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I saw this issue addressed elsewhere without a consensus: Will this film play on my BDPS350?
Flame & Citron
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I had never heard of this film, so I searched Amazon.com. They claim it is an all-region BD (imported) with PAL-encoded extras: so the main feature will play on your player, but the extras (encoded in PAL DVD format) will not.
AFAIK, YMMV, I read it on the internet so it must be true...
shinksma
I had never heard of this film, so I searched Amazon.com. They claim it is an all-region BD (imported) with PAL-encoded extras: so the main feature will play on your player, but the extras (encoded in PAL DVD format) will not.
AFAIK, YMMV, I read it on the internet so it must be true...
shinksma
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781 Posts
Thanks for the confirmation. I had heard about this film in glowing terms from other BD sites but the compatibility issue never seemed resolved. And since I'm interested only in the film and not the extras it seems ok to get.
Thanks for the confirmation. I had heard about this film in glowing terms from other BD sites but the compatibility issue never seemed resolved. And since I'm interested only in the film and not the extras it seems ok to get.
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Detailed impressions of this import by me are probably coming in the next week, for what it is worth.
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We ALWAYS seek the benefit of your analysis, o wise & noble PS!
We ALWAYS seek the benefit of your analysis, o wise & noble PS!
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Some thoughts on the picture quality intended for the PQ Tier Thread...
Flame And Citron (UK import)
recommendation: Tier 1.75
An entertaining movie from 2008 about the Danish Resistance in World War II in the vein of Inglourious Basterds, the British distributor Metrodome gave Flame & Citron a region-free Blu-ray release on June 29, 2009. The 135-minute film is encoded in AVC on a BD-25. BDInfo calculates the average video bitrate as 17.97 Mbps. Two significant problems prevent me from ranking the BD higher in tier one, where it probably belongs. It still easily qualifies for inclusion at the bottom of tier one with them, and less picky viewers might be inclined for a slightly higher placement.
The first significant problem which lowers my assessment of the picture quality is the inadequate compression, which produces visible posterization in multiple scenes. Fitting a movie of this length, on a BD-25, was a disastrous decision by Metrodome. The only thing that mitigates the problem is the relative lack of grain for a movie shot on film. The best detail in shadows and darkened scenes are affected, to a minor degree. There are no major instances of macroblocking, but several instances of noise in the transitions between lighted and dark shots are apparent. But the vast majority of the movie is well-lit, and high-frequency information is not affected at all in those scenes. The compression is really the lesser of two evils in the transfer, as it only visibly affects a handful of frames.
The master used for this BD shows absolutely no sign of detail-robbing post-processing, like the use of digital noise reduction. Production standards look very high and indistinguishable from any big-budget Hollywood production, which leads to a level of astonishing clarity in most scenes. But the transfer does not escape from the negatives of edge enhancement. The persistent ringing produces intrusive halos throughout much of the movie. That is the main reason for this fine-looking Blu-ray to be placed a fair distance from where it rightfully should sit in the tiers. A touch of aliasing is also evident in spots.
Contrast is impeccable in a film that favors the darker shades of blue and gray on the streets of Copenhagen. The image is razor-sharp and demonstrates incredible amounts of detail and definition. It has an appreciable sense of dimensionality and pop, though not in comparison to the best Blu-rays. Many of the close-ups are worthy of being called reference-caliber in the general clarity and resolution frequently shown. Flesh-tones are pleasingly natural and neutral in color. As briefly mentioned before, shadows are not finely resolved as the better examples in tier one. Black levels display consistency in their dark uniformity and are generally as inky as each scene demands. Much of the picture quality recalls the best-looking scenes from Public Enemies for some reason in my mind. The period setting of the film possibly gave me that idea.
At first my inclination was to rank Flame & Citron in the middle of tier one. A majority of the movie probably deserves that assessment for its excellence. The thick ringing at times degraded the pristine picture enough to lower my final score to the bottom quarter of tier one. It still pleases the eye though, and many viewers are likely to overlook the halos.
Watching on a 60” Pioneer KURO plasma at 1080p/24, fed by a 60 GB PS3 (firmware 3.15) from a viewing distance of six feet.
