A few words about...™ Public Enemies -- in Blu-ray - Page 2

The 35mm prints of THE DARK KNIGHT were timed photo-chemically.  The film didn't undergo a DI (aside from the IMAX version, were the 35mm material was scanned and converted to IMAX), although the IMAX footage was scanned and then recomposed for 35mm anamorphic framing.

Vincent

Yeah, the IMAX/Blu-ray version looks very different from what was shown in theaters. IMAX tends to overdo it a bit with their DMR work.

"To me the use of HD took the film out of its time era and gave it a look that just didn't sync with the subject matter"


Are you high? If this movie was true to the time period it would be in black and white and most likely with no sound. People in the past didn't veiw the world through blurred lenses. Their vision of the world through their eyes looked exactly the same as you and me see things(if you have 20/20 vision) and HD makes things very close to reality.

This movie was very hard to watch, I could not get past the inconsistencies of the films used. It made it impossible for me to keep my attention. If it was all grainy it would've been better or all HD clear it would've been fantastic. Another extremely bad judgement to top of the horrible career of Michael Mann.

You registered on the forum to ask Robert Harris whether he's high?

As a dedicated fan of Michael Mann's work, I'm disappointed in PUBLIC ENEMIES. Shooting on digital media undermines the story he is telling. His aesthetic choices undermine the story he is telling. The steps he takes to tweak the digital media are tantamount to placing an artifact between the viewers' eyes and the movie. If Mann wants to take nostalgia out of the story, there's other ways of doing it with 35mm film. It looked like a flared and muddy mess on the big screen, and it looks like a flared and muddy mess on the rental. I like to play with new toys, too, but Mann is taking this digital obsession too far. I wonder if he has not lost his mind.

My disappointment in PUBLIC ENEMIES extends to the casting. I know something about these people, but even if I didn't, it is painfully obvious that Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, among others, are utterly miscast. Sure they are good actors and deliver at the very least highly professional performances, but they are dramatically, emotionally, physically, and personality-wrong for the parts. I know this will be misunderstood by some of you, but I think Mann needs to start casting American actors in American roles. All Warren Oates and Ben Johnson had to do to play the same characters in the 1973 film was to show up for work. They were authentically cast and they delivered natural, easy authentic performances. Depp (an American / European) and Bale (a Brit) have to work at it, yet their performances are as inauthentic as the digital media in use.

Watched this on rental a week or so ago, and it gave me the impression that I was watching some sort of experiemental Dogme 95 "film".

It just did not work for me -- and I'm glad I didn't do the blindbuy on this one.

_Man_

 Just finished watching this for New Year's Day.

Sound seems unbalanced, but I noticed that it was more 'realistic'. eg. when they're escaping the jail, voices from inside the car, and heard from outside the car. Gunfire was fine. Deliberate perhaps.

Picture was fine, watching at 185" - no EE, murkiness etc.
Seems people need more calibration or different equipment.

I LOVED THE SCORE...seemingly out of place. Interesting how Zimmer was involved.
Kudos to Mann.

I thought the same thing watching it in the theater.  I'm sure it was deliberate.

finally got to watch this movie.  i liked it. 

the digital parts were so smooth, it made it look like i had Frame Interpolation switched on, which i hate... i actually had to switch off the 24 hz on my PS3 to compensate.
with regards to shooting a period piece with moderns techniques, doesn't that actually do more to draw you INTO the period?  i mean, if they'd shot a 70's movie with added grain like Planet Terror / Death Proof, all that does is constantly remind me that i'm in 2009 (or 2010) watching an experience that took place along time ago.  if they shoot a period movie with modern ultra detailed cameras, that would do more to bring me into the period.  like Benjamin Button.  in my opinion anyways.  
still, i'd prefer the movie to be completely digital over back and forth, which i think was just as much for effect than lighting.  i remember a restaurant scene which had 2 cameras, one on Depp and one on the Red Hamilton character.  one was extra grainy and one was totally clear.  back and forth.  now THAT takes my out of the scene.  it's like those acid shots in Tony Scott's Domino which i hated.

also i'm surprised that totally-fake over-the-counter scene was left in, where Depp's face seemed super-imposed over someone else jumping over the desk in the bank robbery sequence.