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Army of Darkness is amazing!!

post #1 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:13pm
Thread Starter 
Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary
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post #2 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:30pm
I'll have to pick this up if I can ever find it. Funny how some were complaining about the quality. To each their own I guess.
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post #3 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Murrell View Post

Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary

Thanks for the head's up Gary, I will be checking out this title ASAP!
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post #4 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:37pm
Yeah I thought it looked pretty good but did have some dirt on the film here and there. In another thread I was complaining about a review that gave it 4/10 for video http://www.dvdtown.com/review/armyof...bo/19807/4018/
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post #5 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:38pm
Gary

Just a couple of scenes which are problematic early on but those daytime scenes are sharp with very well saturated color. The night scenes are well defined and clear. I have no problem for the most part with the film grain. With an older film stock it still looks far better than any sd version I've seen.
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post #6 of 49
10/15/06 at 12:40pm
The daytime scenes in particular are simply amazing. They couldn't look any sharper or detailed if they tried. The night scenes still exhibit wonderful depth and detail albeit with more grain. This was a blind buy for me and I was very pleased with the overall transfer.
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post #7 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:11pm
This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.
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post #8 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Murrell View Post

Army of Darkness is friggin awesome, I think it could be near the best yet, amazingly detailed and sharp, unreal detail

whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack

just a smidge of EE

opinions ?

-Gary

If you say so...
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post #9 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:31pm
My expectations for HD DVD are much higher than what it was for SD DVD or VHS for that matter. I am a fan of Army of Darkness and I was pretty damn upset by the transfer considering this combo disc retails at most places for around 30 bucks. I'm not on crack or any other drug for that matter but this transfer is lacking in many departments and deserved a full restoration before making it to a high definition format. Interior scenes are covered with heavy grain and there is an abundant amount of dirt present all over the place. Some people find this acceptable and some of us don't. I guess thats why some people are still happy with their VHS tapes.
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post #10 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:36pm
I havent watch my copy yet but since the SD DVD is pretty dire I'm expecting a reasonable upgrade.
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post #11 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert D View Post

Yeah I thought it looked pretty good but did have some dirt on the film here and there. In another thread I was complaining about a review that gave it 4/10 for video http://www.dvdtown.com/review/armyof...bo/19807/4018/

Catalog film should be reviewed VS their older nearest release and not VS Batman Begins or Other.. That how i do my review...
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post #12 of 49
10/15/06 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Murrell View Post


whoever says this thing looks bad is smokin crack


-Gary


Actually, it looks a lot better after smokin' crack.
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post #13 of 49
10/15/06 at 4:20pm
Looking for opinions? Here's five existing review threads from this forum...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735847

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735074

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=735436

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=734995

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=733245
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post #14 of 49
10/15/06 at 4:24pm
I'm holding out for the director's cut, or another Boomstick edition, which has both cuts.
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post #15 of 49
10/15/06 at 6:40pm
HD-DVD Digests' review quote:
"weakest HD DVD release I've seen yet from Universal"
Really goes to show that one must evaluate a disc on his or her own.
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post #16 of 49
10/15/06 at 6:47pm
it very well could be the weakest universal title and still be a great transfer for aod. AOD's dvd releases stateside have been god aweful, i own the hd-dvd and it straight kills the dvd release i own.
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post #17 of 49
10/15/06 at 7:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Ballentine View Post

HD-DVD Digests' review quote:
"weakest HD DVD release I've seen yet from Universal"

Yes, but please remember -- that's exactly the way the director wanted it.
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post #18 of 49
10/15/06 at 7:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSmith83 View Post

This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.

Are you sure they weren't refering to Charlie, Alot of people seem to be confusing the two.
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post #19 of 49
10/15/06 at 7:20pm
I just finished watching it...and aside from the Evil Dead 2 footage...this is simply beautiful! I was upset by the lack of features...but am more than pleased with how it looks.
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post #20 of 49
10/15/06 at 7:24pm
They biggrst issue people seem to have is with print defects and grain, and those two are bound to be applenty, consider yourself warned. On the Otherhand if your looking for the best transfer and most detail you can get out of Army of Darkness then this disc is for you. There really should be a difference between Transfer quality and Print quality on these reviews. Specs and stuff are expected, but what alot of us care about how how the detail looks, and the 3d pops you keep hearing about, and this I am pretty sure this disc has in spades. I would suspect any self respecting Army of Darkness fans would be ashamed not to pick this up.
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post #21 of 49
10/15/06 at 8:19pm
I watched it again tonight and imo for 98% of the movie it is crystal clear with a lot of 3D effect. There is some film grain but I bet that was there in the source and of course the already mentioned dirt. BTW Robert Harris over at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...splay.php?f=71 highly recommend this transfer so it can't be all that bad.
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post #22 of 49
10/15/06 at 9:19pm
Great to hear that the transfer is good. I was expecting it to be terrible similar to the DVDs. Btw, does anyone know what the AR is? If I recall the original DVD had a funky AR that wasn't quite 16x9 but not 4x3 either. Are there pillarbars?
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post #23 of 49
10/15/06 at 10:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Topweasel View Post

