UPDATED:

Well, I waited and waited for my ID4/The Day After Tomorrow box set to come from Japan, and it didn't arrive from Amazon Japan. Finally got around to checking the tracking number, and it arrived on another floor on the 24th... nobody told me... grrr.... I added some scans of the box for you guys to see, along with some close-ups of the ID4 disc (nothing from The Day After Tomorrow disc, as that's available overseas anyway), as well as some screen shots (beware, my camera left a bit of a moire effect that looks like parallel lines).

I am updating my previous naysayer remarks after adjusting some settings which my lady had set up on my PS3 (she had it on component).

I will also add some new pics.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/names.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/spine.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/front.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/bothback.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/id4front.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/id4inside.jpg



Screen shots (not best quality and getting the white balance setting right was near impossible):


http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/IMG_1819.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/IMG_1864.jpg
This one shows my serious camera problem with the moire effect

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/IMG_1855.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/IMG_1852-1.jpg

Well that's a tad disappointing. :\

How was the soundtrack?

How does it compare to The Day After Tomorrow? Or what movies would you say it is close to in PQ?

And yeah, i'd like to know about the audio as well.

I slightly disagree with the OP. ID4 is better than DAT in terms of PQ. SQ no comparison with DAT please. I am not 100% sure if DNR has been applied on ID4 but it looked eye popping till Area 51. Post Area 51 scenes suffer from picture inconsistencies which might probably be attributed towards the photographic style. The bit rate rarely drops below 30 Mbps but the higher bit rate didn't do any exponential justice in handling some of the difficult scenes. I would rate the PQ a solid 4.25 / 5.

Had already posted this before. Posting it again for reference.

ID4 Japanese edition caps uploaded. Excuse me for the crappy images.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lgans316/HDDVDAndBluRay/photo#s5146434584644431890

Region-A. Will obviously play on American PS3.
Running Time : 145 Minutes (Not the 153 Minutes Special Edition)
Menu Language : Japanese ONLY
Top Menu : Not Available
Personal Scene Selection Available
D-BOX enhanced
Game Available but again in Japanese ONLY
Keyword Search feature available in English
Chapter Names listed in English (upon selecting Bookmarked scene)
Available Subtitles : English and Japanese [Subtitles can be turned OFF. No Forced Subtitles]
Number of Chapters : 53
Price : 3,652 JPY (US $34)


PQ : 4.25 ~ 4.5 / 5 :D

Cons:

1) Sky shots are a bit grainy
2) CGI looks outdated especially during fire explosions :(
3) Image quality inconsistent post Area 51 scenes. The DVD and the broadcast copy also showed similar inconsistency which may either be attributed to the filming style or the master used. :(

Average Bit Rate : Easy 30+ Mbps but even the high bit rate couldn't cope up with certain difficult scenes.

SQ : Can't comment

Is it just the theatrical version or both versions?

I think it might be the display or the camera shots. Underneath all those weird effects I see some pimples on will smiths face. Vivica fox looks like she has some detail too.

I looked at Igans shots. His show off the super detailed faces better. The chess shot looks really good too. cant really comment on the effects shots because they're bathed in blue and the screens are shot in daylight.
Thanks Igans, I still have high hopes for this one.

Those shots don't look that bad. Could you post some "post Area 51" shots"?

Edit

Ok, update..

Now looks much better!

You guys can call me stupid, but my lady had switched the output over to component without me knowing, and fiddled with my settings. Now that I'm back up on HDMI with proper settings, I'm upgrading this one to a solid 4.25.

I also took some updated pics:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new1.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new2.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new3.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new3-1.jpg

the D-Theater tape was amazing IMHO

movie shot 12 years ago ? what does that have to do with anything ? :(

-Gary

Looking forward to this release - some of the best cheesy fun there is.

Are there any extras / special features, or is Fox doing this mostly bare bones as well?

I'm sort-of surprised this was released in Japan. Bill Pullman's president's speech was super hokey even as an American. I imagine international audiences would roll their eyes and laugh their butt off all at the same time. :o

Nice shot of the alien. I may have to break down and import this one. Any shots of Will Smith & Jeff Goldblums characters in the mothership? Curious as to how that looks, sort of a greenish blue tint to those shots? It's been awhile. I sold my SD in anticipating of the Dec release. We all know how that turned out! ;)

The audio sounds great, although I only have an older 5.1 system through optical. DTS HD is at 1.5 meg. You shouldn't be disappointed.

