DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The New World (1 Viewer)

[donnie_d]

so anyone have the best buy exclusive yet? can you show us some pix please.

iam surprised that no one is selling it over amazon marketplace yet...

 

[Bryan Beckman]

Thanks, Chuck. I tried to do a search for a discussion thread before posting about the lack of one. After reading your post I did about 3 or 4 more searches before finally finding it:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=214692.

I read through all of it (the good and the, well, less effective), but the discussion topics I had in mind (well, some of them ) weren't touched upon. Perhaps I'll try to resurrect the original thread to see if there's any more life in it.

As for the DVD, it appears to have been produced with tremendous care. Having the menus in DD5.1 was a nice touch. Seeing the trailers was a true joy. The hour-long documentary was good for providing a feel for a bit of the pre-production and most of the production process. I would have loved to see more on the post-production side of things. But I'm grateful for what we got and that New Line was able to fit so much onto a single disc. Giving the film it's own platter may have allowed for improved picture quality (and DTS), but I have a feeling people would have been screaming about the "wasted" second disc with only the doc and trailers on it.

Perhaps the extended cut will give the movie it's own disc, so we're sure to see PQ improve. But we'll never get DTS without breaking up the film across two discs, which for some reason just doesn't feel right. Of course, putting it on one or the other (or both) HD formats should mitigate that concern entirely.

Bravo, New Line. Except for that cover art, which I think somewhat misrepresents what the film is all about. I'm not a great fan of the BB exclusive art either. I fear people will rent it based on the Farrell/Kilcher shot and Richard Roeper's "Titanic" comparison expecting something similar to Cameron's film and turn it off midway through in disgust. Hopefully the extended edition release will have an understated elegance in the cover design like those produced for the LOTR EE's.

 

[teapot2001]

TNW thread was one of the most viewed threads around the time of its release, despite there not being that much participation.

Feel free to resurrect the thread.

~T

 

[TonyD]

there is already a thread on that. not too far down the page from this one.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=234254

 

[donnie_d]

i know there's a thread about it iam not blind.but no one posted actula pix of the slipcover.only pic of the ad.

 

[TonyD]

that pic in that add is all there is nothing more to see.
wow sorry for trying to help. sheesh.:rolleyes

 

[Yumbo]

Thought the EE in beginning was TERRIBLE!
Sound is a bit muddy, with a LOT of mumbling in dialog and accents. Subtiles may be required viewing.
Score was a bit off - classical during native scenes...juxtaposition? And the usual Horner rips and lifts.
Very watchable still...fave was sound design on environment, and the cinematography.

 

[Mark_TS]

----------
Oh, God, no-not again. This happened in the waning days of Laserdisc-QC went to hell, and titles on DVD started getting first and/or exclusive release, or getting the exclusive content-which helped sink LD;

The winning HD format has not yet been settled;
Dont pull this trick on us again.

I would like to own an SD DVD of the 3-hour THE NEW WORLD.

I may wait a year or two for the dust to settle and costs to come down, before I even THINK of buying HD- and who can say for sure if Mr & Mrs America-the bulk of your current DVD sales- are going to take to this-it may remain a niche market like SACD-or DVD A-if a format war doesnt kill one or both first.

Remember how fantastic we thought DVDs looked that were released in 1997,98,99, even 2000?
Most of which look like crap in contrast to todays transfers.

Im thinking along the same lines with HD....

 

[Paul_Scott]

That's what I would have thought too.
But it's just not the case, the 4 titles I've seen so far have all been excellant as far as PQ and SQ. Unless they get released with different extras at some point, or regularly go on moritorium, these discs will suffice for many, many years.
In comparision, having been an LD collector, I was not impressed with the early DVDs.

I watched a bit of this again before sending it back, this time upscaled to 1080i via the DVI connection. Ringing looked to be substantially reduced and the image was improved in general. I have no idea why- and I'm not fully sold on upconverting making a noticeable difference, when the display already has a decent scaler, which mine does. But there it was.

I'm sure any extended cut will get a standard dvd release as well. The HD market alone isn't big enough yet to justify the expense of a seperate release.

 

[teapot2001]

The $3 coupon didn't work for me at Circuit City nor Best Buy.

~T

 

[Steve Blair]

The reason the case isn't the same now is because the studios have been remastering films in HD for years now and downconverting them to make SD DVD's. Therefore, they're much more ahead of the game now when it comes to putting out great looking films in the hd formats...

 

[TonyD]

"the case"?

what were we talking about again?

 

[Mark_TS]

ok-i see the point
but still I dont like having to chose one format or the other until theyve matured abit.
To be perfectly honest. my Yamaha all region player, my 32" WEGA. and a SD disc well transfered is good enough for me-and look marvelous-for the time being until the dust settles-if it ever does

 

[Mark_TS]

Dropped into FRY's today-THE NEW WORLD was an astounding $12.87!
I was also able to use my $3.00 off coupon; $9.87-not bad for a Mallick disc
I think the sale ends today-I wasnt even aware of it...

 

[Paul_Scott]

wow! I'm disappointed now that I didn't pick it up when it was on sale the first week.
The film is staying with me, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.