Gladiator Master Blu-ray Comparison and Review Thread - Page 46

I bought this disk online before ever consulting this thread. Boy do I feel crumby! I haven't opened it...anyone want it for 20 bux

i agree with you dave,but this bd isn't even acceptable!i also i don't understand why anybody would compare the bd to the dvd?dvd is dvd.compare it with other bds!like potc.it does no good to compare any bd with a dvd.

when you compare gladiator to other top tier bds,you get trash!

heres my response to that review b.s.someone getting paid off.

Well, I compared it to the dvd because in some instances the dvd
looked better.


I agree.

My exact feelings regarding this movie.

Hey, it's What Hi-Fi?, what can you expect? Shallow, uninformed dribble, for the most part.

Yep, they really are notorious for their uninformed, poor quality reviews. Their reviews of AV equipment are hysterical.

Even though I myself see that the theatrical shots look sub-bar, I can understand why a lot of people would find them acceptable - apart from a few TOO obviously sharpened shots that is - but as soon as you start looking at the extended shots it becomes awfully obvious how much BETTER they look. Far more detail, a far more pleasing color scheme (breathtakingly beautiful earth-tones instead of the pale pinkish sheen on some of the theatrical shots!), and no artificial sharpening or smearing whatsoever.

I don't usually have the sensitivity to notice (or be bothered) when the angry mob grabs their pitchforks and start complaining about EE and DNR on a controversial title, but I admit that I got a chuckle looking at an early closeup shot of Maximus on horseback in the opening battle scene. The camera cuts to him, and it looks like he has a glowing forcefield surrounding his head. I guess it was to protect him from the invisible cloaked arrows. I never caught the sci-fi aspect of the film before.

Ehhh... I see EE(object outlines) in a few shots, especially the outdoors ones. But some of the facial close-ups look pretty blemish-free to me and I would be 100% OK with them. What the !@#$% are people seeing on these thats so bad?

I guess I just dont get this stuff.

i didn't say that to step on toes believe me.its just were talking hi-def.i don't own the dvd anymore,but if what you say is true whew were in trouble.

the big picture here for me is the blu-ray format as a whole.the company's making the players are doing there jobs.but what we see as the end result on the screen is all the studio and how much effort they put in the software.

the studios were the ones who said they want blu-ray to replace dvd.
yet here we are 2 years later complaining about the same thing ''pq''.
they promised 6x better pq then dvd,there not keeping there promise.

for thoses buying this bd title,just think about this.your sale just allows the studios to keep putting out crap like this.they see the sales report and jump for joy and say we got away with another one.

in the long run this hurts the blu-ray format and it will never replace dvd.people will just wait for the next format.greed wins out again.paramount should have delayed this title and done it right,sales would have gone through the roof.

think about this if someone comes in your house and re did your bathroom like they did this disc would you pay them? yeh right.

I just got back from Best Buy while on vacation in NY. They had a loop from the BD of Gladiator running on a 60in Pio Elite. I was watching from 6 ft.

Mark nailed it if this indicative of the entire BD as far as PQ goes. I would rate it 7.5 as well from the loop. I saw and I watched it several times. I saw the DNR on the faces, but even then detail was surprisingly good. As others have commented, going by this thread one would think this BD is a tier 3 or worse based on the PQ tier thread standards, or a 5/10 or worse. This is NOT the case. Does it look flawless? No. Does it look like the worse BD I have ever seen? Definitely not. While it isn't flawless, it isn't an abomination or the worse BD as some would claim. Those gross exaggerations really need to stop as they are unfair at best, especially if being made by those who have ONLY seen screen caps. Maybe if they only have two BD's and this being one they might have a point, but this didn't even look mediocre. It looked above average and I would say about 1.50-2.0. as far as the tier thread goes. Again this is based only on the loop I saw which some of the screen caps are taken from the same scene.

I also agree with others who purchased this at Best Buy. It is a no brainer to purchase along with Braveheart, since you end up paying about 5.00 dollars for each after all the rebates, discounts and reward zone. Even the DVDs of Glad and Brave are 14.99 each.

Based on what I have read in this thread, I too want the best possible transfer of Gladiator I can get and hope that they do come out with it, but right now the deal is almost impossible to pass up. Is it possible the studios or marketers got wind of the talk about the PQ for Glad, so they really wanted to make sure it sells? I am cynical enough to believe ANYTHING is possible, but again for five dollars....

As far as sending a message to the studios, the few hundred or even thousand that may not buy it will pail in comparison to the hundreds of thousands to millions who will buy it and dwarf the non buyers. While it may "not be the right message" to send the studios, it is what it is and the few aren't going to impact the many enough.

Some of those shots are just sick. I've seen upconverted dvds that look more filmic and natural than this EEed POS. Seriously, how crappy does one's setup have to be for this to look even passable? Just pathetic.

This is exactly like the Gangs of New York release except that didn't have pristine extended scenes to tease us what could've been.

Above average compared to what? This wasn't filmed in 1968. My frame of reference for this release are new releases of new movies, and it doesn't measure up to the average of that standard.

