Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (UK) comparison *PIX*

[Xylon]

So I was watching this Blu-ray and I already know what to expect about the style and look of the movie. BTW this movie is a musical a reminder to those who thinks its Jack Sparrow swinging those blades I really enjoyed this movie version I'm already familiar with this movie having seen it twice on broadway (don't ask ) and owning the soundtrack with Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett (check out the performance in youtube).

I can tell you now that its not Shoot 'Em Up in PQ. Even though both are sharp and detailed. Sweeney Todd is much more inconsistent. The PQ fluctuates from excellent to very good. Minor DNR is applied as well. The dark scenes is where we lose some of the details. This happens especially when Sweeney first met Mrs Lovett. There is also some weird "ringing" in the backgrounds. Both day and night scenes. I don't think some of these issues are noticeable in most calibrated viewing sets but they are noticeable on mine. The grainy picture (filmakers intent) is good in hiding these artifacts so it may not be problematic to some. Judging from early reviews where its mostly positive it looks like their equipment can't resolve some this PQ issues. Good for them Hmm what else? . . . . . oh yeah the digital airbrushing applied to Depp for every close up on most scenes!

In Resident Evil 3 from Blu-ray this was also applied to Ms. Jovovich so weird





On Sweeney

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                            Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
Sweeney Todd                                                      VC-1    1:56:22 29,153,937,408  45,585,051,868  33.40   23.83   Dolby TrueHD 5.1 3339Kbps (48kHz/16-bit)  DD AC3 5.1 640Kbps


PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:           00000.mpls
Size:           29,153,937,408 bytes
Length:         1:56:22 (h:m:s)
Total Bitrate:  33.40 Mbps
Description:    

FILES:

Name            Size            Length          Time In         Time Out        
----            ----            ------          -------         --------        
00000.M2TS      29,153,937,408  1:56:22         0:00:00         1:56:22         

VIDEO:

Codec               Bitrate         Description     
-----               -------         -----------     
VC-1 Video          23828 kbps      1080p / 23.976fps

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Dolby TrueHD Audio              English         3339 kbps       5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio             English         640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz     
Dolby Digital Audio             French          640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz     
Dolby Digital Audio             German          640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz     
Dolby Digital Audio             Italian         640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz     
Dolby Digital Audio             Spanish         640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz     
Dolby Digital Audio             Spanish         640 kbps        5.1 / 48kHz

[Xylon]

The excessive digital airbrushing is not apllied to Depp's close up all the time. With this close up its much better. Its still there but more natural looking. Still I want to see pores!

[Xylon]

[Xylon]

[metalsaber]

Nothing? haha

[jeff_c]

Got me excited for noting!

[Dave Mack]

Xylon's nippin' at the bottle

[Rach]

Great thread...What's it about, again?

[rydenfan]

As well as trying to boost his post count

[Corellianrogue]

When you've posted the comparison pics could you also let me know if both the UK & USA versions have identical features and if not then which has more? (Or which has the best if one version has lots of not so great features like trailers and filmographies whereas the other version doesn't have those but has more documentaries and/or interactive stuff.) Thanks.

[Bleddyn H Williams]

Oh what a tease! Looking forward to the shots. Keep up the great work, Xylon!

[AmishFury]

Originally Posted by Corellianrogue

When you've posted the comparison pics could you also let me know if both the UK & USA versions have identical features and if not then which has more?

would be difficult for him to when last i checked the US release still has yet to be announced

[Corellianrogue]

Originally Posted by AmishFury

would be difficult for him to when last i checked the US release still has yet to be announced

Oh, my bad, I thought it was out there already. So this is a comparison with the DVD then I'm guessing? I don't suppose anybody knows the specs for the US and UK versions then?

[JWhip]

Here in London but had to pass this one up. Did pick up Pans Lab which looks much better than the US release. That £/$ excahnge rate is killing me.

[Xylon]

[FoxyMulder]

Was the airbrushing done on Sweeney Todd and Resident Evil 3 before releasing the film to cinema's or just for the Blu Ray - I wonder if it's to hide spots. I have the same question for The Golden Compass release...Was it softened post production before it's cinema release or did they do it just for the Blu Ray release.

If done for the cinema and retained for Blu Ray then i'm happy that i am getting the films as intended.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by FoxyMulder

Was the airbrushing done on Sweeney Todd and Resident Evil 3 before releasing the film to cinema's or just for the Blu Ray - I wonder if it's to hide spots. I have the same question for The Golden Compass release...Was it softened post production before it's cinema release or did they do it just for the Blu Ray release.

If done for the cinema and retained for Blu Ray then i'm happy that i am getting the films as intended.

The Golden Compass and Pan's Labyrinth has noticeable DNR applied throughout
the movie. Just like Patton

RE3 and Sweeney Todd is more localized to the faces. I call it digital airbrushing. Not DNR.

(Sweeney Todd is not absent of some minor DNR.)

