Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › A Few Words About By Robert Harris › A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray - Page 3

post #61 of 132
6/26/08 at 8:02am
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

A major point of reviewing or providing commentaries on new discs is make it known if a disc is a "safe" purchase, or might best be left to rental until one has the ability to make up one's own mind.

Blu-ray discs are too expensive for many people to buy on spec.
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Gangs of New York [Blu-ray]
$10.9 at
See it »
post #62 of 132
6/26/08 at 10:39am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Crow
...but it’s troubling to see how others follow your lead, trashing this disc, without seeing it.
Only speaking for myself, I know that I can trust RAH's review based upon his years of posting here and his work in the industry. If I had never heard of him or had never read his reviews, I wouldn't be as trusting.
Reply
post #63 of 132
6/26/08 at 5:06pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Thanks for the heads-up Robert, I was glad to hear that this movie was going to be in Blu-ray soon. But if it looks the way you say it does then I have no interest in purchasing it. I will be putting it on my wait list and see if they correct it or not?
Reply
post #64 of 132
6/26/08 at 6:02pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I see we have a doubting thomas in this thread......considering that Mr. Harris is a highly respected professional in his field, I would have to say that his word carries a great deal more weight than other reviewers in regards to his thoughts on film transfer quality. Like others here, I trust his views.....and judging from other opinions mentioned in this thread, it looks like they are in agreement.

Feel free to dispute, but if the opinions of others shown so far are any indication....someone's gonna be eating...um......
Reply
post #65 of 132
6/26/08 at 7:56pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

It’s not lost on people at the studios that Mr. Harris’ appraisals are many times motivated by something entirely different than the product he is reviewing.

Look at “Patton” and “The Longest Day”

Why didn't Mr. Harris pick up the phone and call directly to the head of mastering / restoration of 20th Century Fox to report the problems on those films directly than coming to the internet first? I'm sure he is not a “highly respected professional” in Century City at the moment. ?
Reply
post #66 of 132
6/26/08 at 8:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Deleted
Reply
post #67 of 132
6/26/08 at 9:38pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I'm glad I took a gander at this thread. I preordered Gangs about 6 weeks ago because I like the movie. I think I'll cancel and play wait and see. In Robert I trust....who was 1 million percent correct about Patton and The Longest Movie. I get nauseous just recalling the dull sheen of the Patton BD.

I should have to write on the blackboard 100 times, "I will not preorder movies way in advance anymore".
Reply
post #68 of 132
6/26/08 at 10:08pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Crow
It’s not lost on people at the studios that Mr. Harris’ appraisals are many times motivated by something entirely different than the product he is reviewing.

Look at “Patton” and “The Longest Day”

Why didn't Mr. Harris pick up the phone and call directly to the head of mastering / restoration of 20th Century Fox to report the problems on those films directly than coming to the internet first? I'm sure he is not a “highly respected professional” in Century City at the moment. ?

In the 2 years that I've been reading this board, Mr. Harris' only apparent motive has been to give his opinion of selected DVD and High Def releases. He has done so about Gangs of New York.

I'm baffled as to why you are taking this so personally.

Doug
Reply
post #69 of 132
6/26/08 at 11:48pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Mr. Harris’ appraisals are many times motivated by something entirely different than the product

Attacks of a purely personal nature are not allowed on this forum. No exceptions. Please read our rules in case of doubt.

Furthermore, to other members: please do not elaborate on this matter any further: Mr. Crow will not reply here. (He can answer Mr. Harris' questions through personal communication.)


Cees
Reply
post #70 of 132
6/27/08 at 6:20am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I'm glad to see the forum took care of a certain somebody. Thank you.

