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Blu-Ray Disc Reviews A To L

Started by yorac , Jun 03 2008 10:11 PM

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#26 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 30 June 2008 - 02:10 AM

The Fly: I remember the fuss surrounding this movie when it was first released in the cinema. Especially the "birth scene". This Blu-ray has been MPEG4AVC encoded, at an average of 24 MBPS on a 50GB dual layer disc (all this info is on the back cover). It has an English DTS 5.1 Master Audio lossless soundtrack with English/Spanish/French/Cantonese/Korean subtitles or Spanish/French soundtracks in mono. It's a Fox title therefore my US copy is region locked. I think they've done a pretty good job with picture quality for such an old movie. It was clean and crisp throughout despite a lot of the scenes being in darkened rooms such as Brundle's laboratory. There were not too many scenes in which one saw the 3D effect that is more prevalent in good transfers of newer films. The level of detail was average. The special effects haven't really stood the test of time very well...especially the latex suit that Goldblum is wearing as he becomes the fly. Some of it still has that wince factor though, especially when he's pulling out his fingernails or teeth. And the melting hand and foot scene is still pretty yuk, lol. Colours are pretty solid and saturated if washed out. The menu is quite amusing, producing a "fly" sound anytime something is chosen. I would only recommend buying if you are a real fan of Cronenberg's work or this movie in particular.

The Rock: This old Michael Bay movie seems to have been given special treatment. It comes with an uncompressed linear PCM 5.1 English soundtrack with 5.1 Dolby Digital English/French/Spanish soundtracks withe English/French/Spanish subtitles. It's an all region disc. Picture quality was superb with a very high level of detail and rich, solid and saturated colours particularly noticeable on the black Humvee or yellow Ferrari during the car chase scene. During close ups of peoples faces you can really see all the pores and wrinkles and there were a couple of particularly impressive close ups of Ed Harris's face and his eyes in particular. I couldn't quite see the red veins in the whites of his eyes, lol. I wonder if they've been airbrushed out. This is pretty much like Mr Bay's other movies...with a rather gung ho and exaggerated depiction of American military power which we know the US doesn't really have. The background music and direction reminded me very strongly of Transformers (not surprising, of course) to the point where it might have been difficult to tell the two apart though The Rock is more sparing when it comes to those fast cut scenes. They seem to have been made to a particular Michael Bay "template". Despite good performances from all concerned, the actors can't really make this movie anything more than it is...a popcorn action flick. But if your a fan of this movie, it's never looked better.

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 30 June 2008 - 02:10 AM.

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#27 neuty

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Posted 30 June 2008 - 02:41 AM

Thanks for the review's TBF
I'm Tempted by The Rock on bluray but how would this compare to the Criterion Edition in regards of PQ and SQ.You clearly state how good it is but i know that the Criterion is also good.
Thanks

Neuty

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#28 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 30 June 2008 - 06:11 AM

No Country for Old Men: Well...the Coen brothers are back on form and this movie was so good I forgot to notice picture or audio quality other than to remark that they are excellent. Well, not quite, lol, this film is a definite improvement over the last two or three movies produced and directed by the Coen brothers. The plot centres around a drug deal gone bad and the fool who comes across the money and the drugs. He decides to keep the money for himself unaware that a professional cold-blooded and thoroughly insane killer is also looking for it. Behaving in a rather predictable fashion, he is unable to put any real distance between himself and the killer. The police are also involved, naturally. The local sheriff being played by Tommy Lee Jones in fine form delivering his usual good performance as the lawman on the trail of both the killer and the man with the money. Needless to say, this is not your usual linear good guys after bad guys movie but told in that quirky slow-paced style for which the Coens are famous.

Unfortunately my player does not display which codec is used but it is, according to other reviews, MPEG4AVC. The Coens are using an off-colour tint that reminds me of the one used in The Proposition only not so strong. It enhances the feeling of heat in the Texas desert/wasteland in which a lot of the movie is set. There is a high level of detail....I was particularly struck by the asphalt of the roads in one or two scenes...you almost feel as if you can reach into the screen and feel its roughness.

