-blocking, color banding, and scan lines onto a movie with a "faux scratched old film look" doesn't enhance the experience.

Why would anyone want these Grindhouse movies in HD. The whole reson to get these movies is to get the feel of the 70's Drive-In theater experience. In the case of these movies a crappy picture quality is better just to get the full experience. Why waste money on an HD version when all you will be seeing is a crappy picture quality anyways


Agreed. I have these both, and they look just like old projected film when played on an upsampled player. There is too much focus error and frame alignment error (intentionally) in the film to reap the benefits of HD. Even the grain is big enough that it more than faithful enough in its' reproduction to be convincing.

If you wait for these on HD you WILL be disappointed. they will look practically identical. There is nothing in the source for HD to further resolve.

That said, pick these up if you are a fan of cinema. The 1st film is the better of the two, but the style is done WELL.

We've had so many threads with this debate in it.

To those that are not aware. SD DVD requires some serious compression of video and audio. Most of us here don't want that and have very large displays/screens and cringe at the site of compression artifacts. Not to mention all of the intended artifacts are greatly softened/blurred in comparison to the theatrical presentation. And it might sound odd to some of you, but those digital artifacts would be even more annoying for a movie like this. Because these films are all about being transported to a different time in place for cinema. We want all our films to look exactly as ugly/pretty as the film makers intended. SD DVD can not do that unless the film was shot in SD 480i of course. And there also has been talk that the filmmakers at some point will be releasing "clean" versions of these films, which a lot of us are also interested in seeing. and that's just the video end of things. Let's not forget audio improvements.

I know it's futile to even talk about at this point. Because every time these movies get brought up there is a gaggle of people that chime in "but these movies are meant to look crappy". and there always will be.
I want the crap in all it's full glory. I don't mind compression as long as I can't see or hear it. But I can with SD DVD. If you have no issue with that kind of stuff, more power to you.

It is from a HD DVD studio right? Also I watched this movie tonight on DVD and it's really a weird one imo. I assume the vertical lines, noise, and other on-screen items is there by design? Very strange artistic style but I guess they were going for the 1950's B movie look. :)

they were going for the old grindhouse movies look from the 1970's. A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly showed exploitation films. It is also a term used to describe the genre of films that played in such theatres. Grindhouses were known for continuous programs of B movies, usually consisting of a double feature where two (and very often three) films were shown consecutively. Both films contain elements found in many grindhouse films, and are bridged by trailers for fictitious films that also fit into the grindhouse genre (sexploitation, slasher films, etc.). Grindhouse also features simulated film negative scratches and some clipped dialogue, to recreate the feeling that the print of the film is a worn and battered copy, which was often true of the prints of many films grindhouse theaters showed in their heyday.

As someone said earlier, it's about seeing the original film 'as intended' without any 'digital' artifacts furthur degrading the image. So the Grindhouse movies will benefit as much as any other film would in HD. Throwing macro-blocking, color banding, and scan lines onto a movie with a "faux scratched old film look" doesn't enhance the experience.
Whatever.I think both of these movies (esp. "Planet Terror" which is really raw in its presentation) would be ruined by high-def.The DVD version is excellent with no macro-blocking and scan lines evident while the extra "Pop" of the colours in a potential high-def release would make it look ridiculous.

Anybody who wants these films should get the DVDs and be done with them, i am not waiting even for the HDDVD version of "Death Proof" .

Re. the "this movie is supposed to look bad so SD-DVD is fine" argument:

Doesn't that imply that the really truly best format for the film would be VHS then?? To the above poster, wouldn't seeing the movie in a theater then "ruin it" by your definition? TT and QT should have released it direct on DVD only by that logic.

I agree with the other posters; the idea is to reproduce the original film as accurately as possible, including the intentional film depredation, not add loss of sharpness, resolution and add additional unintended compression artifacts. HD will be the way to go with Grindhouse.

Death Proof is out 7th Jan 08
Planet Terror is out 4th Feb 08

Forgot to mention these are German releases, but with English audio, menus.







http://ukhddvd.blogspot.com/

Death Proof is out 7th Jan 08
Planet Terror is out 4th Feb 08

Forgot to mention these are German releases, but with English audio, menus.







http://ukhddvd.blogspot.com/

Great I will get them for sure. :)

Death Proof is out 7th Jan 08
Planet Terror is out 4th Feb 08

Forgot to mention these are German releases, but with English audio, menus.







http://ukhddvd.blogspot.com/

Any word on extras, or whether these will be the extended versions?

Death Proof is out 7th Jan 08
Planet Terror is out 4th Feb 08

Forgot to mention these are German releases, but with English audio, menus.







http://ukhddvd.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the heads up Jaycee! My fingers are crossed for a special edition box-set; whether it's released internationally or domestically.

Any word on extras, or whether these will be the extended versions?

I'm guessing they are the extended versions since that's what they got in the theaters over there.

I'm guessing they are the extended versions since that's what they got in the theaters over there.

Cool - thanks.:cool:

I wouldnt expect them to look much better on HD but its the fact that both movies and the trailers both before and in between would be on one disk just as I had seen it in the theater. Who would want to have to insert disk two :(

I saw Grindhouse at the theater on DLP. It's razor sharp. At least Planet Terror was. Planet Terror was definently shot with a fancy HD camera, you can tell there's some detail hidden behind all the grain. And Rose McGowan's outfit pops alot more. The hospital scene with El-Wray has awesome colors.

If 300 will work Planet Terror is 5star all the way.

Grindhouse HD DVD trailers

http://stage6.divx.com/HD-DVD

Planet Terror looks good in SD so in I can imagine that the HD will still be an improvement. To my knowledge RR always uses an HD camera.

Saw Death Proof last night and once the soda can drops, it is superb upconverted SD. I was impressed with the quality.

Why would anyone want these Grindhouse movies in HD. The whole reson to get these movies is to get the feel of the 70's Drive-In theater experience. In the case of these movies a crappy picture quality is better just to get the full experience. Why waste money on an HD version when all you will be seeing is a crappy picture quality anyways


I can't speak for Planet Terror as far as how it was shot, but Death Proof was shot with about half of it to look pretty rough, while the other half is shot "clean." Even though the film has been purposely degraded for the first half, the overall presentation would still benefit from an HD treatment, as does everything.