Back to GANGS, you wonder if Martin Scorsese has any idea his film looks the way it does or that a Blu-Ray has even been released.
Reply
post #71 of 132
6/27/08 at 6:37am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Thank you, Cees.
Reply
post #72 of 132
6/27/08 at 8:45am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Cees always does what's best for the forum & always seems to keep things tidy in a professional manner.
Reply
post #73 of 132
6/27/08 at 11:22am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

What's a silly wabbit to do? Isn't there an international BD or HD of this 'un out there? Trix aren't for studios, Trix are for kids....like me. I could'a swore I saw one somewhere..... It was hard to find a BD title I really wanted most weeks this summer. There goes a purr-fectly good week. Damn, I'll have to do without or watch Laserdiscs....!
Reply
post #74 of 132
6/27/08 at 12:41pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

by most accounts the uk version is just as bad and region locked
Reply
post #75 of 132
6/28/08 at 8:09am
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Apparently high hopes were held for Gangs, at least by the copywriter responsible for the back cover notes:

"Surrender to the tumultuous atmosphere of 1860s New York as phenomenal sound and stunning visual clarity transport you back in time. Prepare to experience Scorsese's masterpiece as never before on Blu-ray High Definition."

I agree with all comments as written except for the presentation on Blu-ray.

This is a phenomenal motion picture, with wonderful sound and stunning imagery -- on film.

Again, this should be a simple fix for Disney.
Reply
post #76 of 132
6/28/08 at 9:16pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

one day the film will truly be given the attention on DVD that it deserves. Here in Australia, our regular DVD version of this film was appalling, sad to see that it's still the case across the world.

You'd think Scorsese would have something to say about all this.
Reply
post #77 of 132
6/28/08 at 11:04pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
Yeah, I think the best looking Blu Ray discs that I own are Disney releases so this is very dissapointing. Hopefully, Disney will get the message and correct this disc. Fortunately, Disney is better than probably every other studio when it comes to issuing corrected discs.

I think Disney also released Scary Movie...?
An absolutely dreadful looking disc IMHO.
Reply
post #78 of 132
6/29/08 at 12:18am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I hope we don't get a repeat performance if or when Disney gets around to releasing Tombstone on BD. The Tombstone SE looked nice colourwise but it was infested with massive EE. It should have been called Tombstone: The EE Edition.

I hope Disney does a better job on that one than they, apparently, have done on Gangs of New York.
Reply
post #79 of 132
7/2/08 at 12:49pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I posted this to another site within the past day, and realized that it belongs as an attachment here.

It is a direct link to Patton, but attempts to explain my general position at this point in time.

***************************

Blu-ray was, from the outset, designed to be a multi-functional system capable of serving many masters.

Combined with the PS3, it becomes a superlative gaming system.

Played back on that same PS3, or any Blu players, it can offer a totally immersive and perfectly honed rendition of film (cinema) as a digital video product.

Because of its huge data handling capabilities, compression becomes much less of a problem, and along with that the need to reduce, no less remove, the original grain structure of a motion picture.

If the consumer, as a matter of personal preference, determines that they like to view some or all older motion pictures encoded to Blu with a slightly softer appearance, the system can handle that request with the simple turn of a digital dial.

The Blu-ray system stands as a consummate achievement of modern technology in its ability to do many things, and to do them very, very well.

As I see it, the only thing that can damage or destroy its commercial image is a run of software that prohibits the system from doing the job that it was designed to do -- that being the replication of the theater experience in a home setting at the highest level of reproduction and purity.

And this is where some of the most current releases fail the system as well as the consumer.

Blu-ray discs are too expensive to allow the public to be complacent about quality, when quality is all to easy to achieve.

I believe that we've reached a plateau in development cycle, where transfers that are "good enough" or films that have been heavily digitized are no longer viable.

RAH
Reply
post #80 of 132
7/6/08 at 11:02am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

what does the director say about this Blue Ray? was he even in the Mix?
I don't recall the film looking anywhere "a Ten" in the theatre(Like" La Luna")The Dvd looked like what I saw in the theatre,maybe you saw a better print.
Reply
post #81 of 132
7/7/08 at 2:39am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Neski
what does the director say about this Blue Ray? was he even in the Mix?
I don't recall the film looking anywhere "a Ten" in the theatre(Like" La Luna")The Dvd looked like what I saw in the theatre,maybe you saw a better print.

