- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,428
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
No doubt about it. Dances with Wolves is a brilliantly made film.
And having this film on Blu-ray should be a major event, even if the version, which is one that I personally prefer, may not be the version considered the Academy Award winning Best Picture of 1990. I presume that the shorter version would hold all award honors. But that's historical minutia.
No need to go into the glorious reviews or background, Dances with Wolves is one of the finest western dramas to come out of Hollywood in the past century. It's a film that I treasure.
Color, densities, black levels and everything that make up a quality image all seem to be in place. What I'm not getting is resolution, and I'm not certain why. The element transferred may have been an interpositive, but I'm not certain, as I didn't watch the entire film. Detail in backgrounds is virtually non-existent, along with a lack of highly resolved grain levels. There is also slight haloing of the image, as well as a lack of steadiness, a veritable trademark of an image newly harvested on high end hardware. My assumption is that is not a recent image harvest. I'm not privy to when this transfer was created, whether it began as an HD master or 2 or 4k data.
I'm also not certain whether part of the problem may stem from 234 minutes of image plus audio on a BD-50, but there are folks out there better attuned to the mechanics of the situation that can report on this far better than I.
I was looking forward to see what DwW would look like in a new quality transfer, and although for the most part the image is quite good, there is nothing that jumps out as representative of a modern HD transfer. There is no "wow" factor, and for a film of this importance, there should be.
For those with average size screens, inclusive of projection, the disc should be fine. Others may find it lacking.
It troubles me to report that while the film is extraordinary in all regards, the Blu-ray is not.
It is however, very good.
Both the film and Mr. Semler's wonderful cinematography both deserve better.
RAH
And having this film on Blu-ray should be a major event, even if the version, which is one that I personally prefer, may not be the version considered the Academy Award winning Best Picture of 1990. I presume that the shorter version would hold all award honors. But that's historical minutia.
No need to go into the glorious reviews or background, Dances with Wolves is one of the finest western dramas to come out of Hollywood in the past century. It's a film that I treasure.
Color, densities, black levels and everything that make up a quality image all seem to be in place. What I'm not getting is resolution, and I'm not certain why. The element transferred may have been an interpositive, but I'm not certain, as I didn't watch the entire film. Detail in backgrounds is virtually non-existent, along with a lack of highly resolved grain levels. There is also slight haloing of the image, as well as a lack of steadiness, a veritable trademark of an image newly harvested on high end hardware. My assumption is that is not a recent image harvest. I'm not privy to when this transfer was created, whether it began as an HD master or 2 or 4k data.
I'm also not certain whether part of the problem may stem from 234 minutes of image plus audio on a BD-50, but there are folks out there better attuned to the mechanics of the situation that can report on this far better than I.
I was looking forward to see what DwW would look like in a new quality transfer, and although for the most part the image is quite good, there is nothing that jumps out as representative of a modern HD transfer. There is no "wow" factor, and for a film of this importance, there should be.
For those with average size screens, inclusive of projection, the disc should be fine. Others may find it lacking.
It troubles me to report that while the film is extraordinary in all regards, the Blu-ray is not.
It is however, very good.
Both the film and Mr. Semler's wonderful cinematography both deserve better.
RAH