The menu system is bare-bones. It's also a bit slow choosing scenes on my PS3. Perhaps this is why Fox opted to wait and change something (if they do at all)? There is no "Top Menu" to it. Only a pop-up menu where you slowly cycle from one scene to another along the top until you choose the ones you want. There are a few other extra things, doesn't seem like much, but it's all Japanese... will look at it after some more screen shots.

the D-Theater tape was amazing IMHO

movie shot 12 years ago ? what does that have to do with anything ? :(

-Gary

But I remember Xylon mentioning that the D-Theater tape was one grainy mess.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12606286#post12606286

Well, I'm at 768p Plasma, so I don't see all of that resolved grain as a 1080p LCD would accentuate (I've always felt that the LCDs I've owned highlight grain too much). There are going to be some scenes that will look grainy, yes. Especially the evening scenes, and a few early scenes in the White House (evening bedroom scene).

I took a bunch more screen shots, but my camera is a booger to focus in low light, and I'm not happy with the quality it's putting out. And now my batteries died!

I hope that ID4 was DNR-ed. I thought the film grain wasn't intrusive and it blended well with the Picture.

A few more shots before the battery went out:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/neww7.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/neww8.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new4.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new5.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new6.jpg

I hope that ID4 was DNR-ed. I thought the film grain wasn't intrusive and it blended well with the Picture.

Isn't there a 'not' missing here?

Excellent work Baccus...I know what its like doing screen shots. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do. Just know your work is appreciated. I'm gonna break down and get this one after seeing your screen grabs!

Can you do digital direct screengrabs? I will do my best to match it with D-Theater copy I have :)

Have gotten into the menu systems, and it's cool, but I can't read the Japanese until my lady comes home and reads it to me.

There are 3 or 4 trailers.

There is the ability to search the entire movie by actors names and see all scenes with them. Also, you can search by events and it will show them all in order with that actor or event.

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menu1.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menu2.jpg


There also is this funky crosshair thing that I can't figure out. It can be moved around the screen, as in pic 2 below:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menu3.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menu4.jpg



There is also this thing, which makes no sense to me, and doesn't seem to work right, because it is obvious the ship can move along from left to right at the bottom somehow, but neither the PS3 remote or controller will do much of anything with it:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menubottom.jpg


You can turn information bubbles on and off. It appears that maybe there are some abilities to choose and see the scenes that were removed between the cuts (extended vs. non-extended) but I can't be sure yet. I wonder if the crosshairs thing is some kind of game where you have to identify certain things throughout the movie and they show up in that last image as "visited" or something? I'm not sure. Just guessing.

At one point, you have to read and click on this screen, which I can't figure out the meaning of:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/menudisc.jpg

I'll know more when my lady comes home.

Sorry Xylon, just have a simple digital camera and screen situation here.

A few more shots, and I'll stop picture-crapping too much:


The destruction of the mother ship shows a lot of banding on my TV, which I couldn't seem to remove even with TV menu processing. My TV has some banding issues via HDMI, but I can usually process it out. I never understood how one nuke could do that to a mothership 1/3 the size of the moon... oh well.. it's a movie:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/neww12banding.jpg


Here are some shots when our heros are inside of the mother ship smokin' the stogie. The Jeff Goldbloom shot has a fair amount of grain, but not unpleasingly so. You would see more at 1080p:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/neww10.jpg

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/neww11.jpg

Thanks Baccusboy. Hopefully the domestic release of "ID4" on Blu-ray will clear things out. :)

Ok, update..

Now looks much better!

You guys can call me stupid, but my lady had switched the output over to component without me knowing, and fiddled with my settings. Now that I'm back up on HDMI with proper settings, I'm upgrading this one to a solid 4.25.

I also took some updated pics:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/new1.jpg





hot damn!!! talking about detail, it looks incredible.

"welcome to earth!" :rolleyes:

Banding is there in the mothership explosion sequence. Could be a greyscale tracking issue with the telly too. I think the amount of light emitted in this sequence is just too much for the telly causing inevitable banding.

But I remember Xylon mentioning that the D-Theater tape was one grainy mess.

