[tlreddragon]

Several websites gave Black Rain a great PQ rating, but I for one was thoroughly underwhelmed. It just looked really "old" and the print suffers from a lot of dirt and blemishes. On top of that, it also looks very soft. Anyone else surprised by the PQ or am I just crazy?


Edit: After watching through it some more, the print is actually pretty clean but there is definitely something wrong with the contrast. Everything is drowning in darkness and detail is sometimes hard to make out even in well-lit scenes.

 

[Chris Rein]

Not sure. It came in the mail today and will be watching this week. I love this movie, and I really do hope that it's a good transfer.


For me, it will be a major improvement over the initial release I have here.

 

[DeathStalker2]

Well I called Best Buy, Circuit City, FYE, Virgin Megastore, and even Suncoast Video and NONE had got any in. This was in San Francisco. I ended up ordering from Amazon today and I'll let you know when it comes in. Man what a pain.

 

[Chris Rein]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathStalker2 /forum/post/0


Well I called Best Buy, Circuit City, FYE, Virgin Megastore, and even Suncoast Video and NONE had got any in. This was in San Francisco. I ended up ordering from Amazon today and I'll let you know when it comes in. Man what a pain.

Amazon is the way to go. I was in Best Buy, and they didn't have it.


Mine came in from Amazon today. Great service and prices!

 

[AudiRedDevil]

yea for some reason, my bby didnt get it today either. as far as pq goes, don't know, maybe it's just b/c it is quite old and shot in a very gritty manor

 

[DigitalfreakNYC]



Quote:
Originally Posted by crakerhead /forum/post/0


yea for some reason, my bby didnt get it today either. as far as pq goes, don't know, maybe it's just b/c it is quite old and shot in a very gritty manor

great. 18 years is considered "quite old" now?

 

[Tigerfan2006]

I watched it tonight (Netflix).


While I wouldn't call it great eye candy, it was a clean, solid and reasonably sharp transfer.


There were a couple of dark, shadowy scenes that were not as detailed as I would have liked.


It was filmed in dark, drab and gritty style with a lot of smoke (which looked fine with no pixelization).


Only the Tokyo Neon Signs showed any bright colors and they looked great.


Kate Capshaw certainly looked lovely in HD.

 

[SEMAJ92]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tigerfan2006 /forum/post/0


It was filmed in dark, drab and gritty style with a lot of smoke (which looked fine with no pixelization).

Which is Ridley Scott's trademark.


I think alot of people are going to be disappointed once Alien hits Blu Ray and Blade Runner hits HD DVD. Those two films take place almost entirely in the dark and nowadays people are looking for that digitized CGI eye candy.


Anyway, I thought Black Rain was perfect in almost everyway (blacks, shadow detail, colors). Even for this films age (which at 18 isn't so bad), this transfer is going to raise alot of eyebrows, IMHO.

 

[ShagMan]

Yep, ol "put some more smoke on it!" Ridley Scott.


Mine should be at my doorstop this evening, can't wait!

 

[Dave Mack]



Quote:
Originally Posted by SEMAJ92 /forum/post/0


Which is Ridley Scott's trademark.


I think alot of people are going to be disappointed once Alien hits Blu Ray and Blade Runner hits HD DVD. Those two films take place almost entirely in the dark and nowadays people are looking for that digitized CGI eye candy.


Anyway, I thought Black Rain was perfect in almost everyway (blacks, shadow detail, colors). Even for this films age (which at 18 isn't so bad), this transfer is going to raise alot of eyebrows, IMHO.

I've heard from many that ALIEN on D-theater was about as reference PQ image as possible with the tape going for up to $200 on Ebay!

 

[Matt_Stevens]

How's the sound? The SE DVD's have almost zero sound coming from the rears, whereas the old laserdisc had a very active surround track. The HD version that aired on HBO and Showtime was the same as the DVD's. No surrounds.

 

[Rusty James]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt_Stevens /forum/post/0


How's the sound? The SE DVD's have almost zero sound coming from the rears, whereas the old laserdisc had a very active surround track. The HD version that aired on HBO and Showtime was the same as the DVD's. No surrounds.

The HD-DVD is the same: Little to no surround action.


The PQ is aces, though.

 

[DigitalfreakNYC]

The sound probably sucks just like most of Paramounts 5.1 remixes. The original surround was great, you're right. But that was regular pro-logic.

 

[b.ramos]

BB does not even have it on there web site for HD-DVD but they do carry it for Blu-ray.

 

[DigitalfreakNYC]



Quote:
Originally Posted by b.ramos /forum/post/0


BB does not even have it on there web site for HD-DVD but they do carry it for Blu-ray.

It's a conspiracy and I DEFINITELY think you should start a thread about it.

 

[Robert George]

I am intimately familiar with how this film has fared on video going back to the original laserdisc (both letterbox and fullscreen). This also happens to be a movie I like. I popped in the new HD version (Blu-ray by default, all they had) and was floored. This transfer looks better, by a huge margin, than anything I have seen before, especially when this was first released on LD.


Resolution is the obvious difference, but it goes way beyond that. The image is considerably "cleaner" with marked lack of video noise and grain (in a good way). There is detail and sharpness here that makes this a brand new experience.


Seriously lovin' on this disc.

 

[Josh Z]

The disc looks pretty good and sounds just OK. The movie itself is hilariously awful.

 

[tlreddragon]

I must be crazy then because to me it looks awful. I realize it's a 20 year old movie and a lot of it has to do with Ridley Scott's style of shooting but to me it just looks old and drab. I honestly don't see how anyone can describe the detail as excellent let alone rate it a 4.5 out of 5.

 

[Robert George]



Quote:
I honestly don't see how anyone can describe the detail as excellent let alone rate it a 4.5 out of 5.

I honestly don't see how someone can look at this disc and NOT see how good it is.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Robert, have you ever been able to view the broadcast cable HD transfer?