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Hunt For Red October

post #1 of 108
5/4/03 at 2:13am
Thread Starter 
Just got the box set today,I've been watching the first film,and I must say that the picture is pretty bad.
It'seems very dark,colors are dull,fuzzy at times,[like film grain]and "specks"[little white dots].
I remember when we visited Paramount,that how proud they were about their pursuit of perfection to clean up films,[even as new the Titanic]I just don't what went wrong here.
The sound is very good though no worries there.
BTW I have a very modest video set up[36" Wega Pana dvd player interlaced],so I can only imagine how bad it looks on a large projected screen.
I haven't sampled the other movies yet,I'll post my opinion on them later.
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post #2 of 108
5/4/03 at 8:22am
Sorry to hear that. I had the original release of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER and I got rid of it. It was probably one of the worst DVD transfers I've seen. It was VERY dark, murky and grainy. Just awful to watch. It was also non anamorphic. I would have thought that one of these days PARAMOUNT would revisit this title and put out a decent anamorphic special edition of this classic movie. Judging by your comments Lewis, they have apparently done this but have once again 'missed the boat' and put out a bad transfer. I don't doubt your comments. It brings back horrible memories of PARAMOUNT'S first attempt of this title. Anyone else out there that would like to comment on their copy of this re-release of THFRO ? Cheers.

-Mike
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post #3 of 108
5/4/03 at 8:59am
DVDFile has a review up. Perhaps you need to calibrate your set?

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi...ctober_se.html
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post #4 of 108
5/4/03 at 10:06am
I agree with Jeff. I've been hearing excellent things about the transfer for RED OCTOBER, which is why I ordered it recently.
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post #5 of 108
5/4/03 at 11:51am
Thread Starter 
I'm glad you heard that,maybe I should calibrate my set based on both of your valued opinions,since you both haven't seen this disc yet.
Like I said, I don't have a big tv which helps actually to"burry" the flaws,but it hardly needs calibration[it was done when I got it,and being tweeked ever since].
BTW the disc improves quiet a bit after the first 45 mins.
Clear and Present Danger looks better right off the bat.
Gotta go to calibrate,and rewatch about 2000 dvds just to be sure,thanks Jeff!
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post #6 of 108
5/4/03 at 12:25pm
Thread Starter 
Looks like Colin Jacobson needs to calibrate too!
He's review here.
Once you there you need to scroll down[all the way to the bottom] to the CE review link and click it.
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post #7 of 108
5/4/03 at 12:37pm
It was VERY dark, murky and grainy.


Isn't that the way the movie is supposed to look? Don't ever forget that directors and cinematographers don't color everything the same, which is why it's unfair to compare one movie's transfer to another. Sometimes grain and muddy blacks are intentional, and if I remember correctly was the case here.
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post #8 of 108
5/4/03 at 1:06pm
Yeah the movie is supposed to look dark.

However, looking at these screensots from IGN, I'd say everything looks about right.

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/re...er_se_lg10.jpg
http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/re...er_se_lg06.jpg
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post #9 of 108
5/4/03 at 5:09pm
Hey Lewis, the link you gave is the review for the older HFTRO no the new one, the new one looks 100 times better, just to show the example, The Old HFTRO in the beginning has Ramius on the boat, its dark murky and grainy, the new one has no grain visible, its still dark, but thats how John M. Wanted to be, to show the darker side of the ramius character so we wont know what to expect (for those that did not read the book).
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post #10 of 108
5/4/03 at 5:46pm
Thread Starter 
Look under the link I gave,and follow it,then you find the review for current version.
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post #11 of 108
5/4/03 at 7:48pm
Quote:
I'm glad you heard that,maybe I should calibrate my set based on both of your valued opinions,since you both haven't seen this disc yet.


