HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended) - Page 3

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

yeah, its a real shame the premiere A/V format has attracted so many people with the level of gear to actually be able to fully discern excellant from adequete. The nerve of them criticizing the Bd Emperors clothes like that.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

SD DVD should suffice. Yes?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Not for me, but there is a varying level of seeing those defects among us that have Blu-ray. I applaud those with more critical eyes than me regarding these visual defects, but there is still a great deal of us that don't see those defects to the same degree as somebody like you.






Crawdaddy

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

I admit that i've become spoiled on BD and am having an increasingly difficult time watching SD DVD.

This was never more evident for me than this past black friday when SD DVD never even entered my conciousness during my shopping outing that morning.

It was all about Blu, baby.

As for TDK's image quality on Blu I have no doubt that it will be spectacular and will easily appease me.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Speaks the truth.

I DON'T have compassion for that small group simply because they feel the need to torture everyone else who reads these boards with endless complaints and a stubborn refusal to see any other side but their own.

Looking for excuses to complain and then allowing edge enhancement (or something else that may be minor, depending on the severity) to completely ruin the enjoyment of the movie itself - not allowing themselves to be caught up in the characters, emotions, and all the things that make a movie enjoyable to begin with - well that's when I step back and munch on popcorn if you get my meaning.

As for the film's AR, well I'll just say that I adore this film, and enjoyed it in both theatrical formats so I'm happy just to have the film to enjoy. A compromised IMAX AR was unavoidable and understandable, and I look forward to enjoying it on my meager 42" 720p/1080i TV.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Why did we even go from standard definition to High-Definition? Edge enhancement has no place whatsoever on a 1080p transfer. No ifs. No buts. No excuses.

Its not our fault we now have the equipment to see all this crap. Back then when we are all watching DVDs on our 30" sets they are non intrusive to most people. Now with people having viewing sets measured by the foot this can't be ignored anymore.

Dark Knight the movie itself is very good and I enjoyed it. Same goes with Gangs of New York and Traffic. Good movies is not going to be an excuse to disregard the PQ issues.

Don't I deserve a product that has great film making and and PQ to match it? No? You take what the studios give you? Do you have any idea how many DVDs and even Blu-rays that has been re-issued or improved because the consumers (that will be us) complained about it?

Don't I deserve the best? The first time?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

My Disc shipped yesterday... I am sooooo excited... Great review by the way!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

I blew nothing out of proportion in my comments about the image quality of this Blu-ray. I can understand getting fed up with hyperbole, but my post was not hyperbolic at all. It was a fair assessment of the image quality of THE DARK KNIGHT on Blu-ray. Are you suggesting that folks shouldn't look at Blu-ray releases with a critical eye in terms of the visual quality because "99% of the people... will not see (the flaws)"? Imagine how DVD would have progressed if folks didn't rally against non-anamorphic transfers way back in the day simply because it was still better than VHS.


Well, he wasn't speaking the truth about me, and it was my post he was responding to in a flippant and dismissive manner. I think my comments about the image quality of this Blu-ray have been very measured and fair. I don't regret buying this Blu-ray, but I see no reason why the 35mm material should look processed when other recent Blu-rays of 35mm filmed movies look analog and film-like. Is it really too much to expect the highest grossing film of the year that was also critically praised to look as film-like as THE INCREDIBLE HULK? I don't think it is.

Vincent

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Let's calm down and stop polluting this review thread. I respect the opinions of those that see or don't see these visual defects. Everybody has a right to express their opinion about this disc presentation, but can we give the hard sale to others a rest that don't agree with your opinion. I mean repetitive "tit for tat" responses is great for HTF activity, but it appears to do very little to resolving differences in POV while blood pressures continue to rise up.






Crawdaddy

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Absolutely NOT Anyone (within reason) who sees some of your A/B comparisons between BR and SD-DVD will clearly see the BR advantage in detail, sharpness, etc.....unless you explain to MOST people what EE is and what it looks like, they are not going to see it. The degree to which you are pushing this issue affects an extremely small part of the community who actualy know what it is and can see it and at the same time also bothers them to the point of doing what you guys have done. I understand your purpose and I hope that we get better transfers in the future because of it, but how about a little perspective? The positives of this disc FAR outweigh the negatives so why are we CHOOSING to focus on the negatives when there is so much more positive to talk about?

Anyone who has seen your SD-DVD vs BR comparison knows the answer to that question is "no". The BR is CLEARLY superior and of course is the version I will get. I clearly see a dif between upconverted DVD and BR on my RS1/94" screen setup so why would I go with the inferior format (DVD) just because the BR is not absolute perfection? Seems like a spoiled attitude to me Xylon This isssue has been blown WAY out of proportion though in light of the whole disc that is the DK and that is my only point.


EXACTLY, and even those who can see the defects, MOST of them can put it in proper perspective and not let it ruin the whole visual experience which is evidence of the fact that just about every major review has mentioned this EE, but a LOT of those reviews have still awarded top marks or close to it for PQ since they also consider all the other various aspects of PQ, not just one issue (and yes it should not be there, but there is more to see than just the negative).



This is how I have seen it as well. These people are not going to be happy until they beat it into everyones head how supposedly AWFUL this transfer is because one aspect of the PQ has been messed with slightly even in light of all the countless good things the transfer does well....I am not buying it

I watched Baraka for the first time the other night and even though I could see what Xylon has talked about with that film, I was immediately distracted by the overall PQ which was fantastic and pulled me in for the entire film. If these guys cant see more good in a picture like that, I honestly do feel compassion for them as again, they are tortured.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

We understand your POV can we move on?






Crawdaddy

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

I will move on from this and respect your request

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

For a highly acclaimed movie, I am disappointed for this dvd presentation based on what I've heard.

The two areas of concern are video quality and bonus supplements. Warner should have moved all the supplements from the main disc to the second disc in order to achieve a higher bit video rate for the feature movie. The extras in general appear to be average.

Anyway, I 'smell' another super-duper edition within a year.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

When did we get a super-duper edition of Batman Begins?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

When "The Dark Knight" was about to be released in the theatres.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

IF the EE is a result of the entire IMAX conversion/film process, I don't see how they could have removed the EE --- the EE seems to just be a flaw of that process as I have seen EE in BOTH versions of the film including at an IMAX theater and 35mm viewing.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

If you'd ever consider the newer release of "Batman Begins" to be that; the newer version is more of a reissue than re-release. They added some frills with the packaging and released it on Blu-ray for the first time, but it's still essentially the same as the original 2005, two-disc DVD release.

Incidentally, my copy of "The Dark Knight" Blu-ray just showed up in today's mail, I can't wait to go home and take a look later.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Yes, if the BD had no higher resolution, I wouldn't get it. For me it has the same extras as the old DVD set that I also own.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Technically it’s possible. Did they use the whole IMAX print to make the BD transfer? They could have transferred the 35mm scenes directly for BD instead of 35mm->IMAX->BD if that's what they did.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

It's entirely possible that they used the IMAX source.

What I read in American Cinematographer was that a digital intermediate (DI), a fairly commonly used tool in recent years, was not done for this film. In that process, the film is scanned and edited and color-timed in the digital realm, and then recorded out to film; it's from that film-out that release prints are made. For films that have gone through the DI process, the DVD/Blu-ray is sourced from the digital files rather than a physical film print. "Batman Begins" did not have a DI.

For "The Dark Knight", it gets a little trickier. Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister aren't the biggest fans of the DI, and they managed to avoid it as much as possible. But because the film was being released simultaneously in two formats, with parts of the film shot in two different formats, it wasn't possible to edit the film without digital tools playing a role at some point. As I recall from the American Cinematographer article:

- For 35mm release prints, all of the 35mm-sourced footage was shot and edited without the use of the DI, with the 35mm footage having been edited and color-timed in the traditional, non-digital sense.

- For 35mm release prints, all of the IMAX-sourced footage was scanned and cropped to 2.35:1 and filmed-out. These sequences were then edited into the regular 35mm negative.

- For IMAX prints, the process was reversed so that all of the 35mm footage went through the IMAX DMR process, which involved the film being scanned and output on IMAX film. All of the sequences actually shot in IMAX were printed from the original negative rather than a DI of the negative.

If all of this is true, it seems possible that the Blu-ray and DVD were sourced from the same scanning of the 35mm negative used to create the original IMAX presentation, which could explain how any perceived flaws in the IMAX presentation could have wound up on the Blu-ray.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

I've had TDK on BD for about two weeks; I've watched it four times. I don't think there is much of a difference(if any) between the prologue and the way the same scene looks on the feature, other than a different color timing. Clarity is the same on both. As for the rest of TDK, it looks pretty darn good for the most part. There is some EE on a few scenes, but it's barely discernible unless you're scrutininizing the picture(and it's usually on background characters; much was made of a screencap of a policeman during the hospital scene on another forum, but that scene lasts a nanosecond-and it's part of the background). And the IMAX scenes are jaw dropping.

For reference, I'm watching this on an 84" screen with a 720p projector.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

For all the debates about this film, it's a shame this wasn't the cover chosen for ALL releases:



The Dark Knight: Why So Serious? Edition

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

thats better then te "pod", i still like the joker from behind poster with his long purple coat

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Why so serious, indeed, Nicholas.

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Can't wait to pick this up. Gonna have a Batman marathon of 4.5 hrs tomorrow methinks!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

+1...Ric Easton are you taking requests?

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Way to go, Blockbuster! I should probably receive my rental copy tomorrow and get a first hand look at the BD.

_Man_

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Since i'm not allowed to buy any BD's until xmas I am getting this in from NetFlix tomorrow. I figured since I can't buy the BD I can at least see it.

I paln to hold onto that disc until I get it for xmas from someone.

I must comment that i'm becoming increasingly bothered by the altered artwork on BD and DVD covers, it never used to bother me before but lately it is.

I think it's because I know i'm getting a faithful translation from film to home with BD and deep down I want the artwork taken right from the one sheet that I saw at the theater.

And in the case of Hancock they actually give away a major surprise from the film on the BD cover by Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

Well, in the case of this film every cover variant is based on official movie posters. It's just unfortunate that they chose the worst of the posters to use as both the Blu-ray front (or slipcover for it, don't recall which is which) and two-disc DVD front covers. That BatPod poster just stinks compared to the rest.


I rented Hancock on BD a few days ago because I hadn't seen it in theaters and yeah, that was a big mistake for a cover. If the outfit were different it would have been a totally different non-spoilered situation!

Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: The Dark Knight (Recommended)

To add to the spoilerization of Hancock, the spoilerized situation above is actually spelled out in the paragraph summary on the back cover of the BD. Lame. I found it to be one of the cooler surprises in the movie.