Hammer restored classics coming to bluray - Page 3

I don't think so, at best they will do a recall to fix this audio issue and that's all...

Did you actually read the blog quote?

They'll use another filter and redo the opening sequenence along with the audio fix. Better than nothing but I wish they would just keep their fingers off any filtering software.

That's good that they are taking the time to re-encode the opening bit, but the entire film suffers from massive DNR filtering, not just the opening scene.

Agreed and they would probably argue the rest of the film suffered like the opening - hence, DNR needed. In that blog quote, they said something like, "grain is a real problem..." which tells me right there they have a philosophical issue with film grain. However, it also sounds like they don't have real expertise to do the necessary work on these as other older films from that era didn't suffer from DNR like this one did yet film grain could be contained well enough to not show major artifacts.

I know. I was talking about the entire movie.

They claim the scan was done last year which I doubt due to the previous bs excuses, looks ancient to me unless Pinewood is really bad at their job. Also I find their explanation confusing, are they saying they scanned it in at 2K and then scaled it up? And the grain was 'too heavy to encode' bit is a joke. Anyway I have seen 16mm films scaled up that look a lot better.

Just received replacement Dracula Prince of Darkness BD from Studio Canal. However since they gave me no indication they were sending it to me (ignored my e-mail) I returned the BD to Amazon UK a month ago.

Sound sync issue fixed? And maybe is it a new non-DNR'd transfer (fingers crossed)?

Bright side people . Twins of Evil from Synapse this summer . While it's not from their glory days I love the experimenting they began in the late sixties and anything with Sir Peter Cushing is always worth it . I swear the man was incapable of a bad performance .

Took just just a quick look. Sound OK now but sporadic soft image remains. Still - comparing to my Anchor Bay stateside release (non-anamorphic) and German release DVD's - no comparison. New BD wins in every category. All we can hope for is a re-release someday (won't hold my breath) sans DNR.

I agree - one of the most stable actors of all time. Right to the very end. Guess you could say the same about Lee too.

As mentioned before, going by the article and the screenshots the only pq change was the opening sequence (which if you take their excuses at face value could not be done'), the rest is still the same heavy filtering.

Studio Canal will release their next two Hammer films on Blu-ray/dvd combo pack on Sept 10th. The two films coming on BR will be "Rasputin" starring Christopher Lee as the fun lovin' mad monk and the (imo) mediocre "Mummy's Shroud." Undoubtably these releases will be Region B locked like previous Studio Canal Hammer Blu-rays.

Hopefully now that word is out (big time) titles following DPoD will not be DNR'd to death. Reptile and Plague are due in less than a month. Looking forward to Rasputin (wide screen) - much less so Mummy's Shroud.

The Plague of the Zombies (review says it's Hammer):

http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/reviews/the-plague-of-the-zombies-uk-blu-ray-review.html

Reviewer claims some scrubbing but at least the images do not look like a cartoon. Could be good.

Here are some screenshots of The Plague of the Zombies.
http://www.imagebanana.com/album/h4gwvo9c/

Overall this and The Reptile look much more filmic than the digitally scrubbed Dracula: PoD. Vast improvement!

Any word on PQ & AQ corrected disks? I am not the most demanding of viewers but those caps look horrendous... like waxy/blurry paintings.

For what title?

I thought it was just PoD that was messed up?

The PoD re-issue has been confirmed from the following post onward:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1388383/hammer-restored-classics-coming-to-bluray/60#post_22024810

Says this is a Hammer film (Synapse):

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews57/twins_of_evil_blu-ray_.htm

Looks ok by caps, maybe not great. Hammer are rare this side of pond, it is a Hammer right?

Twins Of Evil is definitely a Hammer film. Synapse has also released Vampire Circus from Hammer in America. Someone on another forum with in-depth knowledge of how the film is supposed to look says Synapse drastically altered the color timing in certain scenes from the intended appearance.

You mean they brightened it or something else?

Every home video release (at least the laserdisc, various PAL and Japanese dvd and vhs releases that I've seen) feature a slight greenish tint which imo, never really looked right. I've never seen the film in a theater and have no idea if those home video releases are the result of incorrect or accurate transfers but the new Synapse blu-ray has significantly warmer, more natural looking color timing which I personally prefer.

The movie itself is one of Hammer's better vampire flicks, easily the best of the "Karnstein trilogy," anyway. Peter Cushings performance as the puritan vampire/witch hunter is also one of his best.

No, that certain scenes have entirely different tints than how the film was projected in theaters. The transfer is supposedly great in most other regards, but the accusation is that Synapse is going off feel than any accurate knowledge of what the film should look like. I have no opinion one way or the other, just bringing up what I've heard in other places.

Well the link I posted has caps of two DVD versions and the BD caps are different in that the foreground characters are indeed brighter with more flesh tones while the background oddly is closer to the DVD versions. The close-ups in the BD are rather on the flat side. I have no idea why they so often think a bright 'scary' film is a good idea.

Reptile, put up a few days ago:

http://wtf-film.com/site/2012/08/02/hammer-definition-the-reptile/

The caps look better then the previous releases, maybe Hammer learn something from DPOP.

Because everything is "brighter" on Blu!
That's how it seemed too be early on anyway: 'lOOk at all the DETAIL'!
Well, lOOk at all the early boosted releases really. Then things generally got toned down (for the better/including skin tones which were manly red-muddy-too tan).
Butt this is an 2012 release, not an '08 release! Dang, I'd buy like any Hammer that lOOkED like THAT!!

It started long before 2008. Back in the 80's directors were complaining their films were being brightened for TV, thats why I am sensitive to it. DVDs were often boosted as well. Seems to depend on whoever is putting it out,
when compared to other home video versions, the Studio Canal often seemed to be the brightest.