Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Cowboys (1 Viewer)

[Kevin EK]

Blu-ray Disc REVIEW

 

[TonyD]

the image was good i guess but i expected better.

there was a scene in the night when wayne crosses in front of or behind his horse, but i couldnt tell if it was behind or in front of his horse.
it all blended together.

john williams score was a treat to hear.

i guess this was after his work for Lost in Space as he was Johnny Williams there.

the reunion was great must watch stuff after seeing the film.

 

[RobertSiegel]

Well here is another movie that gets a Dolby Digital Plus sound addition on HD_DVD yet the blu-ray has the fully compressed Dolby Digital 5.1. Warner is being very unfair to all of the blu-ray owners. Many of us upgraded from DVD because of the lossless audio tracks, and are being given the same tracks as the discs we already own. I certainly hope that this is not going to be the norm for Warner. The classics, as well as the newer films, as far as sound, are much better uncompressed, and they now have the tools (3 formats actually, DTS HD, Dolby True HD and PCM 5.1 to do this. Come on Warner Brothers.

 

[BrettB]

Most all Warner BD discs are rentals for me until they get their act together.

Just watched the first few minutes last night and the varying video quality was apparent from the get-go.

Didn't realize John Williams did the music. Now I'm looking forward to hearing the film as much as watching it.

 

[Brian L]

If it makes you feel better, the HD-DVD version appears to be very similar to what is described here for BR. Some shots are horrible looking, severe grain, fuzziness....

But fortunately those are few and far between. They stand out simply because they are few in number. Overall, its a very nice presentation, let down by what I would have to speculate is an inferior print.

Brian

 

[Vincent_P]

Warner uses the 640 KB/S data rate for DD+ titles on HD-DVD, and 640 KB/S DD on Blu-ray. At that date rate, the two formats offer exactly the same sound quality. The only reason it's encoded as DD+ on HD-DVD is because HD-DVD doesn't support standard DD at the 640 KB rate, while Blu-ray does.

Vincent

 

[Vincent_P]

Might the shots in question be opticals (dissolves, fades, shots with overlayed text, etc.?). This would explain the drop in quality and has nothing to do with the "transfer".

Vincent

 

[Brian L]

I know little about film, so any explanation for what I observed would be possible.

That said, and without re-watching the film, I do not recall that the areas in question were fades, dissolves, or text overlays. It just seemed like a cut from one scene to the next, and bang, the quality just took a nose dive.

Perhaps th OP can comment about where those areas in the BR presentation were observed.

Brian

 

[MatthewA]

I'd say it's the opticals that are the problem. They didn't have good dupe stock until the 1980s.