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Excalibur

post #1 of 88
11/8/10 at 7:37am
Thread Starter 
Press release from HTF:
Quote:


EXCALIBUR
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED BLU-RAY DEBUT
ARRIVES MARCH 8
FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO

The Visually Stunning Masterpiece Comes Alive on Blu-ray Like Never Before

Burbank, Calif., November 8, 2010 - The beloved fantasy film based on Sir Thomas Mallory's classic Le Morte D'Arthur, one of the first books ever printed, makes its highly anticipated debut on Blu-ray Disc March 8 from Warner Home Video. Starring Nigel Terry (The Lion in Winter, MI-5, Dr. Who) and Oscar® winner, Helen Mirren (Best Actress for The Queen, 2006), Excalibur (1981) is a bold and faithful adaptation of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Cinematography (Alex Thomson, 1982), the visually stunning and brilliantly shot action sequences come alive on Blu-ray like audiences have never seen before. Timed for Easter holiday gift giving, orders are due February 1, 2011 (SRP $19.98). Excalibur is also available for permanent download from iTunes, Xbox Live, Sony PlayStation and Amazon Video On Demand.

Directed by John Boorman (Tailor of Panama, Deliverance, Hope and Glory), Excalibur boasts an impressive supporting cast, including Nicholas Clay, Cherry Lunghi, Nicol Williamson, Patrick Stewart (X-Men franchise, Star Trek: Legacy franchise) and early work from Liam Neeson (The Chronicles of Narnia franchise, Clash of the Titans, Taken, The A-Team,) and Gabriel Byrne (TV's In Treatment). Focused on the epic battle of good and evil with strong elements of heroism, the film took home a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Costumes (1982) and also won the award for Best Artistic Contribution (John Boorman) at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.


ABOUT THE FILM

The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table receives its most impressive screen treatment in Excalibur from visionary moviemaker, John Boorman. All the elements of Sir Thomas Mallory's classic Le Morte D'Arthur are here: Arthur (Terry) removing the sword Excalibur from the stone; the Round Table's noble beginnings and tragic decline; the heroic attempts to recover the Holy Grail; and the shifting balance of power between wily wizard Merlin (Nicol Williamson) and evil sorceress Morgana (Mirren). With Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, and Liam Neeson in notable early screen roles, Excalibur serves up.. one lush enraptured scene after another. (The New York Times, Pauline Kael)

Director:
John Boorman (two Academy Award nominations for Directing and Best Picture for Deliverance in 1972, and three nominations for Best Picture, Directing and Writing for Hope and Glory in 1987).

Cast:
· Nigel Terry
· Helen Mirren (Nominated for four Oscars, won Best Actress in 2006 for The Queen)
· Nicholas Clay
· Cherry Lunghi
· Nicol Williamson
· Patrick Stewart
· Gabriel Byrne (TV's In Treatment, Golden Globe® winner for Best Actor in TV Series 2009)
· Liam Neeson
·
Special Features:
· Full-length Audio Commentary by director John Boorman
· Theatrical Trailer

EXCALIBUR (1981)
BLU-RAY DISC

TRT: 140 mins
Language: English
MPAA Rating: R
U.S. Street Date: March 8, 2011
Order Due Date: February 1, 2011
Cat / UPC: 1000176853/ 883929167982
$19.98 SRP

Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.
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post #2 of 88
11/8/10 at 9:17am
One of the last hddvd stragglers.
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post #3 of 88
11/8/10 at 9:27am
Let's hope it is remastered. The hddvd is pretty rough.
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post #4 of 88
11/8/10 at 10:14am
This is a Warner Bros release so it's a crapshoot whether they'll simply 'port over the old HD DVD transfer or invest any time and money into any sort of new transfer. The movie cries out for a quality upgrade, it's really never had a top notch transfer on vhs, laserdisc, dvd or hd-dvd worthy of the photography and soundtrack the film originally had to offer. Frankly, I'm not holding my breath this Blu-ray release will be anything above WB bottom tier quality catalog attention.
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post #5 of 88
11/8/10 at 10:37am
Considering the $20 msrp I have a hard time imagining they've put any additional resources into this title.
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post #6 of 88
11/8/10 at 11:16am
I didn't know this movie was this old (thought it was mid 80ies)....and I didn't know Patrick Stewart was in it, let alone Neeson......I love the way they integrated Wagner's work/sountrack into the film...gives it a lot more dimension. I doubt this will be a remaster unfortunately.....
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post #7 of 88
11/8/10 at 12:05pm
was wondering when this one was coming.
they might improve on it--you never know.
willy wonka got improved so there is hope.
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post #8 of 88
11/8/10 at 12:38pm
The worlds softest movie gets that little bit softer on bluray
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post #9 of 88
11/11/10 at 7:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dvdmike007 View Post