All told, an excellent if unusual film that may not be to everyone's taste.

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 30 June 2008 - 10:47 PM.

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#29 Chesty

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Posted 30 June 2008 - 11:10 AM

There Will Be Blood

Firstly, Daniel Day Lewis would have to be one of the finest actors of our generation. He is simply outstanding. He is one of very few actors that I will watch in any movie he makes.

In regards to the actual movie, I really liked it and is typical of Paul Thomas Anderson's calibre of work. While its a long movie (2.5 hours) I found it went pretty quick. Its not an action movie, in fact not a word is spoken for the first 20 minutes or so and nor need there be as the direction and acting sets it up nicely.
It gives a good insight into the oil men of the 1900's and how a mans dedication for the black gold comes before everything!

In reqards to the PQ, while not reference its still pretty darn good. The Dolby True HD did a great job with the source it had to work with.

All in all a worthy addition to any collection IMO.

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#30 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 01 July 2008 - 05:31 PM

American Psycho: This is the movie that first brought Christian Bale to my attention as an actor to be reckoned with and I imagine this is true for a lot of other people. They have done a really excellent job with this transfer given the film's age. The quality was good throughout and sometimes even a little too good in that is showed up the make up on peoples faces...a notable example being the scene were CB and Willem Dafoe were having lunch. The make up on Dafoe's face appeared to have been applied with a trowel, lol, giving him a plastic look. As for the plot of the movie, I think that's pretty well known but it centres around the psychopathic fantasies of a Wall street professional in mergers and acquisitions. This is the unrated version but it's been so long since I saw the ordinary version that I cannot really say what the differences are. The discs menus are pretty simple...there doesn't appear to be any Java or BD+ to reckon with so the disc loads quickly like a DVD.

A quality release recommended for collectors and fans of the film and/or CB's work.

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 02 July 2008 - 07:59 AM.

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#31 yorac

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Posted 02 July 2008 - 05:13 PM

Black Hawk Down

Region A

PQ: 4/5 - A great transfer, some of the best night scenes I've seen in a BR yet

AQ: 5/5 - The soundtrack on this delivers and I rate it as demo material

This was one of the first BR's I bought and it was interesting to see it on a DLP as against originally seeing it on my Z4, there are simply scenes in this that blew me away, especially some of the night scenes, IMO this is Ridley Scott's best work and another film that has created much debate on director's intent, a great movie based very closely to the real thing

Edited by yorac, 02 July 2008 - 05:14 PM.

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#32 yorac

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Posted 02 July 2008 - 05:18 PM

Updated and thanks to all for reviews and input

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#33 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 02 July 2008 - 05:58 PM

If you don't mind Yorac, it seems as if I'll be posting in this thread a lot since I seem to like reviewing discs even though I'm useless at it, lol.

Rising Sun: It's been quite a while since I first saw this movie. In terms of plot and style it hasn't aged well remaining firmly rooted in its time. The Japanese are portrayed in a rather one-dimensional fashion...ruthless businessmen, deeply conservative, inscrutable, etc., etc. Not even a typically good performance from Sean Connery can raise the movie out of the mass of cliches in which it is firmly embedded. As for the transfer...the beginning of the movie suffers from a lot of noise and unsaturated colours making it look like a badly upscaled DVD but the early part of the movie takes place in dark conditions...indoors at night and so on. After about an hour or so, picture quality improves dramtically as the film moves into the daytime and outdoors and this quality is maintained until the end. So, picture quality is a mixed bag. The dialogue was clear to my ears but I don't think this is a disc that is going to give anyone's AV set up a serious workout. There's not much in the way of special effects in the sound arena.

To sum up, I wouldn't recommend buying this disc unless it's in the bargain bin somewhere even if you do like the movie.