You saw a print where people were walking around with force fields?
Reply
post #82 of 132
7/7/08 at 6:08am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Wasn't it Scorsese who initiated the new restoration of Once Upon a Time in the West because he thought the Lowry restoration that was on DVD looked wrong? You'd think he would care how his own films were presented.
Reply
post #83 of 132
7/7/08 at 6:13am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris Z.
Wasn't it Scorsese who initiated the new restoration of Once Upon a Time in the West because he thought the Lowry restoration that was on DVD looked wrong? You'd think he would care how his own films were presented.
I'm sure he cares. But Miramax/Disney owns the film, and they can release it however they want.

M.
Reply
post #84 of 132
7/7/08 at 7:52am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
I'm sure he cares. But Miramax/Disney owns the film, and they can release it however they want.

I agree Michael, I am sure that the director did not have the last say in how the transfer was done. But I feel that we can send a message that we will not spend our money on transfers like Gangs Of NY, Patton or The Longest Day. I did have Gangs Of New York on my purchase list but after reading the review I will not own this title until a new transfer is done.
Reply
post #85 of 132
7/7/08 at 8:00am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Moritz
I agree Michael, I am sure that the director did not have the last say in how the transfer was done. But I feel that we can send a message that we will not spend our money on transfers like Gangs Of NY, Patton or The Longest Day.
The one thing has nothing to do with the other. I wasn't opining on whether anyone should or shouldn't buy GONY (or any other film) in its current incarnation on BD.

M.
Reply
post #86 of 132
7/7/08 at 8:28am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris Z.
Wasn't it Scorsese who initiated the new restoration of Once Upon a Time in the West because he thought the Lowry restoration that was on DVD looked wrong? You'd think he would care how his own films were presented.
Yes. My thoughts as well:
Quote:
"Margaret Bodde, executive director of the US-based Film Foundation set up by Scorsese and others, says the American director, who knew Leone, had the idea of getting the movie restored after watching the DVD released in the US. "The colour was really not correct and the quality not up to what it should be," she says.
I guess he doesn't like watching his own films...?
Reply
post #87 of 132
7/7/08 at 8:49am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix Martinez
I guess he doesn't like watching his own films...?
It probably has more to do with corporate alliances. Paramount has the rights to West, and it also happens to be producing Scorsese's next film, Shutter Island. Scorsese's connection with Miramax ended when the Weinsteins left.

M.
Reply
post #88 of 132
7/7/08 at 10:58am

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
The one thing has nothing to do with the other.

I realize that and I though I was agreeing with you about the director not being responsible for the transfer. I was just commenting on the use of DNR and the bad review it seemed to get. I guess I should have seperated that comment from my agreement. I am not very happy with the use of DNR to take out film grain and I think many of us here can agree with that. There are other titles that have not had DNR applied that I would rather spend my money on.
Reply
post #89 of 132
7/7/08 at 3:12pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I rented the BD and it has more edge halos than I've seen a BD in recent memory. I rented the DVD back when it came out. Despite no vivid memories of the DVD, I'm quite certain the BD is better but again I won't be collecting it. I can wait till Disney gets it right. I got BD to get away from DVD's, to be fair, even worse haloing. I don't wanna see much of that and Gangs....had it in galore.

I never saw the theatrical presentation and have no strong opines about other aspects of how the film should look. I sure as hell know that characters shouldn't look like angels of the Lord, wearin' halos though....even if they are Dead Rabbits.
Reply
post #90 of 132
6/6/09 at 2:22pm

Re: A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray

I know this thread is old but I just recently bought the BD, if nothing else because I have other Scorsese BD titles. I needed to also see the issues for myself. It's good to have the film on BD, the power of the film still does shine through, but this is appaling. Who at Disney allowed this to go out and why has it not been corrected. Every other title has been amazing from Disney. If nothing else I would recomend the disc because the whole film is now on one disc and you do not have to change discs. The film was not designed to have an intermission.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

Gear mentioned in this thread:

Gangs of New York [Blu-ray]
$10.9 at
See it »
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming Video and Digital Downloads › Blu-ray › A Few Words About By Robert Harris › A few words about...™ Gangs of New York -- in Blu-ray