Quote:
Originally Posted by rdgrimes /forum/post/17200351
Here's a radical thought:
How about actually watching the movie before passing judgment, rather than basing your opinion on some random screen shots taken by someone you don't know, and taken in a method you are unfamiliar with?
Indeed I try to watch almost everything that's released on BD, but in this case I haven't got my copy yet. Since I made it pretty clear that I was basing my comments on the screencap, it's not like I'm spreading confusion or FUD
If the screencaps were accurately taken (and I have no reason to believe dvdmike's caps are doctored) they should represent exactly what's on the disc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBC /forum/post/17203796
If the screencaps were accurately taken (and I have no doubt to believe dvdmike's caps are undoctored) they should represent exactly what's on the disc.
Hmm... I suppose I could always purchase some single disc cases and use custom artwork. I really ought to figure out what kind of printer and paper I'd need for that.
That's what close to 40Mbps of AVC goodness will get ya with a good master.
I don't get it - MGM encodes a boatload of movies when Blu-ray got started? Or Fox did them for MGM? Which one is it. They are then held for 3+ years and released with the same average MPEG2 encodes. But the new Fox encodes of MGM catalogs get high bitrate encodes and no filtering?
I am so curious to know how much money that really did save them, especially when you count sales lost due to disappointment. Then again Fox does highbitrate encodes for territories outside the US. At least DNR is rare with Fox now.
Haven't seen Manhunter, sounds like something I would like. Might pick up the box. Even though Hannibal was just okay, it's still a Ridley Scott movie - I can't say no to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowrage /forum/post/17205631
That's what close to 40Mbps of AVC goodness will get ya with a good master.
I don't get it - MGM encodes a boatload of movies when Blu-ray got started? Or Fox did them for MGM? Which one is it. They are then held for 3+ years and released with the same average MPEG2 encodes. But the new Fox encodes of MGM catalogs get high bitrate encodes and no filtering?
I am so curious to know how much money that really did save them, especially when you count sales lost due to disappointment. Then again Fox does highbitrate encodes for territories outside the US. At least DNR is rare with Fox now.
Haven't seen Manhunter, sounds like something I would like. Might pick up the box. Even though Hannibal was just okay, it's still a Ridley Scott movie - I can't say no to it.
I think MGM had planned on releasing a ton of titles back in 2006/2007 but other issues held them up. Now, instead of going back re-doing them, they are just releasing them randomly.
I wonder if Sony running distribution for MGM in the early days of Blu-ray means these were done by Sony? I seem to recall Robocop/Terminator being MPEG2 when Sony sent out review copies (remember, MPEG2 only and BD25 discs).
Well, every studio's early Blu-ray releases were MPEG-2 slapped onto BD-25. Including Sony's reviewer-only version of Robocop and Fox's version a year later.
Fox, of course, held back several of their own MPEG-2 titles for years.
If someone puts these into a BD-ROM drive the file dates can be checked. At least on Fox's MPEG-2 The Siege, the files were last modified in 2007. I don't own Predator or the others to see, but I would assume it's the same deal.
I'd be willing to bet that they were pressed back then as well, hence why they shoved them onto the North American market to recoup costs and did some new BD-50 AVC encodes for overseas where they had to add language and subtitle tracks anyway. Not the case with these MGM discs mind you.
The amount of money they save on sales that small is probably negligible, what a stupid ass idea. Seriously.
The only review of the Anthology that I've been able to find is on IGN(ugh), and they say the set has no extras. Is that true? Does Silence of the Lambs have all of the extras that are on the stand alone release?
Hopefully my copy will arrive today. The MANHUNTER shots posted by Eric look terrific. I haven't seen the film in years and am definitely curious about it, especially considering that I'm in the minority in that I thought RED DRAGON was pretty decent (workmanlike, but decent nonetheless).
I'm also in the EXTREME minority in that I think HANNIBAL is the best of the bunch (yes, better than SILENCE
), and am hoping against hope that it looks better than Universal's UK release.