The worlds softest movie gets that little bit softer on bluray


Exactly why I'll be hanging on to the HD-DVD! There has been some improvement with video releases of this film though. The laserdisc 5.1 audio
was quite good. Not spectacular, mind you, but the LFE during the sequence where Morgana traps Merlin was a case in point. The BD disc will be a "wait-and-see" item for me.
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post #10 of 88
11/14/10 at 10:45am
Amazon has the pre-order up currently at $13.99.
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post #11 of 88
11/15/10 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by film113 View Post

Exactly why I'll be hanging on to the HD-DVD! There has been some improvement with video releases of this film though.

Yes, it was soft in the theaters and intended to look that way. Boorman said he shot it through a fog filter and filled many scenes with fog and smoke to make it even softer.

The DVD release was delayed, and delayed, and delayed again. It was a surprise when it finally came out.
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post #12 of 88
11/21/10 at 8:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Partyslammer View Post

This is a Warner Bros release so it's a crapshoot whether they'll simply 'port over the old HD DVD transfer or invest any time and money into any sort of new transfer. The movie cries out for a quality upgrade, it's really never had a top notch transfer on vhs, laserdisc, dvd or hd-dvd worthy of the photography and soundtrack the film originally had to offer. Frankly, I'm not holding my breath this Blu-ray release will be anything above WB bottom tier quality catalog attention.


Warner doesn't always have great PQ but I feel that they put as much attention to their titles as anybody else. When it comes to the true classics, they include more extras than Criterion and have transfers that come close. Look at catalog titles like GWTW, Wizard of Oz, King Kong, and Forbidden Planet. However I don't think they're going to give a title like Excalibur similar treatment. They sure didn't on HD DVD.
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post #13 of 88
2/22/11 at 11:19am
Looks like Excalibur is as feared, a direct port of the mediocre (video quality) HD-DVD to Blu-ray:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/review...ews022111.html

I'll still pick it up as it will likely be pretty cheap at most B&M stores, but I was hoping against hope that at least it would be a fresh transfer. Once again, thanks, Warner Bros.
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post #14 of 88
2/22/11 at 11:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Partyslammer View Post

Looks like Excalibur is as feared, a direct port of the mediocre (video quality) HD-DVD to Blu-ray:.

It's not exactly a definitive statement when he says "probably using the same source master as the HD-DVD version from a few years ago."

I mean, it either is or it isn't.
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post #15 of 88
2/23/11 at 9:52am
There was a terrible dvd of this in the UK many years back. The film was originally shot 1.66:1 and subsequent 1.85 video masters were often cropping too low in frame ...making it in my opinion unwatchable.

I did see a very nice 1.66:1 master aired in the UK on channel 4 many many moons ago.

I like the film a lot despite of its cheesiness , but I've never found a nice transfer on dvd let alone anything better.
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post #16 of 88
2/28/11 at 10:56am
I just got my copy in. My eyes might be deceiving me but this does look like a (at least a slight) upgrade over the HD-DVD. Granted it's still soft (likely a byproduct of the cinematography I'm guessing) but it's AVC encoded as opposed to VC-1, the flesh tones don't look as pink and at least there is no sign of DNR. I also don't see a lot of EE as the earlier disc had (granted I also don't have my HD-DVD copy on hand either so I might be completely off base here).

