DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Léon The Professional: Deluxe Edition (RECOMMENDED) (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

We still haven't heard from anyone who can compare the new edition with the older one directly. If the version that you have is the extended cut, and you don't care about the extra features, then I'd hold off on upgrading until you see a concrete comparison.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I've compared all three, and I see no difference visually among them. Remember that the original was essentially a Superbit since it included almost no extras.

If you don't care about extras, I see absolutely no reason to get the DE...

 

[Ted Lee]

thx guys! pretty much as i suspected...

 

[Jim-M]

Colin,

You have the audio rated slightly higher for the original uncut international version. So for the best combo of audio and video, disregarding extras, is the original version the one you'd recommend?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yeah, it is. I don't see differences in video quality among the three, and I think the original's mix is a little stronger. All three remain flawed, though - I still don't think Leon's gotten a good DVD release...

 

[Jim-M]

Thank you, Colin.

 

[CraigF]

After all, I found this release to not be the slightest bit disappointing. There may have been flaws, but I really didn't notice them, certainly nothing to get me ranting! Pretty much a

 

[Jean-Francois Masse]

I wonder why my sony player is not freezing at all on the layer change. Normally I can see the lights (ch indicator) on my denon receiver going off for 10 frames (1/3 second) but with this film, not at all. I've seen the same only with another title, Apollo 13 DD.ac3

 

[CraigF]

Jean-Francois: I'm not sure what you're asking (i.e. is the disc in fact dual-layer?). I watched on an RP82, and possibly that machine's greatest weakness for normal viewing is poor layer change times. I can say for sure there is a layer change, though the delay was quite short, about average for discs these days on that machine (I've seen plenty of longer delays).

 

[Jean-Francois Masse]

No I am positive there is one. I'm at work and can't say exactly where but there is one. With my sony player, with the display, I can see where the laser is and on witch layer (0 or 1) And on this movie, at the layer change there is absolutely no pause at all. Like if my player had a buffer!

 

[DavidGT]

I had The Professional, Leon-International, Leon-Superbit, and now Leon Deluxe.
Pitcure quality Leon Superbit was the worse(I hated that one, very grainy/noisy).
Then came along the Leon Deluxe which I think has the nicest/cleaning looking PQ of all the 4 releases. So there is not way the DE it's the same as the superbit version, I have no idea what people are bitchin about.

 

[Alex-B]

Colin Jacobson:


Colin, can you compare these three R1 releases with Korean Leon Special Edition (region 3), or Japan Advanced DTS Collector's Edition (region 2)?

Links:

LEON: KOREAN SPECIAL EDITION DVD review - totaldvdnet /cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?reviewid=10383

Leon - Korean Theatrical/Director's Cut Special Edition - R3 review - dvdtherapycom /reviews/leon_korean.php

LEON: ADVANCED DTS COLLECTOR'S EDITION DVD review - totaldvdnet /cgi-bin/dvdreviews.php?dvdid=6320

 

[CraigL]

I compared the newest release to the Advanced Collectors Edition (R2). The Deluxe Edition won hands down on both sound and picture quality. was looking at the bit rate and the DE was definitely higher. Sound rate was about the same but I noticed it sounded a bit clearer.

 

[Grant H]

Most (if not all) Superbit titles employ a seamless layer change.

They're not all bad at Sony.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Don't lump grain and noise together. Grain is part of the film and its look is often due to a conscious decision by the filmmakers. Noise is noise -- 'tain't supposed to be there.

 

[DavidGT]

Ok fine, well whatever it is grain or noise, the deluxe ed looks very clean and "clear" much over compared to the superbit, and quite noticebly better than Leon International version.
Believe or not I feel really sorry for the lad who bought my superbit on amazon.

 

[James Luckard]

I hate to make everything even more confusing, but I've been following this thread for a few days and have a different opinion of my own, for what it's worth.

I own the original "flawed" Leon:The Professional disc and just bought the new Deluxe Edition, which I plan to return.

Watching the Deluxe Edition on my computer, I found that all the scenes that were cut in the US (which mostly fall in Chapter 20), and those alone, exhibit a ghosting between frames.

I then played it on my Pioneer DVD player, on another computer, and on a top-of-the-line DVD player hooked up to an HDTV at Best Buy in their demo area. Each time, I found that, although the players were able to make up for the ghosting, the cut scenes still had problems.

If you advanced frame by frame, there would be four frames of movement, then a fifth frame that repeated the fourth. In addition, the frames jiggled up and down.

I compared this to my old disc and found no such problem. Each frame had movement and remained at the same height. I don't know enough about the technical side of this, but as I understand it, the frames I see when I advance frame by frame do not actually exist, they are made up of fields, which is apparently where trouble can happen.

Aside from the restored scenes, I saw no difference at all between the video on the two versions, as the reviewer at DVD Beaver said.

I then compared the audio. I know the original disc is supposed to be "flawed," but I personally think it may be the best.

I rented from Blockbuster the "Newly Created 5.1 audio" replacement for the "flawed" disc I have and compared all three American discs.

Although I listened to samples throughout, I paid especially close attention to a scene at the 81 minute mark, and the music there, since it's my favorite new scene.

The audio on the "flawed" track has no rear activity, while the "corrected" version does. However this rear activity sounds vague and poorly defined, and the music doesn't match the 5.1 mix on the isolated score, which strikes me as odd. In fact, the 5.1 mix seems to use the front side channels as the basis for the rear channels, though there are differences.

On the new Deluxe Edition, the 5.1 seems to replicate the "flawed" version, while the DTS takes the "corrected" version.

In the end, the deciding factor is that all of the "corrected" versions have bass that is, to me, too overpowering.

The bass drowns out the higher sounds. This is true everywhere but is especially noticable when listening to that scene I like at 81 minutes. The music consists of a siren and drums. The siren is perfectly clear in the "flawed" version and in the isolated score, which tragically has the best 5.1 audio so far in my opinion. However, in every "corrected" version, the bass is driven up so high that it drowns out the dialogue and main sounds.

I'm sticking with my old, "flawed" version. I've read a couple of other people come to the same conclusion at various sites, so I know I'm not totally alone, though I'm sure I'm in a very, very small minority. With all of the flawed releases out there, everybody has to pick the one that best represents the film as they want to experience it. Perhaps a HD-DVD version will come along in a few years and finally do right by this film.

 

[Craig W]

That's sounds suspiciously like an improperly flagged disc. Most software DVD players only read the flags and if the disc was not coded correctly you see artifacts like the ones you experienced.

 

[James Luckard]

If the disc is improperly flagged, as was debated here earlier, would that mean the whole batch of Leon DVDs is like this, or perhaps only a small amount, or even only mine?

Thanks

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Sorry - I can't compare them since I don't have those two discs...