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A few words about...™ Kick-Ass -- in Blu-ray

post #1 of 23
8/23/10 at 8:16pm
Thread Starter 

Once in a while I put off seeing a film for lack of interest.  I'd seen the Kick-Ass promos on television, and decided that I didn't need to see yet another kid's adventure film, even without Brendan Fraser.

 

And that was how it stood.  For months.

 

All had been well until I got a call from my son, who had just left an Academy screening of Kick-Ass, and called telling me that it one of the most entertaining films he'd ever seen.  And Nicolas Cage was once again, terrific.

 

Right.

 

When a friend dropped by this evening, and I announced that we were going to watch Kick-Ass...

 

The film had our full attention at the opening.

 

Twenty minutes in, we were both hooked, and realized that this was in no way a kid's film.

 

Director Matthew Vaughn has taken a group of talented pros and mixed them with young actors -- Aaron Johnson, who may be recalled from The Illusionist, and 12 year-old Chloe Moretz - (500) Days of Summer, who, unless my mind is playing tricks on me, is nothing like my friends younger sisters when I was in my teens.

 

One of the great things about this film, is that not being a studio production, it retained the freedom needed to make what ended up being a terrific piece of entertainment.  Had decisions been made in concert with 20 studio execs...

 

A suggestion to those who have not seen previously seen the film:  Viewing with no prior knowledge, as I did, is definitely the right move.  The less information the better.

 

Let me put it simply.

 

Kick-Ass is superior entertainment, and one of the most purely entertaining films that I've seen in the past decade.

 

Terrific film.  Beautiful Blu-ray presentation.  And the DTS Master Audio works wonders.

 

Kick-Ass if Very Highly Recommended.

 

RAH

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post #2 of 23
8/23/10 at 8:26pm

Glad you loved it too! There's definitely a Kick-Ass booster club around these parts. It's easy to make a profane, brutally violent action movie. It's much more difficult to do so with strongly defined but protagonists, a terrific supporting cast with plenty of stand out moments, while shifting seemingly effortlessly between emotions and genres at a rapid fire pace.

 

I also agree about the presentation. Ben Davis's cinematography bucks the modern trend toward harsh overly processed images, with highly saturated but otherwise naturalistic colors in well lit spaces with smooth, professional dolly work.

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post #3 of 23
8/24/10 at 6:52am

As I stated in the review thread, so far this year, Kick-Ass is my favorite film of 2010. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

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post #4 of 23
8/24/10 at 9:56am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford View Post

As I stated in the review thread, so far this year, Kick-Ass is my favorite film of 2010. 

 

  

Crawdaddy


I'd have to agree.
 

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post #5 of 23
8/24/10 at 10:29am


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Harris View Post

 

Let me put it simply.

 

Kick-Ass is superior entertainment, and one of the most purely entertaining films that I've seen in the past decade.

 


 

Probably my favourite film this year too.

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post #6 of 23
8/24/10 at 6:15pm

Same here, easily my favorite film of the year. Fantastic in every way.

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post #7 of 23
8/24/10 at 6:20pm
Loved it. Rented it b/c of the same reasons you mentioned and wound up buying it and seeing it again. There's been some discussion about the look of the Blu-ray, black levels nudged toward blue, etc., but I thought it was pretty clear the look was designed that way and effective. Any additional thoughts on the visual quality?
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post #8 of 23
8/24/10 at 10:04pm

I also noticed the blue hues in the blacks during certain scenes. Also, during some scenes the bottom of the screen is blurred a bit, not as sharp as the rest of the image. Again, this is only at certain scenes in the film.

 

There are also, at least two that I noticed right off, blatant movie mistakes, there so obvious I'm surprised they made it to the film cut.

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post #9 of 23
8/25/10 at 3:10am

Smiles.

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post #10 of 23
8/25/10 at 4:59am
Thread Starter 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felix Martinez View Post
There's been some discussion about the look of the Blu-ray, black levels nudged toward blue, etc., but I thought it was pretty clear the look was designed that way and effective. Any additional thoughts on the visual quality?