Too grainy (the bad kind :)) in most of the dark scenes that it destroys any detail or sharpness. Daylight or bright scenes however are big improvement over the DVD. Overall its just inconsistent in PQ.

Mediocre compared to the very best D-Theater tapes I have seen.

For reference my personal best:

Moulin Rouge
Passion of the Christ
and
Daredevil - amazing detail and sharpness during dark scenes.

I never understood how one nuke could do that to a mothership 1/3 the size of the moon... oh well.. it's a movie:


After the mothership had USB ports and was compatible with Apple software, anything can happen. :D

Isn't there a 'not' missing here?

strange seeing the world trade center towers in that shot

Banding is there in the mothership explosion sequence. Could be a greyscale tracking issue with the telly too. I think the amount of light emitted in this sequence is just too much for the telly causing inevitable banding.

I would agree with that.

My TV has problems through HDMI when viewing the PS3's XMB menu or bright white text. Lines jump up and down. Oddly, this only happens at 1080i, not 720p, and not through component at any resolution. Had all of the internals changed-out by service techs, including the plasma panel, and the problem still exists. It's a manufacturing/design problem.

My TV is an LG 50PC5D Plasma.

strange seeing the world trade center towers in that shot

And if you look closely - you can see that they are on fire in that shot ....spooky.

For some reason, FOX must have it in for the Statue of Liberty. She's either frozen or smashed prominently in both of these boxed flicks (ID4 and The Day After Tomorrow). Hhaha.

After the mothership had USB ports and was compatible with Apple software, anything can happen. :D

LOL!!! it's like they didn't even bother to explain that one. That truly shows the superiority of Apple's OS.......:D :rolleyes:

And if you look closely - you can see that they are on fire in that shot ....spooky.

Watch Armageddon. :D

They get trashed in Deep Impact as well.

Well, we looked into the Japanese on the ID4 menus.

There is a game which allows you to find 12 items throughout the movie. You have to use the crosshairs I referred to earlier to find and select the items using a key on your controller or remote. The items are random things, like a pair of glasses worn by a newscaster, a HAWK jet plane, the Lincoln statue, a Mexican cookbook, a yellow flag, a dali llama picture, as well as some other stuff.

Once you find and select all of the items (it keeps track of this and saves it for future use), a secret video is unlocked. I have no idea what this secret video is.

Have you seen what J.J. Abrams does to it in "Cloverfield"???

:eek:

For some reason, FOX must have it in for the Statue of Liberty. She's either frozen or smashed prominently in both of these boxed flicks (ID4 and The Day After Tomorrow). Hhaha.

Watch Armageddon. :D

They get trashed in Deep Impact as well.

Yep you're right. Guess they were a "high-profile" target for film makers too.

I got the UK disc yesterday can do some shots also

"For some reason, FOX must have it in for the Statue of Liberty."

It is the same effect as seeing a burning flag. Directors feel that such seeing symbols in a damaged state will subliminally have a powerful effect on the watcher. The ploy is getting a tad overused tho.

agreed.
NYC has been levelled way too many times.
Heck, I even remember "meteor" with Sean Connery doing it.

:)

I got the UK disc yesterday can do some shots also

When you finish the game, let me know what's in the hidden video. Mine is all in Japanese, and my lady doesn't want to sit through the whole movie again to find it just yet.

this will be fun to watch again.

:)

Well there is little grain in this transfer and where there is there is little detail, looks like some real heavy DNR going on

Well there is little grain in this transfer and where there is there is little detail, looks like some real heavy DNR going on

I wasn't too disappointed once my settings were correct.

What resolution is your TV at? I'm at 1080i downscaled to 768p (1366x768). That tends to hide a lot of grain.

Have you seen what J.J. Abrams does to it in "Cloverfield"???

:eek:

Yes, he turned it into a rip-off of Escape from New York poster art.

You gotta give credit where credit is due---the original "Planet Of The Apes" had Lady Liberty's head torn off also :D

Yes, he turned it into a rip-off of Escape from New York poster art.

I'm sort-of surprised this was released in Japan. Bill Pullman's president's speech was super hokey even as an American. I imagine international audiences would roll their eyes and laugh their butt off all at the same time. :o


Well it was released on BD here aswell. So I dont think the speech is something major outside US. If you name a movie Independence day, people are ready for a cheasy line or two.

Besides people didnt watch this movie because of the script.