Are you sure they weren't refering to Charlie, Alot of people seem to be confusing the two.

There are a couple of "professional" reviews that for the most part say good things about Willy Wonka's video quality. DVD Town gave it an 8 for video, and HighDefDigest liked the video as well. While the softness was mentioned, no one mentioned the grossly obvious aliasing occurring all over the screen. I don't understand how anyone could miss it or not mention it.
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post #24 of 49
10/15/06 at 10:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSmith83 View Post

This goes to show how one must evaluate a disc on his or her own. It also shows how "professional" reviews are, to some extent, meaningless for the HD DVD format. Reviewers of HD DVD media go in with their own opinions and/or misapprehensions that can keep many people from experiencing something that they may very well have appreciated.

This works the other way around as well. An example opposite of Army of Darkness is some people mentioning how Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a fine HD DVD transfer. I took their word for it and bought it. To my dismay, I thought it was an unwatchable mess with aliasing abound. Even though nobody mentioned it, I think the Willy Wonka transfer suffers from the transfer problems plaguing some other Warner discs, such as Lethal Weapon 1 and 2.


I agree mate, if i just read this forum i wouldnt have bought enter the dragon as it doesnt get many good reviews on here. But im glad i did buy it as compaired to the other releases of this movie it looks outstanding. I think each disc shouldnt be reviewd against the best hddvds it should be reviewd against the best release of the movie. This way you get to know if it is a big step up from the sd release of the movie which is all i want to know when i buy a hddvd, i dont expect all movies to be poto or riddicks of this world.
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post #25 of 49
10/15/06 at 11:49pm
Quote:


no one mentioned the grossly obvious aliasing occurring all over the screen. I don't understand how anyone could miss it or not mention it.

Sorry to carry on offtopic, but have you considered what you are seeing is possibly related to your display setup?
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post #26 of 49
10/16/06 at 12:31am
Thread Starter 
nothing wrong with film specs and grain, I have never been one bothered by that, anyone ever been to a theater? movies don't look like crappy shined TV shows

I am amazed at AOD, it is one of the best yet

whoever says this is one of the worst Universals, needs either some new eyes or a new display, I'm sorry but that is the way it is, I have never seen a particular movie reviewed so "off-base" like this AOD disc, I just don't get it

my advice like I have always said, DO NOT listen to reviews for media or film critics, they are a waste of time unless they have your exact setup(in the case of media reviews)

I sometimes wonder what kind of drugs all these reviewers are on, I could go on forever but I will leave it at that

-Gary
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post #27 of 49
10/16/06 at 2:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert D View Post

I watched it again tonight and imo for 98% of the movie it is crystal clear with a lot of 3D effect. There is some film grain but I bet that was there in the source and of course the already mentioned dirt. BTW Robert Harris over at http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...splay.php?f=71 highly recommend this transfer so it can't be all that bad.

Was there just a single release yet Mr. Robert Harris did not rave about and recommend ever so highly???
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post #28 of 49
10/16/06 at 4:08am
Damn, I don't know what to do now. Is the HD side of this the extended version like the region 3 release or is it the theatrical release?
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post #29 of 49
10/16/06 at 4:18am
Thread Starter 
Robert Harris is one of the top guys in the game, he knows how films should look, he says it's good then well it's good

very very few men I trust for pro reviews and he is one for sure

I suggest a google search on Harris if one is not fimiliar with him

-Gary
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post #30 of 49
10/16/06 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Murrell View Post

nothing wrong with film specs and grain, I have never been one bothered by that, anyone ever been to a theater? movies don't look like crappy shined TV shows


-Gary

Gary, there in lies part of the problem. Some prints that make it to the local cinema are downright terrible. Often, they are a far cry from the 'shiny' original they came from. Then there's those theaters who use lamps way past spec resulting in a lifeless dull/dim image. I have no objection to any studio going the distance to make as pristine a transfer as possible.
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