Gladiator Blu-ray - release date 09/01/2009 - Read before buying!

I rented Gladiator the other night.  My set-up is fairly modest compared to some people on this forum.  I have an ISF'd calibrated 60" SXRD A3000 and Oppo BDP-83.  I sit about 8-9 feet back and at 1080p/24, I found Gladiator disappointing, but not quite as horrible as I expected.  It's certainly an improvement over the DVD, but it had a very processed look - more notable in the outdoor scenes where there is so much evident edge enhancement.  I thought the EE was worse than the DNR in this case.  However, some scenes look pretty decent and I'm not even referring to the extended scenes which look excellent.  I would love to see a new transfer, however, given what Adam shared with us, I have a hard time believing they will re-do this release once again...although I'd love to be wrong.

Yesterday, some reports started coming in on the UK version of Gladiator Blu:

http://www.dvdmonkey.co.uk/product.php?ASIN=B001XCW6W4

Several 10 out of 10 reviews there! The "screenshot scientist" crowd was very happy.

This morning, one of the screenshot scientists got his hands on the UK encode. His opinion... SAME ENCODE as the US version!

I don't think they are happy anymore.  :(

But you know who IS happy?!  Those guys that gave the disc a 10 out of 10 review!

Me, I'm a 7.5 out of 10 (for video) man myself.  I see some of the flaws some of the time.  But this disc is WELL worth owning on Blu-ray.

Mark

i got it yesterday. didnt watch through the ENTIRE thing but enough of it during the hour that it's still worth having, @least until the Paramount disc exchange program comes out ;).

remember that certain dream sequences are ALREADY PROCESSED anyways, it was meant to be. but the it is correct that the arrow scenes aren't supposed to be. that's probably the worst of the bunch. the rest seem fine all in motion.

Have you already seen this?

http://forum.cinefacts.de/6365985-post646.html

yeah kusch that is pretty bad

Pardon my ignorance...but is that screen cap representative of the entire scene?

That is, does the right-hand lightning strike not exist at all in the film...or is it an isolated frame of film in which it disappears?

This is a question I have about all of the examples given of Gladiator...the arrows, catapulted fire, etc.

Just now, but what am I looking at? Did they remove an entire lightning bolt? A little description with your post would go along way.

thats exactly what was done, among other things.

Since I don't own the Blu-ray - and probably never will under these conditions - I can only assume that the right lightning bolt is completely missing, but - as is not unusual with lightning - this probably lasts only a second or a split second.

Nevertheless my example aptly demonstrates the lack of care given to the Blu-ray transfer. Ridley Scott certainly chose to show two lightning bolts for a reason, so it should be two bolts on the Blu-ray, right?
I just wonder how many more details are missing on the current BD that could have been there if clean-up had been done manually and with the required care.
Missing lightning bolts, arrows and fireballs are just the tip of the iceberg though. Missing grain and detail due to excessive DNR affects the whole movie and is my primary motive not to buy the Blu-ray at this time...

I would also like to see this title receive a DTS-HD MA 7.1 mix along with a new video transfer.    I doubt that it would happen but this title should offer the full 7.1 since that is what the format is capable of and most new receivers are 7.1.  I would be happy with a new video transfer for this title even if it was re released with a 5.1 audio track.