DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Da Vinci Code (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

i saw it today in target.
looks like it is about 3-4 inches long and about 1-1.5 inches in diameter.
it may be a little bigger but not much

 

[David Tolsky]

Where can I find information on the extended version? Are we getting one here in Region 1 or do we have to go elsewhere?

 

[Ben_Williams]

If that's the case, why did you even bother to read the review?

 

[SVTStingRay]

a quick trip to ebay will give you more information. the extras disk is the same in all regions from what i think but obviously the extended version is longer

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I seem to recall that originally, this release was listed as the extended version on Sony's press website. I'm not sure when the listing changed, or whether that means that a region 1 release of the extended version is in the works, but there it is.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Just got an email from one of my Sony contacts. . .the extended cut WILL be released in region 1, but the date has not been set and no other details are confirmed at this point. I'll post again when I hear more (no guarantee of when that will be, though).

 

[DavidPla]

Sony announced "Angels & Demons" for Christmas 2008 so I assume they'll release the extended edition around that time.

 

[Robert Harris]

I'm seeing no real artifact problems.

A slightly soft overall image, looking very much derivative of a DI.

The film was actually better than I was led to believe, but with the huge, yellow mis-shapen monolithic subtitles being the only really distressing factor, and making the release unusable on anamorphic systems using the entire 2.40 image, such as the Runco.

With Blu-Ray in need of high profile releases, one cannot but wonder regarding the balance of a concurrent Blu-Ray release vs. the ability to service SD and hope for double dipping in the near future.

RAH

 

[andySu]

Dialogue clarity has greatly improved over the years with good techniques in the ADR automated dialogue replacement, it’s this part that helps to fix multitudes of sound production problems that are encountered on the set during filming production, wind machines background sounds of traffic airplanes that often don’t fit the period of a historical film and it needs to be fixed.

Microphones have greatly improved over the years, I’m not a big buff on microphones, but I do respect the artists that use them in the film production world for capturing the textures in the actors or actress voices with lots of warmth and detail that I have noticed so well with this years film The Da Vinci Code.

Tom Hanks voice and the other male performers have great presence of power in the dynamic range that reaches well in my home cinema, with reproduction reaching 90dc on some passages in the voice, this about half way back in the room! Most of my friends home cinemas sound too bright with no warmth in the dialogue.

Also used in my home cinema is set of audio limiters, for left centre and right, this has all been calibrated so that it should never go over the top, that being it will never get out of hand. While the dialogue spoken in the priory in chapter 22, and it’s so softly spoken and very clear with occasional levels in the dbA and dbC weighting with dbA having nice balance in the mid to high frequencies, while the lower frequency end of the spectrum is felt with slow peaks up to 90dbC!

I have looked around on the Mix magazine for any articles about the recording techniques for this years film, The Da Vinci Code, so far I have come up empty handed on this, but some hate the film and some love it and being a die hard Star Wars and Star Trek fan isn’t it strange that I should like this film, but one thing doesn’t have anything to do with the other. I just happen to, like films that’s all.


“The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. Adorned in masters loving art, she lies. The blade and chalice guarding o’er her gates. She rests at last beneath the starry skies”

This clarity that’s spoken at the end is very powerfully written and cuts though the great Hans Zimmer’s score that is very loud.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

This is a major negative factor about this disk. Why the f*** did they put subtitles like this. Especially going outside the letterbox portion of the frame. And unfortunately, this is a movie with a lot of dialog in a foreign language, so you kinda need to be able to read the subs.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I just saw this for the first time (had not read the book). I was preparing myself for disappointment and wooden acting but to my surprise it was a lot better than I was believed to. Didn’t think that the acting was wooden and actually enjoyed every minute of it.

It’s true that they say it’s a page turner! Well it’s not a book but the first time I looked at my watch, an hour had already past…..and I look a lot at my watch during a movie!

 

[Aaron Silverman]

re: player-generated subtitles, remember that the disc includes subtitles in three languages. That makes it kind of tough to have them burned into the image.

That doesn't excuse the placement problems, though.

 

[TonyD]

i dont think ordinary subs need to be burned in, just the ones that are burned in during the origional theater showing.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

That's what I mean. During the original theater showing, the subtitles, when characters were not speaking English, were within the frame of the picture, not below it.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I just learned that The Da Vinci Code has been released here in France in an extended cut DVD that is 180 mins. Anyone knows anything about this cut and if it's coming out in R1?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

At the risk of repeating myself , yes, it will be coming out in R1 at some point. No date has been announced yet.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I suppose they could use seamless branching to have those burned-in subs in multiple languages, but to be honest I don't blame them for just using player-generated subs instead. Most DVD producers don't seem too enamored of branching.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That's a different issue. "Burned-in subtitles" refers to text that is inherently part of the image, as opposed to the subtitles generated by the player that you can turn on and off.