"Dark City: Director's Cut" coming to Blu-ray on July 29 - Page 9

TonyD · 07-29-2008, 06:43 PM

i'm with you ron, that's why i ought it so i can decide for myself on a film that i
think is great.

Dave H · 07-29-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonZ

"Hopefully in 2-3 years time (if not sooner) we can look back on the early days of HD discs and see the same pattern."

The thing is I double and even in a couple cases triple dipped on alot of those titles that were rereleased, which is something I really dont want to do with BR.

Re-releases are part of the studio's home video business model.

I only re-buy if the video is improved and I suspect that won't happen quite as much as it did with DVD. A lot of the Blu-ray re-releases are going to be more extras, BD-live, etc. IMO.

Russell G · 07-29-2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyD

mine is on its way from waner but that shot looks the way Patton screen shots looked.

Really? The Patton shot posted in here looked about 100X worse to me. Waxy and halo'd. This looks like a properly colour timed film shot to me... based on never seeing it in the theaters, and having no idea what it actually looks like in context to other scenes in the movie. But as a still from a film? Looks ok.

Dave Mack · 07-29-2008, 09:21 PM

I for one don't think that screenshots are "totally useless" at all. The screengrabs from "The Longest Day" very clearly showed the issues that RAH and many others had with the transfer.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post14395870

We rented the Tremors Hddvd and it looked just as smeary and full of EE as this screengrab illustrates.
Kevin bacon looks like he has a forcefield around his hat. And guess what? looks EXACTLY the same in motion on the HDdvd unfortunately.

and with these shots you can actually see how much more detail and better looking the trailer for "The golden compass" on the BD disc is than the film itself. Full size versions here at AVS.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post14330861

I'm not saying that Dark City has anywhere near this kind of DNR and EE, (it might very well look very good) but you can clearly gauge certain things from screengrabs when taken directly off of a disc in context.

Images converted to links by moderator.

Michael Reuben · 07-29-2008, 09:40 PM

Dave, I've converted your screen caps to links. Those who are interested can click on them. Otherwise there's no point in burdening a thread about Dark City with screen caps from other films.

M.

Ron-P · 07-29-2008, 10:00 PM

I just spun parts of this disc to check it out, it looks outstanding on my 87" screen via a Z3. If you're in doubt about the purchase because of comments in this thread, don't be, go get it.

Dave Mack · 07-29-2008, 10:07 PM

Thanks, Michael.

Should've thought of that myself.

Hey, we're back in NYC!

pitchman · 07-30-2008, 08:04 AM

Not to side-step from the image quality discussion that I really can't take part in since I am viewing Blu on a PS3 in standard-def, but, I watched the director's cut last night and IMO it is FAR superior to the theatrical cut! It is much more cohesive, involving and just plain satisfying. As Proyas stated, he didn't try to reinvent the wheel here, rather, what we get is his original cut, and as far as I'm concerned, it is a much, MUCH better film than what was released. Kudos to New Line for giving us the opportunity to see it. Fans of the original (and even non-fans) should definitely check it out!

Jim_K · 07-30-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron-P

I just spun parts of this disc to check it out, it looks outstanding on my 87" screen via a Z3. If you're in doubt about the purchase because of comments in this thread, don't be, go get it.

I watched the DC last night and it gets passing grades on my meager "70 display. Keep in mind I did no still frame analysis, looking for flaws but I watched it as a normal person would, engrossed in the film and I concur with Ron P.

I did take a mental note of looking for EE based on the infamous 400% zoomed and cropped jpg

of the cops head that was posted somewhere in this thread and that particular scene went by so fast I had a hard time finding that force field even when I was purposely looking for it. I have to say if anyone's display looks anything near as bad as that jpg shot then their equipment is in serious need of calibration.

As for the DC vs Theatrical it's been a couple years since I watched the original cut but I'll say that I do prefer the DC as it fleshes out the story a bit better and doesn't feel as rushed as the theatrical seemed.

All in all a worthy purchase for me.

OliverK · 07-30-2008, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim_K

I have to say if anyone's display looks anything near as bad as that jpg shot then their equipment is in serious need of calibration.

How would it look different on a proper 1080p setup ? It is a direct cap from the Blu-Ray, it is not like somebody made this up. There are clearly different perceptions and setups but the artefact is on the disc and it is always there to be seen provided the setup and the viewer are both up to the task

When I see the tendency to belittle those that discuss problems with certain transfers I wonder why you cannot just enjoy the movie if you don't see any problems ? If you bother to chime in you could at least pause the scene where the cop appears and you could see the halo for yourself provided your equipment is not so bad that it is not visible which in this case would be difficult.

I hopefully will be able to go forcefield hunting errrhh enjoying the movie this weekend - this will be the first time I watch the director's cut