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#34 ekkieTHUMP

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Posted 03 July 2008 - 09:56 PM

I got Zodiac today.As far as i can see it's pretty much everything from the 2 disc HD DVD set squeezed on to one BD.Can't do you a back to back comparo sorry but i can confirm the PQ blows the local dvd into a gazillion pieces.Coming from a digital source you would expect it to be perfect but i noticed the odd flaw.Moire effect on the opening shot of San Francisco,a touch of edge enhancement on objects against a blue sky and a bit of colour banding in some dark scenes.All of this is very minor though on what is for the most part one of the sharpest and most compelling HD transfers i've ever seen.No hi res audio to report and everything outside the centre channel is pretty subdued.No advantage here over the dvd.Extras are phenomenal and cover just every aspect of the real life case and the making of the movie.This would have to be a no brainer purchase for most of us.

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#35 AK Anthony

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 09:26 AM

Have uploaded my review for 'Cars' (as per my mag).

Cars - Full in-depth review is here, where i've also added a function to prompt an assessment of how helpful the review was to you.

Summary of PQ/SQ aspects

PQ = 4.5/5 = "Detail and depth is incredibly rich and intense...Landscape and buildings pop in presentation, and the bold, vivid primaries are smear free...Shadow delineation is near perfect"
SQ = 5/5 = "dynamic soundtrack that is rhythmic and full of life...deep, punchy level of bass that not even some live-movie films can match...clean soundstage "

I'll upload Ratatouille and Pixar Short Films maybe later today or tommorrow. Takes a while to transfer across from a pdf file to my blog to here.

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#36 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 10:38 PM

Shoot em up: This movie probably would have totally escaped my notice if it weren't for the fact that Monica Belluci is in it (sad, I know). The plot is...well...paper thin. It involves an amoral anti-gun politician breeding babies to save himself from bone marrow cancer, and the owner of a successful gun manufacturing business and his hired killer played by Paul Giamatti in what I think is an unusual role for him. Plus, of course, the movie's anti-hero played with obvious relish by Clive Owen (of Children of Men fame). Monica Belluci plays a tart with an immoral heart. Though her role is not totally window dressing, the director does make use of her considerable good looks, lol. As for the background of our anti-hero, we are kept totally in the dark as to his origins or motivation for what he does in the movie. He's a crack shot with any type of gun, mowing down bad guys with slaughterhouse efficiency and is even good at throwing knives. Character development is zero, but I for one am sick of boring character driven movies...gimme the action! :lol:

The stunts in the gunfight scenes are outrageous and are reminiscent of John Woo albeit some John Woo from an alternate amoral universe. As a consequence violence is frequent and graphic but somewhat comic-book like in the glee with which it is portrayed. It isn't for the faint-hearted however and there were even a few scenes that made me wince involving a scalpel. The ending is perhaps the weakest part of the film...it doesn't quite gel with the rest and seems almost like it was thrown in as an afterthought.

I watched the region A Blu-ray which is locked according to momaw's list. Picture quality was consistently superb from the beginning of the movie though I did note some moire effects now and then.

The movie doesn't out stay its welcome clocking in at a little less than an hour and a half. If you like violent, brainless action and aren't squeamish, I can recommend wasting some of your life on this, though I'd say rent rather than buy. If not, avoid, lol.

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 04 July 2008 - 10:42 PM.

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#37 yorac

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 10:48 PM

The Island

Region ABC

PQ: 4/5 - An extremely good transfer on this with some demo stuff on certain scenes

AQ: 4/5 - The soundtrack on this is DD only (at 640K) however it is surprisingly good and some very nice LFE as well

The movie - not everyone's cuppa but an enjoyable enough ride if not a bit predictable towards the end

Edited by yorac, 04 July 2008 - 10:48 PM.

