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The Fifth Element to be re-released

19K views 136 replies 70 participants last post by  EricST 
#1 ·
According to Sound and Vision there will be another version of The Fifth Element. It was the movie that many of us on this forum were really looking forward to and the first release was lacking. The superbit DVD is considered reference quality, so my guess is that Sony thought that if they released a BD version of the movie and used it in their promotional material then the BD version would be reference as well. Otherwise why use such an older obscure movie to promote the format? The problem for Sony is that they didn't let the guys that were doing the transfer and encoding know that it needed to be reference quality, so we ended up with a dirty print and soft picture. I'm sure now they are aware of the criticisms and will do a better job. I'm curious if they will let you trade your old version for a new version, or will they just expect you to buy it again? And will they do this with other first titles as well?
 
#2 ·
Post a link to this info from sound and vision. I found nothing that says this on the web site. Also any idiot doing a transfer should be making the best quality transfer period. Even the newest titles released july 25 look little better than the first batch. I can't imagine they are going to replace all the ****** titles they have released. Underworld Evolutuin and from what I hear Stealth are the only titles that even attempt to do the format justice. The rest are a disgrace!
 
#4 ·
Every movie should be as close to reference quality as possible. Sony shouldn't have to let the people making the disc know that.


Also, I knew all of these first release discs would get re-released, but it's only been a month! The double-dip train has started, and Sony's in the conducter's seat.
 
#5 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by suprmallet /forum/post/0


Every movie should be as close to reference quality as possible. Sony shouldn't have to let the people making the disc know that.


Also, I knew all of these first release discs would get re-released, but it's only been a month! The double-dip train has started, and Sony's in the conducter's seat.

LOL, sad but true. Kind of makes you think Sony did this intentionally. I mean seriously, how could they have thought the current BD quality would be good enough to beat HD DVD? C'mon, I'm not that gullable. Along with rereleases I hope they come out with a major pricecut on their player.
 
#8 ·
are they recalling the first pressings of it, and replacing peoples already purchased copies, or is this in fact the formats first double dip?

Quote:
The problem for Sony is that they didn't let the guys that were doing the transfer and encoding know that it needed to be reference quality, so we ended up with a dirty print and soft picture.

Do you understand what you are saying here? Is that really the kind of format you crave- one where they just give attention and care to the highest profile titles?
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulidan /forum/post/0


are they recalling the first pressings of it, and replacing peoples already purchased copies, or is this in fact the formats first double dip?




Do you understand what you are saying here? Is that really the kind of format you crave- one where they just give attention and care to the highest profile titles?

They aren't even doing that, are they.


Why would they need to tell anyone else to put out a quality disk. They are the ones doing the work. Not an outside pressing company.
 
#11 ·
But didn't Don Eklund of Sony say that picture problems were the fault of Samsung, saying, " the player's image did not match the quality of the master tapes from which the Blu-ray titles were encoded. "


So is it the player or the masters? And is the "problem" with the Samsung (which surprisingly enough was found by Sony, not Samsung) nearly a month after launch the first time anyone at Sony actually watched one of these discs?


Either Sony is buying time or they're incompetent and neither one is a great option.


(Lest anyone think I'm bashing, I'm saying this to try and rain down a little common sense for people to be forced to ponder.)
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinca1 /forum/post/0


Prove that sony said this and not some guy form S&V.

Here's the e-mail I wrote to Rob Sabin, author of the S&V article:

Quote:
Hi,

On page two of your Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player review, you wrote that Sony was committed to rereleasing "The Fifth Element" on BD because of less-than-pristine source elements. Just wondering how you learned this. Was this direct from Sony? Are they going to offer a replacement deal for anyone who currently owns this disc? Is there a timeframe for this rerelease? I'm just curious, because the disc is a little over a month old, and we're already talking about double-dipping, which, to me, is incredible. Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated.


Regards,

Bryan Ferreira

I'll post any reply I get here, if any, so watch this thread.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinca1 /forum/post/0


Prove that sony said this and not some guy form S&V.

BTW Kevin, I love your sig. I agree that the load times of the Toshiba are a flaw in an otherwise diamond of a machine.



Alright, I'll bite (again), how do you explain how bad the Fifth Element on BD looks? I understand you're no insider with any great amount of knowledge... But if you had to guess why it looks bad, what would be the most valid reason you could reasonably come up with?
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulidan /forum/post/0


are they recalling the first pressings of it, and replacing peoples already purchased copies, or is this in fact the formats first double dip?

I am assuming that the old version will go OOP as soon as the new one is put together. However, considering how many BD adopters picked up The Fifth Element to show off their new system, this means that just about everyone who bought a BD player will have to buy a second version of this title. Which Sony will then count towards total BD media sales.




Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulidan /forum/post/0


Do you understand what you are saying here? Is that really the kind of format you crave- one where they just give attention and care to the highest profile titles?

What I don't get is, what happened to the master for the Superbit version? Did it disappear? Did they actually cut a new transfer for this, and decided it wasn't worth their time to make sure the master looked okay? What is going on over there?
 
#17 ·
To my eyes, it looked far worse than the Superbit version. And this was back when I was a BD supporter.


As for the HD DVD titles, there have been a few WB titles with transfer errors. However, instead of releasing them all and then re-releasing them, WB is pulling as many as possible before production begins to redo them. The ones out now will remain as they are. And even with those transfer errors, they still look far better than The Fifth Element BD does.


Also, every HD DVD I've seen looks better than the corresponding DVD version, even the flawed ones. I can't say the same about BD.
 
#18 ·
It's a Sony title. It will not use VC-1 or AVC. It may be a 50GB, though.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinca1 /forum/post/0


Well hate to dissapoint you but the diamond is blu-ray and the pebble is hd dvd.

Oh, sorry, I thought you were being obvious in your sig, but now I can see you're going for a more intellectual, not-so-direct slant.

Quote:
I personally dont think it looks as bad as people are saying

That speaks volumes to anyone who has actually seen it.
 
#21 ·
Not in the forseeable future, no. In fact, from what I've heard, we'll actually see two more bobbed transfers because they were too close to production to be pulled. Every other problem transfer that was not too close to production is being redone as we speak. And honestly, I've watched Full Metal Jacket and it doesn't look awful. Certainly not bad enough to warrant a reissue.
 
#25 ·
If this is true, then this is a good thing!


Because it would mean, that Sony is reacting honestly. It would mean that they have quickly learned their lesson and will now do everything they can to make BD look as good as it can. Even if they stick to MPEG2, they will at least make sure that mastering is perfect.

I hope this info is true. I would be surprised if it was. To rerelease the Fifth Element would be confirming that they made a mistake. That the first release was not "beyond HD". Wouldn´t look good to the general consumer.

But due to the reasons mentioned before, I´d be impressed by Sony, if they released an awesome new version.
 
#26 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fire407 /forum/post/0


According to Sound and Vision there will be another version of The Fifth Element. It was the movie that many of us on this forum were really looking forward to and the first release was lacking. The superbit DVD is considered reference quality, so my guess is that Sony thought that if they released a BD version of the movie and used it in their promotional material then the BD version would be reference as well. Otherwise why use such an older obscure movie to promote the format? The problem for Sony is that they didn't let the guys that were doing the transfer and encoding know that it needed to be reference quality, so we ended up with a dirty print and soft picture. I'm sure now they are aware of the criticisms and will do a better job. I'm curious if they will let you trade your old version for a new version, or will they just expect you to buy it again? And will they do this with other first titles as well?

DL, 50 GB?
 
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