You've Got Mail - My Review (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

This is a favorite movie of mine and I was looking forward to this movie on blu-ray. It is a major dissapointment. Suffice it to say it's as if they put it into photoshop and turned up the contrast. Tom Hank's dark suits go black, black, black. It's not a suit any more, it's a jacket cut from black construction paper and pasted onto a Tom Hanks paper doll. The colors seem almost garish, too too much color.


How can a studio justify releasing such crap? Greedo should shoot first the person responsible for this transfer.

 

[Craig Beam]

This is a review?

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Craig Beam

This is a review?

Sorry to disappoint. Hope I didn't waste too much of your valuable time.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Well, you told me everything I needed to know about the release, Johnny.

 

[Craig Beam]

Dude, lose the defensive whining. If you're going to start a "review" thread, at least actually review the item. Talk about the sound, the extras, etc. Complaining about boosted contrast in no way constitutes a review. Call it something else, I dunno, maybe... "You've Got Mail looks like shit!" That way nobody clicks on it looking for something resembling an actual review.


Incidentally, the reviewers at DVD Authority, DVD Verdict, DVD Talk and DVD Town all give the picture pretty decent marks. None of them saw the "crap" that you apparently experienced. Are you sure your set is calibrated correctly?

 

[Johnny Angell]

Originally Posted by Craig Beam all give the picture pretty decent marks. None of them saw the "crap" that you apparently experienced. Are you sure your set is calibrated correctly?

The attitude is all yours. As for how the picture looks...I've been very happy with my set and how it looks. Almost every blu-ray I own or have rented have looked at least decent. This movie gets the lowest ranking of anything I've watched on my setup. I wanted to like this disc, it's a favorite.

 

[Craig Beam]

"Hope I didn't waste too much of your valuable time." That's not attitude? Please.


You didn't answer the question. Is your set actually calibrated, either professionally or (at the very least) with a calibration disc? If it's not, then you have no idea what the disc actually looks like. My point is this: if you're going to start a new thread and vent opinions, they should at least be founded in reality. For all you know, the disc would look fine is your set was properly adjusted. The reviewers --- actual reviewers --- saw something different. If this is indeed a "favorite" film of yours, aren't you at least curious why their eyes are seeing something different?

 

[Johnny Angell]

Yeah, it's calibrated. I did it myself, I don't have the bucks for a pro job. And I'll repeat the fact that of the 50 or more blu-rays I've got, this one looks the worst. I didn't want that to happen, I wanted to like this disc since I love the movie.


I don't think I've committed a forum crime by including "review" in my subject line. Why don't we leave it at that? You're wasting your time arguing with someone whose opinion you don't value.

 

[Felix Martinez]

I was moderately concerned after reading this thread as I am also a fan of the film and had purchased but not yet seen the Blu-ray.

So...I spun up the disc and browsed thru the movie on my Panny Viera plasma with the THX settings and I did not find anything too concerning. There is a healthy amount of (welcome) grain, and while shadow detail does fall off a bit steeply, there is at least a black level - as opposed to the milky greys of the DVD (along with all the compression artifacts). I did notice that Hanks' suit in many scenes was actually dark brown, so YMMV depending on your monitor's settings.

I compared the blu and DVD during the cocktail reception scene, which had several shots of Meg Ryan's black outfit against dark or black backgrounds, and again, while I did see limited-to-nonexistant shadow detail in this particular scene with Meg, it was a dramatic improvement from the DVD's "black" level (as well as other aspects of the DVD's image, which looked like a 360p YouTube video).

Overall I was quite pleased with the A/V quality (I've yet to see the film from beginning to end on my front projector setup), and the bonus DVD of Shop Around The Corner included with the Blu-ray was an unexpected treat.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've taken a look, and I'm seeing the problems as viewed by the original poster in this thread.


Unless the filmmakers wished them to look this way, in which case, they are what they are,

when compared to other films with similar looks, blacks are severely boosted, and shadow detail

is lost in many scenes.


RAH

 

[TonyD]

While I agree that isn't a review more of a heads up in the op I do appreciate the information.

Too bad such a good movie is presented this way.

 

[Robert Harris]

We do not know that this isn't what the filmmakers wish it to look like.


RAH

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed w/ the seemingly boosted contrast/tonality/color (not to be mistaken for brighter white point re: display setting) and crushed blacks (in many scenes).


The problems seem worst mainly in the difficult/dimly lit scenes (whether indoors or outdoors at night). Well lit scenes seem to have much less of these problems, if any at all.


Don't really remember exactly what the DVD looks like -- but I'm pretty sure it was not this contrasty w/ crushed blacks. For the price plus the inclusion of The Shop Around the Corner on separate DVD, I guess I can live w/ this for an upgrade -- certainly doesn't seem all that close to the way it should be though, IMHO.


_Man_