Ok, it's not a great movie but I didn't wait for it to end either. I rented it years ago when it came out and I knew the sound was good. When I saw it last weekend for $5 at a grocery store, I had to try it again. extra 30min of footage + DTS sound....it's worth a revisit.
The audio mix had to be spectacular for the movie to work because Daredevil "sees" his world thru sound. And it is. Right from the get go, I was treated to the most realistic pan I have ever heard: a rat scurries from center rear(s) to left side to left front. It's 5.1 but I layered THX Ultra 2 on top. I had to rewind to hear it again and I never do that. Some surround pans are cheesy and fake. For example, in 5th element, chapter 9, after leeloo jumps, cop car swerves over right surround. Ben Affleck's monologue thruout the movie is crystal clear. Muffled dialogue annoys the heck outta me (Black Dahlia anyone?) and I never touched the subtitles in DD. The sub is not overly active in this DVD. Nothing jumped out in terms of extension or impact but that is not to say it was no good. Blending in well to the movie is always a good thing. Surround action was plentiful, perhaps the most well integrated with the front soundstage as I can remember. It is on par with PotC: DMC which I also praised very very highly for this quality. During the bar fight scene, where the audience is introduced to how Daredevil uses his hearing to "see", the sound mix was dizzying. So much stuff crosses back and forth and side to side. But it was not gimmicky at all because it it blended with the on screen action.
The video (upconverted) was no letdown either. I can't review video quality the same as I can audio but I will say this: the first close up of The Kingpin is reminiscent of Jason Statham's close up in Crank. You can count Statham's facial hair just like you can see Duncan's pores. I think that scene is as good as SD can get.
Now that I think about this movie more, I enjoyed it better than Superman Returns, X3, or Fantastic Fours. Spidey 2 is still the best comic-book adapt.
The audio mix had to be spectacular for the movie to work because Daredevil "sees" his world thru sound. And it is. Right from the get go, I was treated to the most realistic pan I have ever heard: a rat scurries from center rear(s) to left side to left front. It's 5.1 but I layered THX Ultra 2 on top. I had to rewind to hear it again and I never do that. Some surround pans are cheesy and fake. For example, in 5th element, chapter 9, after leeloo jumps, cop car swerves over right surround. Ben Affleck's monologue thruout the movie is crystal clear. Muffled dialogue annoys the heck outta me (Black Dahlia anyone?) and I never touched the subtitles in DD. The sub is not overly active in this DVD. Nothing jumped out in terms of extension or impact but that is not to say it was no good. Blending in well to the movie is always a good thing. Surround action was plentiful, perhaps the most well integrated with the front soundstage as I can remember. It is on par with PotC: DMC which I also praised very very highly for this quality. During the bar fight scene, where the audience is introduced to how Daredevil uses his hearing to "see", the sound mix was dizzying. So much stuff crosses back and forth and side to side. But it was not gimmicky at all because it it blended with the on screen action.
The video (upconverted) was no letdown either. I can't review video quality the same as I can audio but I will say this: the first close up of The Kingpin is reminiscent of Jason Statham's close up in Crank. You can count Statham's facial hair just like you can see Duncan's pores. I think that scene is as good as SD can get.
Now that I think about this movie more, I enjoyed it better than Superman Returns, X3, or Fantastic Fours. Spidey 2 is still the best comic-book adapt.