Looking at eric's terrific caps, Manhunter looks to be gloriously free of the dreaded EE. That first shot on the beach is where EE would be easily apparent if it were used on this transfer, but it looks as good as a theatrical print. And EE would thrive on those white prison bars. Now this is what HD is supposed to look like !
Eric.exe needs to learn to correctly read forum posts, and learn thro reading that I did not take them, I quite clearly stated that my friend took them
Gah, do I get the box and swap out the Hannibal disc for my German one and sell the spare copy of Silence (as I've also got that already)? Or do I just bide my time, hoping against hope that Manhunter gets a standalone release?
Watched Hannibal tonight. I've never seen all of it before. I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I think it may, in some ways, be the best of the lot.
PQ was a disappointment, 3 out of 5. AQ was slightly above average but not a very challenging soundtrack.
Short summary: mediocre image quality, worse than the UK and German releases, but on the other hand the framing is more accurate. (The UK and German releases are, it seems, actually vertically stretched, resulting in inadequate head room.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdgrimes /forum/post/17211453
Watched Hannibal tonight. I've never seen all of it before. I have to say I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I think it may, in some ways, be the best of the lot.
PQ was a disappointment, 3 out of 5. AQ was slightly above average but not a very challenging soundtrack.
I'd agree with you on most of that, but not on the audio. True, it wasn't exactly a showcase of sonic spectacle (alliteration FTW!!!), but it did feel immersive at all times, and the shoot-out at the fish market at the start was great (and has always been one of my "demo" scenes for sound, going right back to the original DVD release in 2001).
Looking at you Hannibal screen-cap (the one w/ Inspector Pazzi with the bird seed all around) between the UK/German vs the US, the US is horribly soft by comparison. Not close. Pretty obvious in the Clarice shot as well but the bird seed really hits home. I'm way disappointed as this DVD back in the day was my go-to disc for video demo. It was stellar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirthx /forum/post/17213856
Looking at you Hannibal screen-cap (the one w/ Inspector Pazzi with the bird seed all around) between the UK/German vs the US, the US is horribly soft by comparison. Not close. Pretty obvious in the Clarice shot as well but the bird seed really hits home. I'm way disappointed as this DVD back in the day was my go-to disc for video demo. It was stellar.
I dont like the vertical stretching of the UK/German releases of Hannibal. Reminds me of what Paramount did for The Truman Show and Event Horizon on Blu-ray.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whiggles /forum/post/17213166
Re: Hannibal
I'd agree with you on most of that, but not on the audio. True, it wasn't exactly a showcase of sonic spectacle (alliteration FTW!!!), but it did feel immersive at all times, and the shoot-out at the fish market at the start was great (and has always been one of my "demo" scenes for sound, going right back to the original DVD release in 2001).
I'll allow that it's a good surround mix. But the AQ itself is sub-par. Very little dynamic range, it sounds like DRC - everything is the same volume. A 24b audio track is certainly capable of much more. In the fishmarket gunfight, those gunshots should be MUCH louder than the rest of the action. Over-all it's more of a garbled mish-mash of sound compared to a real high-res audio track. My impression is that this is a straight re-encode of the DVD audio stream, not a new re-master.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rdgrimes /forum/post/17213947
I'll allow that it's a good surround mix. But the AQ itself is sub-par. Very little dynamic range, it sounds like DRC - everything is the same volume. A 24b audio track is certainly capable of much more. In the fishmarket gunfight, those gunshots should be MUCH louder than the rest of the action. Over-all it's more of a garbled mish-mash of sound compared to a real high-res audio track. My impression is that this is a straight re-encode of the DVD audio stream, not a new re-master.
It's interesting that you should say that, because when I watched the German and UK discs I was actually bowled over by how LOUD the gunfire was compared to the rest of what was going on. I'm going to have to take a look at that scene on the US disc and see how it compares. Could it be that the US audio has been gimped as well as the video?
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