Flame And Citron (UK import)
recommendation: Tier 1.75
An entertaining movie from 2008 about the Danish Resistance in World War II in the vein of Inglourious Basterds, the British distributor Metrodome gave Flame & Citron a region-free Blu-ray release on June 29, 2009. The 135-minute film is encoded in AVC on a BD-25. BDInfo calculates the average video bitrate as 17.97 Mbps. Two significant problems prevent me from ranking the BD higher in tier one, where it probably belongs. It still easily qualifies for inclusion at the bottom of tier one with them, and less picky viewers might be inclined for a slightly higher placement.
The first significant problem which lowers my assessment of the picture quality is the inadequate compression, which produces visible posterization in multiple scenes. Fitting a movie of this length, on a BD-25, was a disastrous decision by Metrodome. The only thing that mitigates the problem is the relative lack of grain for a movie shot on film. The best detail in shadows and darkened scenes are affected, to a minor degree. There are no major instances of macroblocking, but several instances of noise in the transitions between lighted and dark shots are apparent. But the vast majority of the movie is well-lit, and high-frequency information is not affected at all in those scenes. The compression is really the lesser of two evils in the transfer, as it only visibly affects a handful of frames.
The master used for this BD shows absolutely no sign of detail-robbing post-processing, like the use of digital noise reduction. Production standards look very high and indistinguishable from any big-budget Hollywood production, which leads to a level of astonishing clarity in most scenes. But the transfer does not escape from the negatives of edge enhancement. The persistent ringing produces intrusive halos throughout much of the movie. That is the main reason for this fine-looking Blu-ray to be placed a fair distance from where it rightfully should sit in the tiers. A touch of aliasing is also evident in spots.
Contrast is impeccable in a film that favors the darker shades of blue and gray on the streets of Copenhagen. The image is razor-sharp and demonstrates incredible amounts of detail and definition. It has an appreciable sense of dimensionality and pop, though not in comparison to the best Blu-rays. Many of the close-ups are worthy of being called reference-caliber in the general clarity and resolution frequently shown. Flesh-tones are pleasingly natural and neutral in color. As briefly mentioned before, shadows are not finely resolved as the better examples in tier one. Black levels display consistency in their dark uniformity and are generally as inky as each scene demands. Much of the picture quality recalls the best-looking scenes from Public Enemies for some reason in my mind. The period setting of the film possibly gave me that idea.
At first my inclination was to rank Flame & Citron in the middle of tier one. A majority of the movie probably deserves that assessment for its excellence. The thick ringing at times degraded the pristine picture enough to lower my final score to the bottom quarter of tier one. It still pleases the eye though, and many viewers are likely to overlook the halos.
Watching on a 60” Pioneer KURO plasma at 1080p/24, fed by a 60 GB PS3 (firmware 3.15) from a viewing distance of six feet.
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I recently acquired this film and watched it for the first time last night on my Sony BDP-S350.
I did not see the "intrusive halo" or "inadequate compression" issues that Phantom Stranger noticed, but then I was simply enjoying the movie without viewing it with a technical eye. As PS says, the images are razor-sharp and the colors are not smeared or over-saturated at all. Nor did I detect any graininess in each scene - it is a very smooth image. No audio problems.
With the UK-produced copy that I bought you get three different menu choices: Play, Special Features, and Scene Select. The film played without any problems and the scene selection feature operated flawlessly. However, I could not get the special features option to work.
The film was very entertaining and I would recommend it as good drama; a considerable amount of dialogue but with enough action scenes to keep it moving at a consistent pace. The film is based upon a true story and I won't say any more because I don't want to give away any info that might spoil it for anyone.
I recently acquired this film and watched it for the first time last night on my Sony BDP-S350.
I did not see the "intrusive halo" or "inadequate compression" issues that Phantom Stranger noticed, but then I was simply enjoying the movie without viewing it with a technical eye. As PS says, the images are razor-sharp and the colors are not smeared or over-saturated at all. Nor did I detect any graininess in each scene - it is a very smooth image. No audio problems.
With the UK-produced copy that I bought you get three different menu choices: Play, Special Features, and Scene Select. The film played without any problems and the scene selection feature operated flawlessly. However, I could not get the special features option to work.
The film was very entertaining and I would recommend it as good drama; a considerable amount of dialogue but with enough action scenes to keep it moving at a consistent pace. The film is based upon a true story and I won't say any more because I don't want to give away any info that might spoil it for anyone.
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Thanks. I've just ordered this. I can also recommend 'The Army of Crime'. Great film and good transfer.
Thanks. I've just ordered this. I can also recommend 'The Army of Crime'. Great film and good transfer.
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