I don't mean to be a fly in the ointment here but I really don't see the point of posting camera shots of the TV screen. Judging by those photos my SD DVD looks better. Digital screen grabs is the only way to really see the difference and even that cannot capture the look of a movie on a good TV set but it's the best you can do without actually being there so to speak.

also, were you just so impatient to wait for the US release? nothing else to watch huh?:)

Probably be something I will do an upgrade on eventually. Nice cheesy sci-fi romp.

Has anyone tried the DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio soundtrack on this disc? You need a compatible receiver to do so.

I have seen the ID4 Special Edition on SD DVD and it looks like a aged VHS print in comparison to the BD version. However the PQ gets slightly inconsistent post Area 51 sequences.

Has anyone tried the DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio soundtrack on this disc? You need a compatible receiver to do so.

Yes - and stunning, picture a little grainy but not bad, but sound in DTS-HD (48K/24 ) on UK disc, excellent.

anyone got the UK version can confirm the audio option it has??
thanks!

Looking forward to this release - some of the best cheesy fun there is.

Are there any extras / special features, or is Fox doing this mostly bare bones as well?

I'm sort-of surprised this was released in Japan. Bill Pullman's president's speech was super hokey even as an American. I imagine international audiences would roll their eyes and laugh their butt off all at the same time. :oGuess you've never watched any Japanese movies or played their videogames....we don't have anything on them as far as being "hokey";)

from the UK Blu-Ray

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7239/snapshot20080103165531yu0.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103165531yu0.jpg)http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4319/snapshot20080103165611tw7.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103165611tw7.jpg)http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1527/snapshot20080103165902ys3.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103165902ys3.jpg)http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/218/snapshot20080103165930ja2.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103165930ja2.jpg)http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/6964/snapshot20080103170038mz4.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170038mz4.jpg)
http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/7870/snapshot20080103170120le4.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170120le4.jpg)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6591/snapshot20080103170135la1.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170135la1.jpg)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4228/snapshot20080103170213il4.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170213il4.jpg)http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2871/snapshot20080103170404xk3.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170404xk3.jpg)http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/2954/snapshot20080103170533qm7.th.jpg (http://img91.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot20080103170533qm7.jpg)

30 caps here
http://home.worldwidedvdforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=14956

Looks pretty soft. I assume this is the same transfer used for the DVHS.

Well we all know how great jpg's are for quality...

Just got done watching the Japanese release. While some of the exterior shots are a bit soft and the CGI is showing its age, the closeups are razor sharp. Blows the DVD release away by a mile.

Definitely recommended!

How is the PQ post Chapter 36 ? I thought it was highly inconsistent as many scenes looked soft and flat. The flames thrown out from the dilapidated mothership proves the aboriginal nature of CG.

Anyone else think the picture on the box (http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/id4front.jpg)of the Whitehouse being blown up looks better than in the actual movie (http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2871/snapshot20080103170404xk3.jpg)? Not the same frame of course but I bet the detail is way better on the box. :D

The screencaps posted by sarah99 is too soft as my copy of ID4 looks sharp on my Panny Plasma. I am not sure if heavy DNR was applied on ID4 though I am waiting for the response from Videophiles to confirm this.

The Empire State Building looks so fake in that screenshot. They aren't even any windows, lol.

My Japanese Independence day cannot play using Panasonic BD30K but play fine using PS3 .It shows copy protected error .

This may be the reason for the delay. Some stupid BD+ issue has caused a delay of 4 months.

the european version is releasing now...but zone B:mad:

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd16/bassexpander/IMG_1819.jpg



ick! ... fleshtones are waaay too pink IMO.

ick! ... fleshtones are waaay too pink IMO.

This is most probably due to his camera.

I bought the French BD 2 days ago and watched it last night on a French PS3 (which, I think, has a slightly less precise picture than my Japanese PS3). Anyway, I was pretty underwhelmed. The PQ is HD allright, but definitely not eye popping. Also, there is some unwanted (non alien-generated!) shaking at the beginning of the movie. The sound is very good, but not exceptionnal; I mean, dynamics is really good, but sometimes at the expense of precision (at least on my gear).

