DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Pirates of the Caribbean (Highly Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[Scott Weinberg]

I've been hearing some rumblings. Can someone encapsulate for me the complaints about this DVDs picture quality?

Thanks.

 

[Gavin_L]

thought dd track was great, some nice bass.... Watched the dvd last night, thought it was great as always, Its great to be owning this movie

 

[Steve_Tk]

After a second viewing I've noticed what others have said, PQ is not good at all. This is also the first time I've ever thought the DTS sounded like crap and switched over to the DD.

 

[Johnny Garvin]

I agree with everyone else; the EE is horrendous on this title!! I really enjoyed the movie but the PQ leaves alot to be desired. I viewed it on my Nec 6pg crt projector and I could EASILY see haloes around everything. Soundwise, I prefered the DD track over the DTS track. Highly enjoyable movie but terrible transfer Disney.



Johnny

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I watched this one twice; the DD is definitely better than the DTS in this case. Much better bass definition, more natural voices, better surrounds. The PQ is severely compromised by EE, something that I usually never notice, but did big time in this case(especially the first half hour or so). By contrast, the ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST DVD I watched this afternoon seemed to be relatively free of EE(I know others have seen it, but I didn't), with a nice, smooth filmlike picture.
It's amazing that the transfer of a thirty year old plus film can be better than that of a movie released six months ago. I would buy a re-issue of this title if they fixed the transfer.

 

[Andy_MT]

ahhh, what a relief. this transfer be much better than gangs of new york. even on a small screen (which is what i'm confined to these days thanks to dvd being not all that great, but thats another story). don't get me wrong, i'm not praising it at all, it's just a relief that it wasn't as bad as gangs.

sorry, absolutely NOT a 4.75 for video though. not even close. not even after several tankards of ye ole rum. walk the plank, matey

yes, it looks pretty, but this kind of mark implies that's its as good as say seven (platinum) or monsters inc. nope, it's not. now granted, set ups are different, but me eyes don't lie. saw it all on me onesies, and it had quite a few flaws as be mentioned already. even moire. brings back memories. but at least it didn't sink the depths of gangs. does look like disney have gone for quantity (over stuff the dvd) over quality, but that's nothing new.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Glad to see that there are some discriminating viewers out there at HTF!

Question...did you guys see it in the theater too? Reason is that except for the EE ringing, the rest of the image really looked like it did in the theater to my eyes...a somewhat murky, dark picture that never really felt crisp or defined (not the fifth element here). To my eyes what I saw on the DVD really looked like the projected 35mm film print in these other regards. I'm curious if those of you coming down down so harshly on the picture are comparing to the theatrical experience or are judging the DVD in "stand alone" mode.

BTW, anyone who switches to the DTS be sure to crank up the volume! I find it very curious that many of you prefer the DD over the DTS when I had just the opposite reaction (the the DD was indeed brighter to my ears and it's possible that on some systems that may sound more lively with the DTS sounding too laid-back). But as always I'm VERY glad you're sharing your comments -- They're certainly no less valid than my own! Reviewing DVDs is a subjective experience and discussion like this makes that abundantly clear!

dave

 

[Terry Hickey]

The only problem I had with the disc, just about a minute into chapter 9, where Capt. Jack Sparrow and crew are coming into the island, the sound dropped out on my Toshiba, so returned it for a new copy and it did the same thing in the same place. It plays fine in my Sony player though. Go figure. I enjoyed the movie and other than the above mentioned glitch, I'm having fun with the discs.

 

[Steve Christou]

Wow if the region one PQ of Pirates is as terrible as you guys make it out than you should invest in a multiregion player, my region 2 copy looks perfectly fine on my widescreen telly, but then I'm not as nitpicketing as some of you guys, I just sit back and enjoy the movie. PAL picture quality is generally better than NTSC anyway.
I'll only buy region 1 if there are more extras or if the film is cut on region 2.

 

[Max Leung]

But Steve, what about the 25 fps PAL speedup? Doesn't that bother you? And the 50 hertz flicker...oh the humanity!

But then again, I've been exposed to atrocious transfers like the Region 1 Red Violin, which supposedly was a PAL master reencoded to NTSC, causing horrific combing artifacts from hell. Ugh.

But, the Pirates transfer isn't too bad. Not as detailed as I thought it should be but then again my RPTV is getting a bit long in the tooth (4 years now!). And I didn't bother screening it on my LCD projector - it's a pain to setup - stupid Sanyo PLV-Z1 video-sync bug!

Like you said: it's good enough, until you buy a better TV.

 

[David Illingworth II]

By the way, dvdreview.com lists a bunch of easter eggs for this disc. The interview with Keith Richards sounds interesting.

 

[Julian Lalor]

But Steve, what about the 25 fps PAL speedup? Doesn't that bother you? And the 50 hertz flicker...oh the humanity!

England, unlike Canada, is a PAL territory. It is not usually an issue for people brought up watching films on television (certainly isn't for me). And many sets can now eliminate the 50 hertz flicker.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

Just saw this and loved it, loved it. I was amazed at how good the movie looked. I mean the movie not the DVD. Everything looked quite astonishingly real. I mean this had the potential of looking too cheesy, cartoony, CG like but it looked real. It was like "Lord of the Rings" of the pirates movies in the real look territory. It was especially quite a contrast where I had seen “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” the night before and everything looked so fake, “sety” and non-real!

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Out of all the summer films, i found this to be the best, as far as the dvds e.e. goes it didnt look as bad as some say.Also im glad this is going to have sequels.

 

[Larry Talbot]

"And I didn't bother screening it on my LCD projector - it's a pain to setup - stupid Sanyo PLV-Z1 video-sync bug!"

Huh? What bug is this? I have a Z1 and never heard of it.

 

[David Stone]

DaViD Boulet, I'm looking forward to your review of disc two.

Seeing as I'm very satisfied with the PQ on my 'little' 26" Hitachi, my two main grievances with this release are...

(1) NO theatrical trailers or TV spots to be found anywhere (with the exception a weak Japanese trailer Easter Egg). What were they thinking to leave such a basic feature out of a 2-disc set like this?

(2) I applaud the ambitious multiple audio commentaries, but was very disappointed that not one of them included the option to be viewed as sub-titles for the hard of hearing. I'll be happy when this consideration becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments on these two items?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

1. Highly agree. The movie had two very cool trailers, and I'm a big fan of trailers. They absolutely should have been included.

2. Agree again. I don't need the subtitles myself, but it would be great to see more commentaries with subs for those who DO need them. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this to become the norm tho.

 

[EricW]

i just watched the first 40 min to see what all the fuss was all about (ee wise) and while it's not too much of a problem for me most of the time (on this disc), the one scene where Depp is docking was really really bad. ee is usually at its worst when dark objects are against a clean bright background (like the sky) and that shot was as bad as Phantom Menace at its worst.

also some of the ADR in the opening scene on the boat was really really bad.

aside from that, i liked what i saw, the movie seems very entertaining. Depp is very cool, Keira Knightley is very gorgeous.

 

[Chad A Wright]

You know, when I first saw this in the theater, I wasn't crazy about it. After seeing it at home, I finally figured out why. It's too long. At least for theater purposes, it seems to long. When you can take a break at home, it plays much better.

 

[BobG]

The theatrical trailer can be found on the Best Buy Coming Attractions Volume 1 DVD. I think they didn't include the trailer because it has Alan Sylvestri credited as the soundtrack composer.