[Corellianrogue]

Wow! The DVD version is really impressive! I'll obviously still get the Blu-Ray version but for those who have only got upscaled DVD at the moment they're not missing out as much as on other films like Beowulf.

[shadowrage]

Well Sweeney looks like it has grain. Looks like I'll be fine with my HK verison. Thanks xylon.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by shadowrage

Well Sweeney looks like it has grain. Looks like I'll be fine with my HK verison. Thanks xylon.

Not perfect but I recommend a "Buy" for this disc. People should have no regrets for purchasing this one. Did I mention the AQ is excellent?

The faults I found on the overall PQ is just me nitpicking Except for the airbrushing. I don't want to see that on future BD releases. Its distracting.

[Dave Mack]

Originally Posted by FoxyMulder

Was the airbrushing done on Sweeney Todd and Resident Evil 3 before releasing the film to cinema's or just for the Blu Ray - I wonder if it's to hide spots. I have the same question for The Golden Compass release...Was it softened post production before it's cinema release or did they do it just for the Blu Ray release.

If done for the cinema and retained for Blu Ray then i'm happy that i am getting the films as intended.

Could be because Depp isn't so young anymore?

[Lee K]

I noticed this on the DVD and the BD. It annoys me a ton considering that I'm a fashion photographer. The skin smoothing job is absolutely terrible and completely unprofessionally done. I am incapacitated by the fact that the final product looks like that. Oh well it's not enough to make me not love the movie.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by JWhip

Here in London but had to pass this one up. Did pick up Pans Lab which looks much better than the US release. That £/$ excahnge rate is killing me.

Good call. The only Pan's Labyrinth version I will recommend

[paku]

The airbrushing is just terrible, I really want to know what they were thinking when they did this. The worst part isn't even that they did it, but that it's such a sloppy job. If they had been consistent and carefully brushed his entire face the blurring would give him a more ghostly appearance, now it just looks cheap and weird; why was his forehead spared anyway?

[lgans316]

Guys,

I agree with the comments of Xylon. The PQ ranges from very good to excellent. It's Tier-1 material with very few artefacts. Minor halos are visible in the colorized shots. Digital airbrushing has been applied only on Todd's cheek. I expect the TO-BE-ANNOUNCED Dreamworks version to look more or less similar to the Warner release as I don't see any areas where the PQ can be dramatically improved. A moderate veneer of grain is visible throughout the presentation. The black levels on few scenes can some look very deep exposing very minimal shadow details. Most parts of the movie has terrific PQ and wonderful fine object detailing.

We estimated an AVBR of 24 Mbps which has turned out to be just 0.17 higher than the actual scanned bit rate of 23.83 Mbps. The bit rate on this BD is all over the place but mostly remains on the sweet spot.

To sum up ST is one among Warner's best looking Blu-ray till date.

[Robert Clark]

Originally Posted by Xylon

The Golden Compass and Pan's Labyrinth has noticeable DNR applied throughout
the movie. Just like Patton

RE3 and Sweeney Todd is more localized to the faces. I call it digital airbrushing. Not DNR.

(Sweeney Todd is not absent of some minor DNR.)

When I watched RE3 on BD I was stunned at the digital airbrushing on Milla Jovovich's face. What in the world were they thinking? I kept wondering if she had been disfigured since her last picture. They used the same effect on her face in Ultraviolet but they used the effect on the entire film, not just her face.

Strange they feel they need to use in on Sweeney Todd. I can't wait until there is a US version, even with the airbrushing...

[jdawg131]

Originally Posted by FoxyMulder

Was the airbrushing done on Sweeney Todd and Resident Evil 3 before releasing the film to cinema's or just for the Blu Ray - I wonder if it's to hide spots. I have the same question for The Golden Compass release...Was it softened post production before it's cinema release or did they do it just for the Blu Ray release.

If done for the cinema and retained for Blu Ray then i'm happy that i am getting the films as intended.

I'm in the same boat as you FoxyMulder. I never had the chance to catch Sweeney Todd in the theater, so I don't know if the air brushing was intended by Burton or just applied to the BR release.

[Matt_Stevens]

Saw this movie on BD last week. What a completely STRANGE experience. A friend let me borrow it because otherwise I never would have watched the sucker. Hated the first 1/3 but it got better. Kind of worth watching, but I'll never see it again.

The digital airbrushing thing is something that needs a solid explanation. WTF is it?!

[Patsfan123]

Originally Posted by jdawg131

I'm in the same boat as you FoxyMulder. I never had the chance to catch Sweeney Todd in the theater, so I don't know if the air brushing was intended by Burton or just applied to the BR release.

I went to the theater, and it blurry, and out of focus the entire movies so I can't tell you what the deal was. It also was full of the MPAA anti piracy dots during every bright scene which was quite annoying. Many reasons why I just wait for the Blu-ray release now.

[loregnum]

Yeah that airbrushing looks very tacky. Ugh.

On the Milla shot from RE3 it looks like it was done to cover up some semi heavy acne on her cheeks.