There still seems to be jitter and the framing looks too tight, so I don't know exactly what Warner did here, but it does seem to be better than at least my memory is leading me to believe.
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post #17 of 88
2/28/11 at 10:34pm
I still have the hddvd and I am very curious if indeed this is a remaster. Warner has redone a bunch of their films of late so I wouldn't be surprised.
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post #18 of 88
2/28/11 at 11:55pm
http://www.dvdtown.com/review/excalibur/blu-ray/8854/2

I compared the HD DVD with the new Blu-ray side by side, and the results surprised me. The new transfer eliminates much of the grain, along with much of the detail, replaced by a softer, smoother, often washed-out look. So the studio engineers seem to have replaced one concern with another. The new transfer will delight viewers who watch a lot of ultraclean, digitally shot television shows, but it may not fully satisfy the videophile who may feel the BD picture now lacks fine particulars and ultimate definition.


I look forward to seeing a screenshot comparison.
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post #19 of 88
3/1/11 at 12:32am
Another take from HomeTheaterForum...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/foru...view-excalibur
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post #20 of 88
3/1/11 at 8:10am
I think the HTF nails it, at least from what I recall about the HD-DVD. It certainly did not appear to be DNR'd in comparison to the HD-DVD transfer, so I'd disagree with the DVDTown analysis completely.
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post #21 of 88
3/3/11 at 11:58pm
>> http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-r...ur_blu-ray.htm
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post #22 of 88
3/4/11 at 11:57am
Glad to know my eyes weren't deceiving me
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post #23 of 88
3/4/11 at 1:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ambientcafe View Post
Definitely a new transfer, but not much difference/improvment over the HD DVD because of the (intentional) soft photography
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post #24 of 88
3/4/11 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric.exe View Post
Definitely a new transfer, but not much difference/improvment over the HD DVD because of the (intentional) soft photography
How do you know this? It looks exactly like the hddvd to me.
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post #25 of 88
3/4/11 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Strevlac View Post
How do you know this? It looks exactly like the hddvd to me.
This is AVC and the HD DVD is VC-1 so depending on what you call 'transfer'...

It is at least an entirely new encode.
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post #26 of 88
3/4/11 at 4:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Strevlac View Post
How do you know this? It looks exactly like the hddvd to me.
I did a preliminary screenshot comparison. The Blu-ray is significantly stretched horizontally compared to the HD DVD. No idea which is correct...

Transfer = scanning of the film elements in my lexicon
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post #27 of 88
3/4/11 at 4:51pm
Willy Wonka was brought up earlier in this thread. Now that BD got rid of the jaggies but was one that stretched the picture. I decided to just stick with the HD DVD for that one, jaggies and all.
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post #28 of 88
3/4/11 at 8:18pm
I'd just like to point out - and this happened with Network and ATPM - the picture fills the 16:9 frame, making it 1.78:1 and not 1.85. As for the actual reason this was done, well, I always assumed situations like these (and The Godfather) were simply because the original photography was open-matte and the blu-ray producers didn't find it too terribly important to recreate the 1.85:1 framing. I am, of course, jumping to the conclusion that all of these examples were, in fact, open-matte. Another possibility, I guess, is that the new scans were 1.85:1 natively but were done at 2K and cropped from 1998:1080 (1.85:1) to 1920:1080 (1.78:1) in order to avoid scaling artifacts.

The hddvd came out way back in 2006. The dvd was either 2000 or 2001 if memory serves. That hddvd transfer could've easily been recycled from the earlier master while this bd could be a new one. I'll save any further comments until after I've seen a screenshot comparison.
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post #29 of 88
3/4/11 at 10:11pm
Going to the dvdbeaver site and doing a direct hddvd to bluray screenshot comparison isn't possible as the hddvd blowups if you click on them revert to the bluray screenshots. So a head to head compariosn is worthless as they pop up the same source.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...calibur-HD.htm

Now click on a screenshot and it reverts to the bluray version. http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-r...u-ray_subs.jpg
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post #30 of 88
3/4/11 at 10:39pm
Misframed!!! Again!!! Argh!!!

Well, it's not like it was unexpected. One of these years someone will do the penultimate 1.66 transfer.
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