This was an interesting effect, which I presume was to possibly give it a bit of a comic book ink look.  On films of the '50s, the look would identify a faded yellow dye layer.

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post #11 of 23
8/25/10 at 7:35am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Harris View Post

Quote:


This was an interesting effect, which I presume was to possibly give it a bit of a comic book ink look.  On films of the '50s, the look would identify a faded yellow dye layer.


This was nothing but a distraction to me, it didn't add to the enjoyment or, look and feel of the film but rather took from it. 

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post #12 of 23
8/26/10 at 8:46pm

 

Quote:
There's been some discussion about the look of the Blu-ray, black levels nudged toward blue, etc., but I thought it was pretty clear the look was designed that way and effective.

 

i've no problem with over-saturated colors and blu-ish blacks, but there is some seriously inconsistent black levels in this movie.  the annoying thing is it changes form shot to shot, which i find very distracting.  if it's consistent, it's not as bad.

 

otherwise a very enjoyable movie. :)

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post #13 of 23
8/27/10 at 4:45am

While I'm not yet ready to go back and analyze the black levels shot by shot, there is one scene that was interesting to me in its use of disparate black levels within a scene: when Frank is in his car and spots "Kick-Ass" walking into an alley, the black levels were completely different for the shots inside the car and for those looking out into the outside world.  I guess like the extreme shifts in tone, profanity and over-the-top violence, I just went with it.

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post #14 of 23
8/27/10 at 6:45am

Don't forget that this was an independent movie with $100 million set pieces made on a $28 million budget. They probably didn't have the money or time to match everything perfectly. You can only do so much in the digital intermediate.

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post #15 of 23
9/3/10 at 10:42pm

Wow, thanks everyone.  I'd ignored this completely due to a couple of prominent reviews-- but with several posters I've come to respect recommending it on this thread I gave it a shot and loved it!

 

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post #16 of 23
9/3/10 at 11:51pm

Just rewatched this tonight after upgrading my BD-60's firmware to version 2.5 and it loaded MUCH faster.

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post #17 of 23
9/5/10 at 11:59pm

 

Just watched this for the first time and I just wanted to say:

 

Now that's how you do a #$@#$@#%# original comic book movie!

 

Tied for my favorite movie of the year (Inception). 

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post #18 of 23
9/6/10 at 8:32pm

You guys are thisclose to making me pull the trigger on this film...

 

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post #19 of 23
9/7/10 at 12:16am

I've watched it 6 times since it streeted a couple of weeks ago Mike, it's a fantastic film. 


Edited by Ron-P - 9/7/10 at 8:24am
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post #20 of 23
7/12/11 at 11:40am
I finally watched this (bought the BD back around the time it was released, and it sat on the shelf since). I was a little apprehensive about the Hit Girl stuff. Anyway. . .

Holy crap, this is a great movie. It's the best movie I've seen, period, since The Dark Knight (and I don't normally care for superhero movies). No joke -- the entertainment level is through the roof.

Mike, if you haven't bought it yet. . .it's one of the best blind buys I've ever made. I just wish I'd watched it sooner!
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post #21 of 23
7/12/11 at 2:05pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman View Post


Mike, if you haven't bought it yet. . .it's one of the best blind buys I've ever made. I just wish I'd watched it sooner!


I sure did!

 

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post #22 of 23
7/12/11 at 2:19pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman View Post

I finally watched this (bought the BD back around the time it was released, and it sat on the shelf since). I was a little apprehensive about the Hit Girl stuff. Anyway. . .

Holy crap, this is a great movie. It's the best movie I've seen, period, since The Dark Knight (and I don't normally care for superhero movies). No joke -- the entertainment level is through the roof.

Mike, if you haven't bought it yet. . .it's one of the best blind buys I've ever made. I just wish I'd watched it sooner!


It's not a film for young children, but it's one of the my favorite films from the last three years or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

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post #23 of 23
7/12/11 at 3:20pm


Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford View Post


It's not a film for young children, but it's one of the my favorite films from the last three years or so.

 

Crawdaddy

 


I totally agree.  It gets repeat viewings in my house!
 

 

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