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#38 yorac

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 10:58 PM

Updated, guys appreciate all contributions but could you please list the Region of any titles you review, thanks

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#39 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 11:10 PM

Of course. All of mine are region A (locked or unlocked). But I cannot edit my earlier posts

Just to confirm 100%:
The Fly: My copy is region locked to A
The Rock: ABC on the cover and plays when my player is either A or B (not surprisingly :lol:

)
No Country for Old Men: Region A on the cover, but plays when my player is either A or B
Rising Sun: My copy is locked to A
American Psycho: My copy is locked to A
Shoot em up: My copy is locked to A

Reason for edit: to provide region information. Cheers Yorac!

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 05 July 2008 - 01:58 AM.

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#40 yorac

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Posted 04 July 2008 - 11:20 PM

TheBlackFlash, on Jul 4 2008, 11:10 PM, said:

Of course. All of mine are region A (locked or unlocked). But I cannot edit my earlier posts

Thanks Flash I can update via the 1st post

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#41 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 06:16 AM

Die Hard: I watched (or tried to) the locked region A blu-ray disc of Die Hard. This film is now at least 20 years old. The image is soft and very blurred, often appearing to be filmed through a fine cloud of dust or smoke. It is completely lacking in that fine detail to which one is accustomed with a HD image. The contrast in textures (which would give it that 3D effect) is lacking and the edges of shadows are soft and smeared. Colours are more or less saturated but with some "fizzing" especially at the red end of the spectrum. Skin tones are mostly natural in appearance and make up is only infrequently apparent. I was extremely disappointed with transfer quality despite the high bitrate and taking into account the movie's age. Sound was average with dialogue more or less clear but with special effects having an unnatural processed clarity jarring against the soundtrack as a whole. It's apparent that 20th Century Fox pulled out absolutley none of the stops when it came to the HD transfer of this film.

After popping my ordinary DVD into my XE1 and watching it upscaled, the difference between the upscaled image and the blu-ray was minor...perhaps nothing more than increased clarity in the background. Altogether a very disappointing experience and not worth the money. Avoid like the plague.

Frisbee time, yippee!

Edited by TheBlackFlash, 05 July 2008 - 06:23 AM.

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#42 AK Anthony

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 11:15 AM

'Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1' --- Region B

Full in-depth review is here

Summary of PQ/SQ aspects

PQ = 4/5 = Inconsistent; latter pieces are stunning, the early ones a blight to the 'film'.
SQ = 4/5 = Much alike the PQ, also struggles for consistency with latter pieces using score and dynamics well, whereas the earlier shorts lack envelopment.
Film - Refer to full review link above. In short, great stuff albeit still a short feature (as you would expect from the title).

Ratatouille to come within a similar timeframe. (saving the best for last)

Pleae note - Cars and all previous reviews were Region [b]. Edit does not funciton for me beyond 24 hours.

Edited by the_wonderchild, 05 July 2008 - 11:20 AM.

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#43 flukeyluke

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 11:32 AM

TheBlackFlash, on Jul 5 2008, 06:16 AM, said:

Die Hard: I watched (or tried to) the locked region A blu-ray disc of Die Hard. This film is now at least 20 years old. The image is soft and very blurred, often appearing to be filmed through a fine cloud of dust or smoke. It is completely lacking in that fine detail to which one is accustomed with a HD image. The contrast in textures (which would give it that 3D effect) is lacking and the edges of shadows are soft and smeared. Colours are more or less saturated but with some "fizzing" especially at the red end of the spectrum. Skin tones are mostly natural in appearance and make up is only infrequently apparent. I was extremely disappointed with transfer quality despite the high bitrate and taking into account the movie's age. Sound was average with dialogue more or less clear but with special effects having an unnatural processed clarity jarring against the soundtrack as a whole. It's apparent that 20th Century Fox pulled out absolutley none of the stops when it came to the HD transfer of this film.

After popping my ordinary DVD into my XE1 and watching it upscaled, the difference between the upscaled image and the blu-ray was minor...perhaps nothing more than increased clarity in the background. Altogether a very disappointing experience and not worth the money. Avoid like the plague.

