Midway (Blu-ray) Available For Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Has anybody watched their BD yet? I'm curious to read other opinions about the disc.

 

[Mark McSherry]

DVD Beaver just put up his review.

 

[Robert Crawford]

DVD Beaver just put up his review.

No offense to Gary, but I rather hear what other HTF members like Walter Kittel have to say about it.

 

[rayman1701]

Has anybody watched their BD yet? I'm curious to read other opinions about the disc.

The wife and I watched it over the weekend, looked the best I've ever saw it, then again I'm not the biggest expert on the technical side of watching. Plus I'm still using my 65" Mitsubishi CRT.........so that might help hide certain things, but I've got great black levels

 

[Mark-P]

I'm just curious how 2.1 sound is going to decode on my receiver. Since it's mono sound with an additional LFE track, ideally sound should come only from the center speaker and subwoofer. The DVD was 1.1 Dolby Digital and did just that.

 

[moovtune]

A 2.1 track should play L/R and LFE even if the left and right have the same material. Applying a PLII overlay should redirect the same material L/R to the center speaker. Otherwise use a "mono" mode to play it.

 

[Robert George]

A 2.1 track should play L/R and LFE even if the left and right have the same material. Applying a PLII overlay should redirect the same material L/R to the center speaker. Otherwise use a "mono" mode to play it.

Unfortunately, it seems the same person/company that did Battlestar Galactica also did Midway, which is to say, incorrectly. The 2.1 audio has been encoded as 5.1. That renders the track unable to be processed with DPL II in most receivers. You will get a discrete right and left with nothing in the center channel.

So far, the only "Sensurround" movie to get the audio even close to correct (on Blu-ray) is Earthquake due to the soundtrack being mixed for 5.1.

 

[Mark-P]

Unfortunately, it seems the same person/company that did Battlestar Galactica also did Midway, which is to say, incorrectly. The 2.1 audio has been encoded as 5.1. That renders the track unable to be processed with DPL II in most receivers. You will get a discrete right and left with nothing in the center channel.

So far, the only "Sensurround" movie to get the audio even close to correct (on Blu-ray) is Earthquake due to the soundtrack being mixed for 5.1.

That's what I was afraid of. I'll have to wait and see if my receiver will allow pro-logic to be engaged. There might be a work around by changing the blu-ray's digital output from bitstream to PCM. Bass management should still steer most of the LFE track to the subwoofer.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I finally got around to watching this earlier today. My overall reaction is pretty positive. The stock footage has always looked rough, so no surprises there. The filmed footage exhibits good crispness and consistency. I was impressed with the blacks of the Japanese Naval Officer uniforms throughout the film. Easily the best looking version of the film that I've ever seen since at least the theatrical showings in the mid '70s.

In terms of audio, I'm probably not the best judge of that due to my living arrangements which preclude reference levels, but I thought it fared worse than the video in two ways. I didn't pick up (a lot of/any?) directionality in the sound and I thought at times the higher notes in the score seemed a little strained. However the audio is certainly serviceable (the dialog was clear) and doesn't detract from the film viewing experience in any meaningful manner.

It was very enjoyable watching this feature again. As I stated before, part of the attraction is the huge cast, including a lot of folks who were just starting out (such as a moustache-less Tom Selleck on Midway Island) and the old school feel of the film. Given the price point, I think the Bd is a great bargain and is an easy recommendation for those who enjoy 'classic' Hollywood war films.

One other observation - I'm pretty sure that some of the footage during the attack on Midway Island was also used in Tora, Tora, Tora during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I finally got around to watching this earlier today. My overall reaction is pretty positive. The stock footage has always looked rough, so no surprises there. The filmed footage exhibits good crispness and consistency. I was impressed with the blacks of the Japanese Naval Officer uniforms throughout the film. Easily the best looking version of the film that I've ever seen since at least the theatrical showings in the mid '70s.

In terms of audio, I'm probably not the best judge of that due to my living arrangements which preclude reference levels, but I thought it fared worse than the video in two ways. I didn't pick up (a lot of/any?) directionality in the sound and I thought at times the higher notes in the score seemed a little strained. However the audio is certainly serviceable (the dialog was clear) and doesn't detract from the film viewing experience in any meaningful manner.

It was very enjoyable watching this feature again. As I stated before, part of the attraction is the huge cast, including a lot of folks who were just starting out (such as a moustache-less Tom Selleck on Midway Island) and the old school feel of the film. Given the price point, I think the Bd is a great bargain and is an easy recommendation for those who enjoy 'classic' Hollywood war films.

One other observation - I'm pretty sure that some of the footage during the attack on Midway Island was also used in Tora, Tora, Tora during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

- Walter.

Some of it pretty obvious too.

 

[moovtune]

It's a mono movie, so there won't be any "directionality".

 

[Dr Griffin]

Finally got a copy of this and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and supplements. The extensive stock footage didn't bother me at all. I saw this (and Earthquake) in the theater in Sensurround back during the '70s, and remember the bank of additional LF cabinets on the floor of the theater that required the removal of some seats. I was impressed with the Sensurround audio track on the Blu-ray, and thought the lows were much deeper than those on the Earthquake Blu-ray. Some of the bombings have truly deep, impactful bass. With properly set up subwoofers at reference level, I had Sensurround in my HT.