"Dark City: Director's Cut" coming to Blu-ray on July 29 - Page 6

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

We already have one thread about this. What´s going on?

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

I guess it's just a B-I-G subject.

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Just for the record, RAH had those threads removed, not HTF -- possibly because he was wrong about Patton having had noise reduction done.

You also have to figure, different filmmakers will have different opinions. Some will want the grain gone. Some will want it preserved. Some will want something in the middle. And complaints await for every one!

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Not true at all.


"Filmmakers" do these type of decisions during the production and post-production. Not when the film is released on DVD/Blu-ray.

E.g. "Patton" had originally some natural film grain. Now it´s removed by the overeager people working on the new Blu-ray-version. Not sure about "Dark City" at this point (I´m waiting reviews etc).

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Yes, Mr. Harris asked to have those threads removed, but that's not even "possibly" the reason.

M.

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Thanks for the heads up Johannes. I was really looking forward to this title but will move it from my "buy list" to "rental."

-Keith

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

And now it's one B-I-G thread.

M.

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Actually, this isn't entirely true. Film-makers often have some control in the process of preparing their films for video release, and if you talk to the technical people involved (e.g. telecine colorists) you will occasionally hear a horror story along the lines of "I had my hand on the DVNR control while he was watching the monitor, & every time I turned it up he smiled, & every time I turned it down he started scowling". {That was a paraphrase from something I read in the Telecine Interest Group.}

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

Whatever the method, I just hope this problem gets resolved by New Line before they decide to release Seven and Magnolia.

Re: "Dark City: Director's Cut" - the DNR travesty continues

Part of the problem is that 'he' was watching a monitor. Let him watch a cinema screen and we'll see how that smile freezes in horror. :-)
I think that quote refers back to the DVD days.

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

So how is the director's cut? It seems it's a "major" change.
Quint chats with Alex Proyas about KNOWING, DARK CITY: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and DRACULA YEAR ONE! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

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

Whaaa??? You don't seriously expect anyone to pay attention to a detail as trivial as the movie itself do you?

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

Still waiting for a review of the movie itself. Will be renting it next week, I hope.

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

Hehe...that was a good one Jim. Cant wait to see the new cut. I should be getting my Blu-ray from Warner by Tuesday. Cant beat their BD prices with a stick! I think i paid $14 for it.

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

It would be nice if someone would ask one of these directors about the whole DNR issue. Is Proyas aware of it? Does he care? Did he view or have any input on the final (and I do mean final) look of the film on BD?

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

My copy arrived yesterday and, of course, I watched it last night.

I have not watched this film in several years, though I watched it several times in the few months after it was released on DVD. I happen to agree with Roger Ebert on this film, a minor masterpiece, and one of the most original and thought provoking science fiction films of the past couple of decades.

With only foggy memories of the fine details of the theatrical version to go by, I find this "Director's cut" to be a more fully realized film with greater depth to the characters. The story seems to flow better. Just something as simple as losing the narration in the opening sequence changes the tone of the story.

I'll keep my opinions of the Blu-ray transfer to myself. There seem to be too many of those flying around already. Suffice to say, if one is a fan of the film, whatever the shortcomings of this transfer, real or imagined, it is still a must-have. Indeed, I was so immersed in Alex Proyas' world that I completely forgot to look for the "horrible" look of excessive DNR.

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

Thanks Obi. Mine will be shipped next week I'm sure (too cheap not to use free shipping from Amazon), but I--like you--am completely immersed in the world of Dark City. It's one of my top 10 favorite films. While I'm certain that there are flaws in the transfer (unless you use lossless there always will be some level of compromise) the fact that you weren't distracted from the movie experience gives me hope.

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

That is certainly good to hear. Like a few others here, I await arrival of my preorder from the WHV store.

I just hope you haven't raised my expectations far too high for this new director's cut.

_Man_

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

I'll be getting this from Netflix on Tuesday. I'm very much looking forward to this. I've actually never seen it before.

Too bad about the DNR, but hopefully, as this will be a new film experience for me, I won't be preoccupied with it too much.

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

My thoughts seem to synchronize with Mr. George's, although I must admit to neither having seen this film theatrically, nor being a devotee. My judgments are based upon the film stocks and processing of the era.

I'm seeing light to moderate noise reduction of some sort, which occasionally affects the image, but never infects it. I don't believe that there is anything here that will take one out of the film.

And this is certainly nothing on the order of the few titles that have been the subject of numerous discussions.

I've placed Dark City on my Level One in the quick quality guide.

RAH

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

These last few posts are indeed promising...especially Mr. Harris' post.....I have it already ordered on Amazon and I anxiously await it's release. I'm really looking forward to the Director's cut.....I might have to let this one jump my queue of the unwatched when I finally get it.

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

It is indeed a wonderful film. Was Ebert's fave of the year! I know the theatrical version so well it's going to be jarring but hopefully in a good way. Great soundtrack too.

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

In fairness, I'll add a couple of observations on the transfer just for the sake of completeness and let others digest all the comments about this disc for themselves.

I agree with Mr. Harris and others that there has been some noise reduction/grain removal done on the master. The image is extremely "clean" and smooth for the most part. There has also been some sharpening added as the telltale halo of edge enhancement is noticeable in several shots. Noise reduction has not been used to the point of loss of fine detail.

One must also consider that the production design of this film is highly stylized and bears little resemblance to reality (appropriately so). Taken for what it is, the images here are very sharp, very detailed, with exceptional black level and shadow detail. So good are some of these aspects of this transfer that I now find this film much more visually satisfying than ever before, and this for a very "visual" film.

Despites its few warts, this is a presentation of this film that truly enhances the experience.

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

Thank you for the info. No need to worry that much then. I´ll be buying this for sure.

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

Like i said before, it HAS to look better than the first DVD. That thing looks fine on my 36" Sony picture tube, but it looked horrid ( macro-blocking and not very detailed) on my plasma and LCD. Looking forward to this. Mine shipped yesterday from Warner.

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

I was going back and forth on buying the BD after hearing early feedback on the PQ. This tips me toward a purchase. As long as we're not dealing with another Gangs of New York, I'll live.

Thanks, Mr. Harris. As always, appreciate your input.

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

Mine hasn't shipped yet that I know of. I usually get an email notification after it arrives though.

Well now I'm totally confused. RobertR was claiming there is definately missing detail based on his (and other AVS'ers?) opinion of a few [ahem] Dark City SCREENGRABS and [chuckle] 10 year old memories of a theatrical screening.




then there's Robert Harris and Robert George who've actually played the disc and state otherwise. Damn internet!! I'm having a tough time deciding who's opinions I should value more. [no not really]

I guess the lesson learned here is that opinions based on a "screengrab" anaysis should be taken with a boulder of salt maybe?

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

You are indeed very confused. The posts you refer to by me (including the theatrical viewing) were talking about PATTON (a transfer Robert Harris very much agrees lacks detail), not Dark City.

Maybe you could use that boulder to block your foot from your mouth.

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

So all that time you were "supposedly" referencing Patton in a Dark City thread while I and everybody else stayed on topic with the proper subject of Dark City?

Yeah sure. Whatever you say.

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

Yeah, you really stayed "on topic" when you said in post #82:

I'm not surprised you forgot about that one, given how confused you are. Oh, and you forgot this post from me: