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A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

post #1 of 57
9/11/08 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Although I'd seen his work in small roles previous to Richard Attenborough's Chaplin (1992), it was that film that had me thinking that he was one of this country's most talented actors.

Nothing in the interim has changed my position, and after viewing Iron Man in Blu-ray, I find my thinking confirmed.

Mr. Downey's Tony Stark is one of those performances that makes comparisons of a different actor in the role implausible. Mr. Downey simply nails it.

So too does Paramount with a letter perfect rendition of the film on Blu-ray.

Although wildly different, Iron Man is a film that at times during the finale had me thinking of two earlier films. One released some 10 months previous (Transformers) and another quite a bit older, going back some 65 years -- Frankenstein Meet the Wolfman.

A lighter film than the most recent Batman epics, Iron Man, which seems to have been designed for a bit younger audience, is terrific fun.

A fine film and a beautifully rendered Blu-ray disc that represents itself very nicely projected on a large home theater screen. Beautiful imagery. Great lossless audio and probably more extras than one has free to time enjoy.

Recommended.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
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post #2 of 57
9/11/08 at 8:32pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

well said ... re: Downey

I look forward to this BD so I can say the same about the software itself
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post #3 of 57
9/11/08 at 11:49pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

The best comic book movie to come along in several years, this is going to be simply fantastic on Blu. I rarely go to the theater, I went twice to see this. Comic book film making at it's best.
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post #4 of 57
9/12/08 at 6:14am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Another for my small but quickly growing list of BDs--sadly, did not get to see this at the cinema.

Downey Jr.'s also very effective in Zodiac (one of my favourite films of the past 5 years) and is almost always among the better actors in whatever film I've seen him in.
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post #5 of 57
9/12/08 at 10:12am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

I just read a review at IGN complaining about 'noise' in the picture, though not in the CGI sequences.

OK, can someone please slap that person? This is why grain = evil to studios, because of tards like this.

Thanks to Mr. Harris for giving us the word. I'll order this one without worry.
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post #6 of 57
9/12/08 at 10:53am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassy_w
I just read a review at IGN complaining about 'noise' in the picture, though not in the CGI sequences.

OK, can someone please slap that person? This is why grain = evil to studios, because of tards like this.

Thanks to Mr. Harris for giving us the word. I'll order this one without worry.


I am going to hold off after the 3rd report of restricted (approx 4db) dynamic range on the TrueHD soundtrack compared to the lossy DD. Could be the disc or could be some sort of other issue, but 3 reports now from reviewers. This audio review best describes the issue.......


Blu-ray review of Iron Man (Ultimate 2-Disc Edition) - DVDTOWN.com
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post #7 of 57
9/12/08 at 11:16am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassy_w
I just read a review at IGN complaining about 'noise' in the picture, though not in the CGI sequences.

OK, can someone please slap that person? This is why grain = evil to studios, because of tards like this.

Thanks to Mr. Harris for giving us the word. I'll order this one without worry.

I thought that the CGI sequences were shot with different lenses (cameras?) than during the normal sequences. That could be the answer for this problem. Still doesn't explain IGN's attitude towards grain, though.
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post #8 of 57
9/12/08 at 1:38pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd smith
I am going to hold off after the 3rd report of restricted (approx 4db) dynamic range on the TrueHD soundtrack compared to the lossy DD. Could be the disc or could be some sort of other issue, but 3 reports now from reviewers. This audio review best describes the issue.......


Blu-ray review of Iron Man (Ultimate 2-Disc Edition) - DVDTOWN.com
FWIW, Peter Bracke didn't seem to find any fault with the audio in his review over at Hi-Def Digest. I generally trust his reviews, and knowing that R.A.H. also endorses this release, that's good enough for me. As always, YMMV, but after reading the DVD Town review, this is just not enough of an issue for me to sit this one out.
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post #9 of 57
9/12/08 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Iron man is a DI, photographed on two different Eastman stocks, 5217 (200T) and 5218 (500T), which may be what some are discussing.

I saw no problems whatsoever.

Just a beautiful transparent move to Blu-ray.
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post #10 of 57
9/12/08 at 2:24pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by pitchman
FWIW, Peter Bracke didn't seem to find any fault with the audio in his review over at Hi-Def Digest. I generally trust his reviews, and knowing that R.A.H. also endorses this release, that's good enough for me. As always, YMMV, but after reading the DVD Town review, this is just not enough of an issue for me to sit this one out.


The fact that Peter did not find this does not surprise me for a few reasons (not the most credible reviewer IMO)....He also did not have the SD lossy DD edition on hand to do a comparison. John and Jason are more credible reviewers at Dvdtown IMHO and these guys know what they are doing. Ralph Potts at AVS also found the same issue who I consider to be a great/credible reviewer. This is enough for me to hold off until we get some sort of resolve.
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post #11 of 57
9/12/08 at 6:52pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd smith
The fact that Peter did not find this does not surprise me for a few reasons (not the most credible reviewer IMO)....He also did not have the SD lossy DD edition on hand to do a comparison. John and Jason are more credible reviewers at Dvdtown IMHO and these guys know what they are doing. Ralph Potts at AVS also found the same issue who I consider to be a great/credible reviewer. This is enough for me to hold off until we get some sort of resolve.

Edit: Ralph on AVS has discovered that DRC was set to "AUTO" for the TrueHD track and turning this to "OFF" has solved his issue. Waiting for confirmation from the dvdtown guys as this may be the problem they are having as well. Some of the new pre/pros/receivers default to "AUTO" on the DRC mode for any TrueHD track played (which my Onkyo 885 does and has to be turned to OFF everytime you listen to a TrueHD track). This should be why some are having the issue and is a simple fix if so. Everyone should be aware of this setting either way as this affects any TrueHD track and needs to be put to off each and every time (atleast on the Onkyo 885 and probably the whole Onkyo line. Dont know about Denon, etc.....).
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post #12 of 57
9/12/08 at 11:44pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

What is DRC and does it affect my Onkyo 805? How do I turn it off?
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post #13 of 57
9/13/08 at 11:11am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-P
What is DRC and does it affect my Onkyo 805? How do I turn it off?
DRC = Dynamic Range Compression

This feature is activated when the Onkyo reciver is fed Iron Man's bitstream and not when fed LPCM when decoded in the player.

Quoting a paragraph from DVDTown.com:
Quote:
After two days of fussing with the question and talking to equally perplexed fellow reviewers, I discovered that the problem was in the way my Onkyo 705 receiver was handling this particular disc's TrueHD audio output (although the receiver has never had a problem with any other TrueHD soundtracks, a multitude of them, in this regard). The TrueHD track on "Iron Man" was apparently triggering the receiver's dynamic-range compression function. There is a button on the remote for "Late Night" listening to change it back. However, not wanting to deal with the issue if it ever cropped up again, I changed my Panasonic BD50 player's output from bitstream to PCM, thereby letting the player decode the audio rather than the receiver. Now, everything sounds fine. Indeed, "Iron Man" sounds great in TrueHD, with plenty of punch that I'm finally able to hear.

Paul
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post #14 of 57
9/13/08 at 11:28pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-P
What is DRC and does it affect my Onkyo 805? How do I turn it off?


This is set to "AUTO" by default on your 805 for TrueHD only (check out your manual) and you need to hit the "L NIGHT" button on your Onkyo remote for it to go to "OFF". Be aware though that this setting will NOT hold once you put the Onkyo into standby mode so you need to do this simple step for EVERY TrueHD track you play. Every TrueHD track will default DRC to auto and should be turned OFF.
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post #15 of 57
9/14/08 at 12:11pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

can't wait for this one
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post #16 of 57
9/16/08 at 10:20pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Really looking forward to this one and I'm glad the "words about" it are favorable. I saw it in the theater (twice), but my wife didn't so I am going to enjoy watching it with her. Hopefully, she likes it as much as I do. I'm going to have to be patient, however, as I didn't order it from my regular vendor and don't expect to arrive as promptly.
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post #17 of 57
9/20/08 at 4:19pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

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post #18 of 57
9/20/08 at 10:19pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

^
and?
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post #19 of 57
9/21/08 at 4:42am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd smith
This is set to "AUTO" by default on your 805 for TrueHD only (check out your manual) and you need to hit the "L NIGHT" button on your Onkyo remote for it to go to "OFF". Be aware though that this setting will NOT hold once you put the Onkyo into standby mode so you need to do this simple step for EVERY TrueHD track you play. Every TrueHD track will default DRC to auto and should be turned OFF.

I've got a Teac AG-10D receiver and I have noticed on the few titles that I own on Blu-Ray that where there is a choice between Dolby Digatal 5.1 and Lossless 5.1, the former does seem to have more oomph. Hence I have choosen this as a listening option.

In order for Lossless to perform at a more dramatic level, do I need a newer amp or perhaps a more expensive one? Or is it the case that all amps that can deliver 5.1 or 6.1 (as in the case of my Teac), should be able to deliver powerfull Lossless audio from Blu-Rays? Or could this DRC be causing the problem?

I have the new Region A Iron Man, so I will try it out.

Any thoughts or comments most welcome.
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post #20 of 57
9/21/08 at 7:24am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

The lossless track probably (can vary of course) has greater overall dynamic range than the lossy one. I find this to be the case when I compare some of my SACDs with their CD counterparts. Because of this, I have to turn up the volume for my SACDs compared to the CDs for the "oomph" to be in play. I have noticed a similar phenomenon with "lossless" tracks on BD and HD DVD (though I only get the "core" of the stream, that "core", when compared to DD/DTS on SD DVD, appears to have a wider dynamic range--my impressions are anecdotal, of course, as I don't have full "lossless" capacity for HD DVD/BD but it tracks with my SACD/CD experience). The solution, for me, is quite simple. I turn up the volume. Of course, when level matched, the perceptible difference between lossy and lossless pretty much disappears (except in those cases where the differences in dynamic range are dramatically different--but even then, with a movie's visuals occupying a great deal of one's attention, noticing those exceptions requires an effort that transforms the event from something entertaining to something requiring "work").

When I listen to music (rather than watch movies), I tend to be more focused (no visuals to distract me) and I can, if I try, notice the difference in dynamic range between a CD and an SACD or DVD-A--but that difference is only valid if the mix and mastering is the same. Not all that common (and that is only applicable to 2 channel. In MCH, my preferred mode of listening, the MCH mix far outweighs whatever benefit I'm getting from "lossless".

Now, if I had an acoustic listening space that was ideal, the differences might be more dramatic--but while I've done a decent job at treating my room, practical and financial considerations prevent me from going "all out". I've already taken room treatments and eq'ing my sub and judicious speaker placement (and selection) and so on to a far greater degree than anyone I know (outside fora like this) would consider worthwile (or even sane ), so I've reached what I consider to be a diminishing margin of return. I'd rather spend my time enjoying the movie and music.

Sorry, I've veered a bit off topic.

Back to your receiver--are you using a BD player with MCH analogue outputs? If so, I would just set the levels in the player to compensate. If it is connected via coax/toslink digital, then you have the lossy core signal coming to your receiver (as I have with my setup) and turning up the volume is the easiest solution (that, or selecting the lossy track as you are currently doing).
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post #21 of 57
9/23/08 at 4:53am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Hillenbrand
DRC = Dynamic Range Compression

This feature is activated when the Onkyo reciver is fed Iron Man's bitstream and not when fed LPCM when decoded in the player.

Paul

I don't know about other players, but DRC can still be activated for PCM when TrueHD is decoded internally on the PS3:

Quote:
BD / DVD Settings
BD / DVD Dynamic Range Control
Enable or disable your PS3™ system's dynamic range control feature while playing BDs and DVDs that produce Dolby Digital sound. This setting is for use only when Linear PCM audio format is selected as the audio output format.

---with a toggle setting for AUTO/OFF/ON. From the PS3 online manual.
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post #22 of 57
9/23/08 at 6:37am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Cain
I don't know about other players, but DRC can still be activated for PCM when TrueHD is decoded internally on the PS3:
It can be but the problem with the Onkyo receiver, apparently, is that DRC ON is the DEFAULT setting when receiving a bitstream rather than LPCM via HDMI. If someone doesn't know this about the receiver, then they may be left with the impression that bitstreamed lossless audio is not as good as expected.
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post #23 of 57
9/23/08 at 8:13am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulDA
It can be but the problem with the Onkyo receiver, apparently, is that DRC ON is the DEFAULT setting when receiving a bitstream rather than LPCM via HDMI. If someone doesn't know this about the receiver, then they may be left with the impression that bitstreamed lossless audio is not as good as expected.

Understood. I was just pointing out that, since DRC is by default set to "Automatic" in the relevant PS3 menu setting, the inetrnally-decoded TrueHD--->PCM results could be just as disappointing.
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post #24 of 57
9/23/08 at 10:53am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Is Iron Man (Blu-ray) recalled from retailers for possible defects?

Tower.com "Availability: This item is no longer for sale on Tower.com."

Blu-ray.com Iron Man on Blu-ray recalled

Paul
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post #25 of 57
9/23/08 at 11:15am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

This would never happen to Batman.
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post #26 of 57
9/23/08 at 11:23am

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Hillenbrand
Is Iron Man (Blu-ray) recalled from retailers for possible defects?

Tower.com "Availability: This item is no longer for sale on Tower.com."

Blu-ray.com Iron Man on Blu-ray recalled

Paul
If this is true, it would be a bummer but at least they didn't find a problem and just pretend that it wasn't there so they can meet the release date.
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post #27 of 57
9/23/08 at 12:08pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kocheese99
Here's the UPC's:

Defective: UPC: 097361385747

New "Fixed": UPC: 097361385709
Post #179 @ Blu-ray.com "Iron Man on Blu-ray recalled " thread.

EARLY UPDATE - 9/23/08 - 11:45 AM PDT
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Hunt
The official word on the Iron Man BD is in from Paramount. The discs that will be available on street date at your local retailers WILL be fixed and working fine, so no worries. We're also told that because the discs will be corrected by street, there will be no need for any kind of exchange program. Just so you know.

The Digital Bits: My Two Cents

Paul
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post #28 of 57
9/23/08 at 2:22pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

^ Even better.
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post #29 of 57
9/23/08 at 3:48pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

at my bbv we received our shipment today including our blu-ray rental and retail copies of iron man.

what i noticed today is that we have three seperate listings in our database.
one of them is $35 another is $30 and the third also is $30.

Odd thing about one of the $30 ones is right in the title line it says do not rent or sell.
This is the item number for the copies we received, including the rental i have in my hands

if there is a memo about this we didn't see it today.
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post #30 of 57
9/23/08 at 5:52pm

Re: A few words about...™ Iron Man -- in Blu-ray

Excellent news!
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
$28.99 at
See it »