That's damn funny!!!
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post #12 of 108
5/4/03 at 8:24pm
He doesn't need to calibrate, he's referring to the original dvd release which does indeed look bad. I used to have the disc and got rid of it, and believe me that was a tough decision, THFRO is one of my all time favorite thrillers.
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post #13 of 108
5/4/03 at 9:07pm
Lewis, this is the new DTS version you're referring to right?
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post #14 of 108
5/4/03 at 9:51pm
Jeff,

what led me to that conclusion was that he mentioned the boxed set which also includes Clear and Presant Danger and Patriot Games, and as far as I know, the new THFRO isn't available in that set, only the old non-anamorphic release.
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post #15 of 108
5/4/03 at 11:51pm
Thread Starter 
I'm refering to the "Jack Ryan" collection set that will street on tuesday the 6th.This includes The Hunt For Red October,Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Sum Of All Fears.
The first three has a DTS soundtracks as well,and all are anamorphic.
Hope this clears it up?

I also have the old box set with the letterbox LD rehash transfers,and no DTS[the first 3 movies].
This new set no doubt is an inprovement over the old one but,I was hoping for a better THFRO,maybe I was expecting too much,but I'm very rearlly post about picture issues,I thought this "stood out" in a negative way,hence my thread.
YMMV
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post #16 of 108
5/5/03 at 12:10am
That does help, Lewis, I stand corrected. :b
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post #17 of 108
5/5/03 at 5:08am
Quote:
DVDFile has a review up. Perhaps you need to calibrate your set?


We now accept DVD File reviews as gospel?
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post #18 of 108
5/5/03 at 6:53am
Well the guy needs to calibrate the set, so do you lewis
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post #19 of 108
5/5/03 at 7:40am
Now if we could only get BVHE to re-release CRIMSON TIDE as a Special Edition with anamorphic enhancement!
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post #20 of 108
5/5/03 at 11:16am
Quote:
Now if we could only get BVHE to re-release CRIMSON TIDE as a Special Edition with anamorphic enhancement!

I hear ya! With that one in 16x9, I could complete my collection of modern sub flicks.
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post #21 of 108
5/5/03 at 11:22am
Lewis, I do assume you use your 16x9 Enhanced mode on your WEGA, right? If not then you're missing a great deal.
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post #22 of 108
5/5/03 at 1:26pm
I just happened to watch the new HFRO last night and was very pleased with the picture and sound quality. Display is 96" via Sony 11HT.
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post #23 of 108
5/5/03 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Lewis, I do assume you use your 16x9 Enhanced mode on your WEGA, right? If not then you're missing a great deal.
You assumed right.
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post #24 of 108
5/5/03 at 3:19pm
Quote:
Isn't that the way the movie is supposed to look?


Definitely so. It's good to see this is finally done anamorphically and at a great price.

Quote:
Well the guy needs to calibrate the set, so do you lewis


And some of us need to quit spreading lies about blockbuster DVD releases.
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post #25 of 108
5/5/03 at 6:37pm
I don't feel like starting a new thread and this one is clearly just about the re-releases of HFR0 and the others in the Clancy/Ryan series...

What I'm wondering is

Who is going to buy ind. titles, and who is going for the box set?

I'm on the fence on this one... it's kind of a nice to have instead of a must have (the box set).
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post #26 of 108
5/5/03 at 6:44pm
I don't care for Patriot Games, Clear and Presant Danger or The Sum of All Fears so i'm going for The Hunt for Red October by itself.
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post #27 of 108
5/5/03 at 8:40pm
I'm going for The Hunt for Red October by itself too. I held off buying the previous version because I already had the laserdisc (a transfer Paramount supposedly just ported to DVD anyway).

Now if you want to talk about a noisy, grainy transfer - try the original laserdisc release. Sometimes it looked pretty good, but others...like the second scene for the opening credits in Jack's London home, I could barely read any of the book titles as the camera was panning around the room. Anything's got to be better than that was.

Joel
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post #28 of 108
5/6/03 at 1:29am
Quote:
Hunt For Red Oktober
I'm going for Hunt For Red October myself. The Oktober one is awful. (LOL)

BTW....How does "Hunt" compare with "K-19", as far as sub flicks go?
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post #29 of 108
5/6/03 at 3:15am
I am also going for Hunt for Red October alone.

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post #30 of 108
5/6/03 at 4:27am
Thread Starter 
I was going after the russian spelling OKTIBR

Update:
I got a new DVD player today. It's the Denon 2900.
Just out of curiosity I played THFRO,and I must say things improved quiet a bit,but it's still looks soft a bit.
Nevertheless it's the best version out there,so the film's fans no doubt will pick this up,but it won't be your demo disc.
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