Stieg Larsson Dragon Tattoo Trilogy Extended Edition

Just got my US edition from Amazon. It's a quad-fold book type with 4 discs.
Great PQ and AQ BTW. DTS-MA Swedish or DD 5.1 English are the options.

The story is now broken into 6 90-min episodes exactly as it was originally seen. Great stuff and it flows really well with the new (old) footage.

whats new and which cut is better

The second and third film are definitely improved in their extended versions.

The first film is not as different as the other two. You do lose some of the cinematic feel since the extended version is not 2.35:1 like the theatrical version of the first film. I guess it evens out on the first movie.

Will have mine tomorrow. Should make for some interesting weekend time.

I rec'd my copy too. How were the extended scenes filmed in the first installment? Would they have been able to keep the scope ratio for the extended version (pending the answer to the first question)?

Also, for those who enjoy Funny or Die, here's a fun parody of the US trailer for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/8c1...p-stamp-tattoo

+1
I have the UK copy which is the same packaging and I prefer the OAR but will say that I liked
I've yet to watch the third film but the second one had a lot of material that added to the big picture I felt.

Since TGWTDT was shot in Super 35, isn't the extended version 1.78:1 aspect ratio more of an open matte that, while perhaps losing a little on the sides when compared to the 2.35:1 theatrical showing, gains a lot more at the top and bottom?

According to IMDB, the first film was shot using 3-perf Super35, which has a native aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (16x9). Understandable, since it was intended to be a television miniseries. So the theatrical cut was apparently cropped to 2.35:1, while the extended cut (TV version) was simply unmatted. The sequels were likewise cropped for theatrical release, since they were originally shot using Super16, which has a native aspect ratio of roughly 1.69:1 (12.52mm x 7.41mm negative area).

See here. Beware, spoilers:
http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=880139

Thanks guys for the screen shot comparisons and explaination. Much appreciated

Ron

I have to admit I prefer the 2:35 framing...

Mask off the top and bottom of your screen accordingly.

(FWIW, a dollar bill is almost precisely 2.35:1 if you need to eyeball how to mask a 16:9 TV to 2.35:1.)

+1
The downgrade in PQ in the other 2 films is still my biggest gripe though.

While I prefer the OAR for the first film, I want the TV/extended version to be exactly as it was when it aired. So I really don't mind that each version has a different ratio. Each are how they're supposed to be.

With lossless Swedish audio (Finally!) the only bad thing about this release is that they used a BD25 for each film. Still, the films look quite good overall. The 2nd & 3rd films were shot on 16mm, so there's some heavy grain here and there. Part 1 (Or episodes 1 & 2) looks fantastic.

I personally never thought we'd get a local release of the extended versions, so I'm simply ecstatic to finally have them in hand, minor problems and all.

Which reeks of cheapness, as the UK set I have sitting in front of me, are all on BD-50s.

yeah even on br it's quite noticeable

So does the UK set of the extended trilogy have a higher bitrate per disc and a noticeably better picture?*

* I.e., should I take my unopened B&N set when it arrives today and return it to the store for a refund and order the 50GB UK Blu-Ray edition instead? 'Cause the £26.99 price is probably comparable to the $47 U.S. set price (of which Amazon is currently sold out ).

EDIT: Never mind. It's Region B locked http://www.avforums.com/movies/The-D...9/blu-ray.html. Also, the PQ is not outstanding. This review says the UK edition has the 50-minute Millennium bonus disc feature. Yet on other pages here is [edit: it] says Region Free http://www.avforums.com/movies/The-D...9/blu-ray.html (but the reviewer also thinks the 2.35:1 TGWTDT was zoomed in for the 1.85:1 extended version, when it's obvious from screencap comparisons from other sites that it was not; rather, the 1.85:1 is an open matte from the original Super 35). Weird.

It looks like the UK edition has a one-hour bonus disc

Includes Bonus 4th DVD disc totalling 1 hour run time with special feature content:
* Cast Interviews including Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander) and Michael Nyqvist (Mikael Blomkvist)
* Photo gallery
* Vanger family tree
* Niedermann vs. Roberto: Behind the Fight Scene

while the US edition has a 2-hour bonus disc:

The same bonus disc that was included with the boxed set of the theatrical cuts is included here:
* Millennium: The Story (SD; 48:59) is a fascinating in-depth piece which gives a lot of background on Larsson (including interviews with his father and brother, as well as his publisher and agent) and how the property became such a phenomenon. The popularity of the books has led to an incredible uptick in tourism to Stockholm, and we follow a tourguide around to several of the sites mentioned in the book. Larsson's background as an investigative journalist is also explored, including his work to publicize the nascent neo-Nazi movement in Sweden, something which put his life in danger. There's some chilling footage of attacks on other journalists as well as horrifying anti-Semitic messages left on his home answering machine. Larsson's untimely death put the entire project in disarray, but after a brief break, the publisher went ahead and soon media rights were sold. Casting and production of the films is gone into in quite a bit of detail. The conflict over Larsson's estate after his death is also explored.
* Interview with Noomi Rapace (SD; 19:36). Rapace was an unknown when she was selected for the film, and she talks about her preparation for the role as well as how she needed to not be cowed by how iconic the character had become by the time the film was underway.
* Interview with Michael Nyqvist (SD; 13:06). Nyqvist was at least relatively better known than Rapace and he talks about how the role has catapulted him into the front ranks of Swedish actors.
* Interview with Cast and Crew (SD; 13:59) features Pelle Bolander, Thomas Lindblad, Micke Spreitz, Paolo Roberto, Georgi Staykov, Love Larsson, Kerstin Sundberg, Knut Pedersen, David Gylje, Peder Svensk, Anja Davidson, and Anna Carin Lock.
* Nidermann vs. Roberto (SD; 9:43) shows some fight scenes being staged.
* Trailers (HD; 6:19)
* Posters

This is very confusing.
The UK is Region A or B?
If there isn't any AV difference, then I'll keep my Region-A....
Arrives today via Amazon.

The UK is region B.

And I wouldn't be relying on the AVForums for anything relating to PQ.

Well, since the 50GB UK BDs are Region B, I'll stick with my American 25GB BDs that arrive today, even if they're likely not as good in terms of PQ, as all I have is a PS3. Thanks for the confirmation!

The PS3 is in no way an inferior BD player. It is quite capable of revealing PQ differences such as this, if they exist.

The PS3 is a great BD player, but it's not multi-regional; my US PS3 won't play Region B BDs as far as I know. Will it?

This was harder to find than it should have been! So here's a link to help any others:

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Tattoo-...ef=pd_cp_mov_0



Out of stock at present.

Supply problems I assume. Mine came from somewhere I've never heard of (Horsham PA) and was a day late.

Thanx for the info.



Wha????
I thought this forum's bunch were THE PQ gurus on the net....

Mine came from Horsham as well, delivered on time though.

There are some over there, but unfortunately, they're not the ones doing the site reviews.

Maybe Xylon or eric.exe will chime in with some comparison shots. I will say I much prefer the box set artwork on my UK copy.

It's been awhile since we've seen these. So, what wine or beverage would you recommend we imbibe, or what should we snack on, while watching Part 1 (and maybe Part 2) possibly tonight?