A Few Words About A few words about... Lethal Weapon -- in High Definition (1 Viewer)

[Ed St. Clair]

Does this make LW the first HD DVD NOT to have all the features/extras of a DVD release?
Any guesses why the DC wasn't used?

 

[Adam_ME]

The first DVD release of Legal Wreckin had the theatrical cut and the trailer. The second DVD had the DC and the trailer(along with a DTS track).

The HD-DVD has the theatrical cut, the DC scenes offered as extras, and the trailer. So technically WB didn't leave anything out.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Good to know!
Thanks.
So all's thats missing feature wise is the DTS track. I'd ask if any one compared the DD+ against the SD DVD DTS, however we ALL know what kind of posts that would produce! ;-)

 

[JohnS]

Whenever you get Lethal Weapon Robert Crawford, I like to know your opinion, since it seems we have a wide range of opinions.

I'm sure this will look nice on my 1080p DLP TV, but I just would like one more opinion.

 

[Hank]

This is also the way I have looked at my HD DVD's of Goodfellas & Full Metal Jacket. These movies never had their 35mm prints restored, or have they? I hate it when people want every older movie to look like Star Wars Episode III or any modern day film.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Goodfellas HD DVD looks terrific. It looks like film. That's not the issue. The issue is that the same grade-A treatment wasn't given to FMJ or Lethal Weapon, apparently since they use antique HD transfers with poor compression techniques. The white skies of FMJ are frequently alive with writhing white worms that I found highly distracting. The film version most emphatically does not have that effect. Lethal Weapon has very sparkly, instead of natural, grain, and no shadow detail at all. While some movies are designed to have a very high contrast in order to virtually eliminate shadow detail (such as DOOM), I have no reason to believe that LW was a case of that kind of stylized visual experience. Take for instance the scene where the dealer is brought into the dark room to meet McAllister and Joshua. There's virtually nothing that you can make out in the shadows for much of the sequence--indeed, it's hard to make out what's going on at all. I was expecting a much higher level of clarity there, but it's still the same murky mess as the 1997 DVD. Same situation to a lesser extent in the torture rooms. If someone can demonstrate that Donner actually intended this effect, I'm more than happy to revise my opinion, but I remain highly skeptical.

 

[Rakesh.S]

It's extremely disappointing that studios are releasing discs with inferior, older transfers on purpose just so they can milk the consumer later with a "deluxe,special,uber" edition with the newer transfer.

I can understand releasing older transfers IF newer ones didn't exist, but this is just pathetic.

 

[CaptDS9E]

I watched LW last night and thought it looked very good. Better then it ever has on a home video format. The movie is dark and murky to begin with and has never been one to show off home video equipment. Its just not that type of film.

FMJ and Fugitive i have watched and both do have there problems. However Lethal Weapon is not one of them

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is just another example why you have to judge a dvd by what you see and not what somebody else is telling you. No offense to any reviewers, but there has been more times than I can count in which I disagreed with a dvd review after viewing it on my own HT setup with my own eyes and expectation level.

My disc of this title shipped today so I'll have it by Friday and plan on watching it on Friday night.





Crawdaddy

 

[Jordan_E]

Watched Lethal Weapon last night and it is the best looking version I have seen yet. The colors pop nicely, there is more detail in far off shots of LA (I have seen this movie more times that I can remember and immediately notice "new" things like more detail), and Eric Clapton's guitar riffs come through the speakers nicely. Well worth the price, at least to me, a long time fan of this particular franchise. Bring on the sequels!

 

[Pete T C]

For those who have seen both cuts, which is better? The director's cut or the theatrical?

 

[Paul McElligott]

The school scene in the DC fleshes out Rigg's suicidal desperation a lot better. There's another priceless scene later that really shows his loneliness. If you like action, stick with the TC. If you want better developed characters, go with the DC.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

It's a fine line we walk!
I could not do without reviewers, yet do not want to be closed minded to a release that did not get high review marks.
At the same time I've had to learn what is good enough to "me" as apposed to the "reviewer". Take my fave mag for DVD reviews, WSR (I know people don't care for WSR here, however they remain my fave mag for DVD reviews), a 3.5 rating out of 5 (or even 5+) is not great by any means. Just for older catalog titles I found myself very happy with 3.5 rated DVD video transfers. As long as the disc did not have EE. Where as I would most likely pass on any new film with a 3.5 video rating, as well as shy away from any modern 5.1 soundtrack with a 3.5 sound rating.
Live & learn! ;-)

It's what is also GREAT about this forum!!!
Many different opinions (maybe even to many ;-) ) & much quicker reviews than the paper mags (as much as I still love them).

Thanks again for such a great forum!
And, it's been fun to watch the HD forum grow from 10 to 12 people on, to 20, to 50, to 75. Maybe next year there will be as many people on the HD forum for software as the SD forum for software!

Here's hoping!!!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Watched this earlier this evening on HD DVD and I am somewhat in the middle of the opinions on this title. With the caveat that I am watching this on an LCD FP ( Panasonic AE700 )...

Most of the brightly lit scenes looked really nice. Detail did appear to vary from scene to scene in the film with some sequences exhibiting great clarity and some appearing slightly softer. ( I believe this has more to do with the photography of the film vs. any issues with encoding given that some scenes are very clear. )

Roger's jacket still has moire interference patterns in at least one shot. Dark scenes were softer and had poorer detail. But the question of fidelity to theatrical presentation remains with regards to the weaker elements on display. Too many years have gone by for me to even attempt to recall the original theatrical experience. Considering the quality of the brighter scenes and the minimalistic lighting associated with the darker scenes in the film I'm willing to cut the dark sequences on the HD DVD some slack. In the bright scenes, this is the best the film has ever looked on home video. My guess is that for most folks - your tolerance for the softness in the darkest scenes will probably dictate, to a large degree, your opinion of this transfer.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

After watching this title from beginning to end today, I'm very pleased with this disc. As others have stated, this is the best "Lethal Weapon" has looked on any video format. It might not be pristine like some later films, but it's still a very good presentation that pretty much captures the look of this 1987 film.




Crawdaddy

 

[Pete T C]

I want to buy this but comments earlier indicate that I'd like the DC better... So where's the director's cut Warner?!