Sorry, if this subject excited some, this is a review of the 1998 DVD release of the ERA Home Video HK DVD of Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern". You can access it
(and the screen captures/bit rate etc.) by CLICKING HERE
ERA are also the owners of Zhang's "Lifetimes" (aka "To Live") and the DVD quality is the same as this one.
This is simply ridiculous! A film of this stature and this is the only DVD version available? (although I have heard of an even worse one - Pan and Scan and no English subs). This appears to be a port from Laser Disc. It is very blurry and the double sub-titles are distracting. There is no definition or contract in the image. The sound is surprisingly not bad at all. The colors are not too bad either, but more credit to Zhang Yimou, as most of his films are this luminescent. There are no Extras, no Chapters on this DVD. It is brighter than a VHS, but not even as sharp. I am glad I bought it, just to see the film, but this is screaming out for a top notch Criterion-style release. Hopefully soon and we can put this mess behind us.
1/5 .
Cheers,
(and the screen captures/bit rate etc.) by CLICKING HERE
ERA are also the owners of Zhang's "Lifetimes" (aka "To Live") and the DVD quality is the same as this one.
This is simply ridiculous! A film of this stature and this is the only DVD version available? (although I have heard of an even worse one - Pan and Scan and no English subs). This appears to be a port from Laser Disc. It is very blurry and the double sub-titles are distracting. There is no definition or contract in the image. The sound is surprisingly not bad at all. The colors are not too bad either, but more credit to Zhang Yimou, as most of his films are this luminescent. There are no Extras, no Chapters on this DVD. It is brighter than a VHS, but not even as sharp. I am glad I bought it, just to see the film, but this is screaming out for a top notch Criterion-style release. Hopefully soon and we can put this mess behind us.
1/5 .
Cheers,