Frisbee time, yippee!

Bought this last night. Sounds like I will be disappointed. :angry:

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#44 yorac

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 12:46 PM

Updated and will edit later to show region next to links

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#45 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 05:51 PM

flukeyluke, on Jul 5 2008, 03:32 AM, said:

Bought this last night. Sounds like I will be disappointed. :angry:

Sorry to hear that. It's a very disappointing transfer in my opinion and I'd give it maybe 2 or 3 out of 10. Personally, I would recommend to anyone considering buying it to wait on a remastered version. When I compare it against fabulous restorations of older movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey or even Forbidden Planet, then it's even worse. Cheers.

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#46 mfedley

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Posted 05 July 2008 - 06:52 PM

Hi All,

Just a quick review of Starship Troopers.

The movie itself can be described as two things. First, it's a dumb big action movie, and scratch the surface and its a commentary on how the world tries and solves its problems. I wont go on too much about the storyline as it is probably well known to most people. I will say that it was an enjoyable movie. The VQ was reasonably good for a movie that was a decade old. The audio though I was very impressed with. Just remember to choose PCM for audio if your system handles it. Overall 4 stars

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#47 Guest_TheBlackFlash_*

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Posted 06 July 2008 - 07:28 PM

Wall Street: This was an impulse buy yesterday along with Ronin, but that's another boring review by me :lol:

It's region B and not locked, at least it plays whether my player is region A or B. I'm sorry to say that most if not all of my criticisms of Die Hard carry over to Wall Street. Picture quality is a little bit better...I might give it 4 or 5 out of 10 but this is clearly just another upscaled DVD on a Blu-ray disc. This along with Die Hard is pretty good evidence that bandwith and space alone do not a good transfer make. All parts of the process need care and attention; something that 20th Century Fox patently haven't bothered with. Since this is more or less a dialogue driven film, your AVR will pretty much have nothing to do. The soundtrack is pretty much just plain old stereo...though that's good enough for me. Colours again suffer from that "washed out" look...rather like an old faded pair of blue jeans and the image is soft throughout. 20th Century Fox need to pull up their socks when it comes to mastering the source material. I won't be buying any more of their catalogue releases until they do. Cheers.

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#48 AK Anthony

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Posted 06 July 2008 - 08:04 PM

'Ratatouille' Review --- Region B

Full in-depth review is here

Summary of PQ/SQ aspects (taken as quotes from above review, where more detail follows)

PQ = 4.5/5 = "refined, natural approach...uncannily gorgeous sense of ‘pop’...rich, discernable detail"
SQ = 4.5/5 = "hefty range of dynamics...superiority by the discrete level of ambience...engrossing atmosphere courtesy of the effervescent soundtrack"
Film - Refer to full review link above. Perhaps not as 'out and out' funny as Cars, it is a really enoyable film that gets better with subsequent viewings.

Will make a forthcoming consideration on whether i will continue with such reviews.

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#49 SimonNo10

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Posted 08 July 2008 - 09:42 AM

Can someone review Cloverfield. I've read the Hifi Digest review just curious what others think of the audio. I puchased this off Ebay just over 1 month ago and the person is claiming that USPS are holding her items and the first one she sent me came back with unknown address?? Confirmed address with her all good so 2nd one despatched last Friday fingers crossed it arrives. By the time it arrives I reacon the local version will be out. :rolleyes:

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#50 darockk

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Posted 08 July 2008 - 03:52 PM

I've just watched Tears of the Sun starring Bruce Willis and Monica Belluci.

Would like to comment that the PQ is just absolutely superb, even though most of the scenes are shot at night.

You can see every sweat drop on on Bruce's head and every beard hair on his face.

The movie itself is not too bad, not your typical blood bath action flick. It is slightly predictable and of course the old USA saves the day yet again type affair.