Looks like I'll get my chance to see this one in motion soon, albeit not on my setup. I'll see if the EE vanishes and the fine textures pop right back into place

You honestly don't see anything wrong with an image like this, or this? That's a genuine question, because I'm honestly surprised that some people are able to look at these shots and find them acceptable. In my opinion this disc is a poster child for how to do an HD disc wrongly, and I do wonder what those who find it acceptable would consider to be a genuinely bad transfer. For a recent major Hollywood release, this is just about as bad as it gets outside of GANGS OF NEW YORK.

I genuinely wish I could turn off the part of my brain that finds this sort of image quality unacceptable, because then I could simply sit back and enjoy the film. Unfortunately, I can't. Garbage (and I genuinely believe that's what this is) such as this is NOT why I upgraded to high definition.

I didn't take offense at all. and I agree with everything you say.

In some scenes, to my eyes, the upscaled dvd looked better.
Obviously, there are some scenes on the Blu-ray version that
are clearly superior and sadly some that looked like upscaled
dvd + EE & DNR.

For instance, the opening battle scene looked much more film like
instead of that digitally enhanced crap on Blu-ray. Most people
won't/don't notice, which is fine and I would never try to sway
someone's opinion. If their happy and content with what they
see, great.

As a whole, the Blu-ray is better when you factor in the audio
and extras, although I must say the DTS-ES track on the dvd
packs a nice punch.

So, I suspect you also suggest, if I accidentally hit my hand with a hammer, and it doesn't really hurt, I should smack it again to make sure it hurts?

No thanks. Gladiator was very acceptable from where I'm sitting and I didn't have to move any closer to appreciate Braveheart when I watched it this afternoon either.

Now... if you were saying I should keep the distance from my sofa to the screen the same, but I should upgrade to a screen larger than 70", well... there's an argument I can agree with! Will you come over to my place and convince my wife about that?

Mark

One of these shots has been doctored (GASP! Doctoring Blu-ray screens???) Can you tell which? And does that one bother you?



Read the spoiler after making your decisions:

Depends on whether any of them are blonde!

(Now I better run and hide!)

Mark

So which disc looked great or does everything look great from that distance?

Well, I hate to speak for "most of us", but for me, yes, it's worth the money. It is a seriously notable upgrade from the DVD, but as noted, it could have been better. If there was an imminent better version coming, fine, I'll wait, and I'll sign any petition that says we deserve a more thoughtful video master, but in this case, perfect is the enemy of best, and this release is the best available by far.

I don't think anyone here is looking for perfect. Not even Braveheart, How the West Was Won, or I, Robot are perfect. What we ask is for it to look somewhat decent and not be EEed and DNRed to hell.

I didn't say YOU should think Paramount did a competent job. I said [b]I[/b[ felt Paramount did a competent job. This thread (and others like it) is weighed down with incessant pixel peeping, teeth gnashing, and general hatred for Gladiator on Blu. Hell, it started before 99.9% of you ever had the Blu in your hands. I (and others) are simply trying to tell the "innocent bystanders" reading this thread that, for us, it's not as horrible as you guys make it out. Certainly not bad enough to unleash hell on Paramount.

BTW, aren't you guys bored with this topic yet? Didn't I see some screen captures from Forest Gump that you can turn your attention to?

Mark

Exactly. "Perfect" is something of a misnomer in this business. It doesn't exist. "As good as is realistically possible" is all we're asking for.

Hey everyone.... here's a thought.... Maybe the mighty campaign against Paramount WORKED and, as Gladiator Blu's were rolling off the assembly line, Paramount halted production and switched to using the European transfer to continue production? Maybe they decided to go ahead and ship the first batch anyway, and that's what all of the naysayers ended up with, while the rest of us ended up with the European transfer?



Mark

I would answer the quiz but I can't sit 7.8 feet from my computer monitor and type on the keyboard at the same time!



Mark

I am not a DNR or EE nut...If I like the movie I will buy it anyway...
BUT THIS IS BLATANT consumer abuse especially under the Sapphire Guise. I will buy Braveheart but not Gladiator...NO SALE

Both discs look great to me. ABSOLUTELY, Braveheart is the better transfer. Would it have been nice if Gladiator looked just as nice? Sure. But that hardly makes Gladiator a total piece of trash. I have lots of Blu-rays that look worse than Gladiator. Hell, I'd probably have 100 less discs on Blu if I was as overly concerned as some folks around here.

I love a truly exceptional transfer as much as the next guy. But I'm also experienced enough to know that it won't happen every time. So, I paid my $7.98 (effective after rebates) for Gladiator, got at least $20 worth of entertainment out of it, and I'm a very happy camper!

Hey.. now that I think about it... I got $30 worth of entertainment out of it because, having watched it myself, it allowed me to get $10 worth of entertainment in this thread!

Mark

I know I'm flogging a dead horse here, but I was wondering if you could name some? I was looking through my own collection earlier, and I can't really think of all that many that I'd consider to be significantly worse. GANGS OF NEW YORK, yeah, and perhaps STRICTLY BALLROOM, but other than that I'm drawing a bit of a blank.

well hey, it's still money. i paid $7.98 (well, give or take a few cents) for a toasted sub today from a local joint. the 5 minutes i spent eating it probably gave me more pleasure than seeing this movie for the n'th time in such an unimpressive way would. considering i can just download a 1080p HDTV rip of the movie (which would be better looking than the disc, sadly enough) , i'll stick with just the sandwich.