- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,376
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
I'm going to clean up this thread a bit to make it easier for those visiting for the first time.
With apologies to those who posted in the thread, I've either eliminated or edited those posts which no longer
made sense in light of the top post changing. Hopefully you'll forgive the action. The intent is to clear up any
misunderstanding that the discs themselves are problematic.
On friday my copy of Alien Anthology arrived. As I've been fully aware of the amount of work that
Fox has been putting into the release between working with elements, and bringing in Charles de Lauzirika
to produce the myriad of special features, I couldn't wait to get it up and running in my home theater.
That's when hardware problems struck. My favored Blu-ray player, an Oppo 83 came up with bad responses when
I attempted to run the long version of Alien and then with Aliens. While the introductions ran properly, scaling was
off the boards, with about a 500-600% zoom. The zoom could only be dealt with by finding workarounds.
I then tried the same disc in a 3 year old Panasonic, and got precisely the opposite results, incorrect intro
and correct feature.
As I wasn't certain whether it was a problem with the disc, or with the players, I later tried the disc in three
more players, a Samsung, a PS3, and a JVC. All worked flawlessly.
Let me say it loud and clear, there are no problems with the discs, only with certain players.
The lesson here, is that some of the manufacturers are not keeping up with what the studios are doing, and
I'm especially disturbed about Oppo, which I feel gives me the highest quality image that I've found anywhere.
There is a promising Oppo firmware update on line, which I've not been able to get to run, and will be speaking with
them tomorrow, as it's still listed as a beta -- not something that one would wish to depend upon.
Now that I know that the discs themselves are fine, I've been using a workaround to get them properly on screen until
we can solve the Oppo problem.
Having read Bill Hunt's piece on The Bits, and he also had an Oppo problem, I can concur with his feelings.
In the fewest number of words possible, this is a phenomenal set, that deserves the A++ that Bill gives it.
My hat is off to Charles de Lauzirika for yet another job done with class, elegance and perfection. Here is a man
who loves film and what he does.
I've had 35mm prints of both Alien and Aliens, and have seen Aliens in 70mm. What I can easily tell you about the set is that both Alien and Aliens are the best that I've ever personally seen, with audio that will test even the largest home theater's amps and speakers. Detail, black levels, color, densities and all else are letter perfect.
The discussions on line regarding director James Cameron de-graining Aliens comes down to miscommunication. It appears that some of the heavier grain has been
massaged, but the film looks like film, and better than it ever has.
As an aside to the Oppo debacle, I can tell you that viewing scenes from Alien and Aliens zoomed up some 500%, show that these are discs that will look superb on high end home theater projection setups of the largest design. I'm referring to screens well up to 20 feet in width and more. This speaks volumes about the efforts that went into creating these masters.
I have not yet had a chance to even begin going through the layers of information and extras in this set, as the width and breadth of material contained is huge.
From my experience, Alien Anthology appears to be the most complex set ever attempted.
As a Blu-ray Event, It is a benchmark in all areas, and portends to be the Best Classic Release of 2010. This is the one to beat.
It is Extremely Highly Recommended.
RAH
With apologies to those who posted in the thread, I've either eliminated or edited those posts which no longer
made sense in light of the top post changing. Hopefully you'll forgive the action. The intent is to clear up any
misunderstanding that the discs themselves are problematic.
On friday my copy of Alien Anthology arrived. As I've been fully aware of the amount of work that
Fox has been putting into the release between working with elements, and bringing in Charles de Lauzirika
to produce the myriad of special features, I couldn't wait to get it up and running in my home theater.
That's when hardware problems struck. My favored Blu-ray player, an Oppo 83 came up with bad responses when
I attempted to run the long version of Alien and then with Aliens. While the introductions ran properly, scaling was
off the boards, with about a 500-600% zoom. The zoom could only be dealt with by finding workarounds.
I then tried the same disc in a 3 year old Panasonic, and got precisely the opposite results, incorrect intro
and correct feature.
As I wasn't certain whether it was a problem with the disc, or with the players, I later tried the disc in three
more players, a Samsung, a PS3, and a JVC. All worked flawlessly.
Let me say it loud and clear, there are no problems with the discs, only with certain players.
The lesson here, is that some of the manufacturers are not keeping up with what the studios are doing, and
I'm especially disturbed about Oppo, which I feel gives me the highest quality image that I've found anywhere.
There is a promising Oppo firmware update on line, which I've not been able to get to run, and will be speaking with
them tomorrow, as it's still listed as a beta -- not something that one would wish to depend upon.
Now that I know that the discs themselves are fine, I've been using a workaround to get them properly on screen until
we can solve the Oppo problem.
Having read Bill Hunt's piece on The Bits, and he also had an Oppo problem, I can concur with his feelings.
In the fewest number of words possible, this is a phenomenal set, that deserves the A++ that Bill gives it.
My hat is off to Charles de Lauzirika for yet another job done with class, elegance and perfection. Here is a man
who loves film and what he does.
I've had 35mm prints of both Alien and Aliens, and have seen Aliens in 70mm. What I can easily tell you about the set is that both Alien and Aliens are the best that I've ever personally seen, with audio that will test even the largest home theater's amps and speakers. Detail, black levels, color, densities and all else are letter perfect.
The discussions on line regarding director James Cameron de-graining Aliens comes down to miscommunication. It appears that some of the heavier grain has been
massaged, but the film looks like film, and better than it ever has.
As an aside to the Oppo debacle, I can tell you that viewing scenes from Alien and Aliens zoomed up some 500%, show that these are discs that will look superb on high end home theater projection setups of the largest design. I'm referring to screens well up to 20 feet in width and more. This speaks volumes about the efforts that went into creating these masters.
I have not yet had a chance to even begin going through the layers of information and extras in this set, as the width and breadth of material contained is huge.
From my experience, Alien Anthology appears to be the most complex set ever attempted.
As a Blu-ray Event, It is a benchmark in all areas, and portends to be the Best Classic Release of 2010. This is the one to beat.
It is Extremely Highly Recommended.
RAH