I was expecting FOX to do better. I don't know what shape the material is in, or what's the officially intended look of the movie, but I have difficulty believing this transfer represents the best one can do with the movie. All in all, this experience (plus the Die Hard 1+2 transfers) leads me to seriously reconsider buying other catalog titles
released by FOX (remember also that, in France, the best in store discount price for a FOX BD is 35 Euros!).

Cons:

1) Sky shots are a bit grainy


what's wrong with grain?

Time for resurrection of this thread. Anyone gotten a pre-release copy of this yet? I would love to know how the PQ looks in the final version.

This is a totally cheesy popcorn flick that the wife and I love. This and I-Robot are currently in my basket at Amazon, but I'm waiting on reviews to pull the trigger.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews35/independence-day_blu-ray.htm

PQ is going to be the same.

Is that review of the "Remaster" then? It's kind of hard to tell with no date on the review (a pet peeve of mine).

Fox had said that something was wrong with the transfer and that was the reason for the delay. Unless they lied.

No issues with the transfer. Something to do with playback.

Watched my copy last night...it's never looked better. Not perfect but I was very pleased about %85 of the time. The bright daylight shots looked absolutely amazing!! I mean right up there with the best of the new releases. Absolutely beautiful colors and stunning clarity!! Lots of pop!! The indoor shots do vary. some of the early indoor scenes look amazing but others tend to drop off in detail and look flat. The colors in the above pics are off too. The fleshtones are not that pink...they are actually one of the discs highlights.

The DTS-MA track in its full form is indeed rock solid as well. The highlight for me was the LFE. Very strong but not overpowering. Especially in the early scenes where the ships appear in the atmosphere. Nicely done, just the right amount of bass. I felt the bass in Close Encounters was a little too much but ID4 gets it right. Surrounds were discreet and obviously shine during the numerous dogfight sequences. Dialog was always intelligible and there were no volume issues.

There have been alot of films lately where the experience in my home has been better than the theater. Blade Runner, I-Robot and Independence Day are the types of experiences that put a smile on your face from beginning to end because you have never seen them look better and to finally have them available anytime you want with this type of quality is just awesome!

Gear:Samsung HLS6188 DLP
Panasonic BD-30
Onkyo 605

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/612/independenceday.html

Mine is on its way and I thank you folks for info you have provided on this thread.

Thought some of the forum members might like to see a video of ID4 and its BD-J capabilities. I for one am not interested in "extras" like this, but it is pretty impressive.

Alien Scavenger Hunt Game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc3maivq0oI

The HDD review is perfect. Bravo Bracke. :rock:

I have the Jap edition. Forget these interactive games.

So how long will it take for us to realize that Fox has smartly screwed us by not throwing the film extras.

I have so far spent more than $200 for ID4 (Cinema, Laser Disc, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray) and FOX has royally screwed us by not giving us the actual film extras and the extended CUT on pristine Blu-ray. :mad:

For a catalog title at this price point I was expecting FOX to include all the special features in 1080i/p in the U.S version.

Shame on you FOX. We now know that the stateside delay was due to playback issues and NOT for any additional content.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/612/independenceday.html

^^^^^^^^

I understand your point entirely but I only have the SD DVD and really wanted this one on BD asap.

I'm happy if it smokes the PQ and AQ for what I have and I know it will. I could of waited for a much better price but I don't think I ever had a month so far for BDs with my anticipation level so high for movies I like and want in HD asap! I never preorder and I did this month :)

Check out these amazing new features on the ID4 BD disc.

Chapter Summary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1KLxcN25Zo

Alien Scavenger Hunt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc3maivq0oI

Text Commentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huqVUAEbMpk

Easily money well spent as I'm by no means sorry I preordered this after I viewed it last night. I was sucked right in from the get go and this easily beats the SD DVD I have for this movie. It didn't take me long to note this was a job pretty well done. I cannot give the highest marks for PQ though as I have better obviously but a 4.0 would be my score. The accolades are for the audio as it is easily amongst the best ones I have. Fox once again delivers in that regard! I utilized the Panny BD30 and the Onkyo SR605.

Nothing I saw or heard detracts me from the opinion that this was one of my higher cinematic experiences I've had on my HT. Run, don't walk if you are on the fence. It was worth every dime I spent as far as I'm concerned.

Edit: Here is another review. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=199&show=review

I just ordered this today. This is my favorite Sci-fi movie of all time.. I must have watched this 5 times in the movie theater alone when I was a kid..