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A Few Words About A few words about... Sin City (1 Viewer)

Jonny P

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I haven't seen this movie yet...

However as a big fan of both Rodriquez and Tarantino I can safely say this:

They both make "schlock" movies...and are proud of it.

That isn't meant to be a "slam" of either of these directors -- actually the opposite is true.

They make very artistic and well-crafted "schlock" movies. But, they are still "pulpy" movies with lurid content and (in the case of Tarantino) interesting dialogue.

Both of these men are very gifted directors technically. I'd say that RR's strength is his ability to make movies that look very, very good for less money.

Tarantino's strength is his writing and his ability to make non-linear storytelling work.

I am not saying that they are "style over substance" -- what I am saying is that both of these guys are B-movie filmmakers who found a way to carve out a niche for themselves that is pretty high profile and commercial.

After the success of "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs," Tarantino could have chosen to make more meaningful movies in the vein of "Schindler's List."

I am sure that Rodriguez could have made bigger action movies (he was offered the chance to make "The Mask of Zorro" for Sony).

A lot of people on here have really awesome TVs and soundsystems. They have every right to be proud of their systems, but I am sure that part of the appeal of movies on those systems fall under the "ooohs and aaahs" category. They like movies that look and sound good.

Believe me, if I had a $12,000 system I am sure I'd feel that way.

I don't think that is happening in this case. I think that.

Robert Rodriguez has explained that he didn't "adapt" the comics, but rather "interpreted" them. What it means is that he promised the original comic author that he'd stay completely true to the material.

I don't know if that will work or not since I haven't seen it.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Wow!

Just finished watching this film.

Simply unbelievable! Like nothing I have ever
seen before.

I posted a more detailed opinion in David Boulet's
review thread (see link below).

Rank this with the best I have seen all year!
 

DaViD Boulet

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Folks,

sorry for the delay in this review. I just recently moved into my new house and actually dug my HT components out of their boxes the other night for this review (Jeff Swearingen helped me hang the screen and wire up the surround speakers before the show...thanks Jeff!!!).

I concur with RAH's perception of both picture and sound.

Please see my review thread:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...24#post2762938
 

Shane_M

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I've yet to see it, but news has recently surfaced that the SE will street in December just in time for *gasp* Christmas.

You can read about it here .
 

Grant B

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Great Movie but Sadistic violence gets to me and the great audio can shake the neighbors late at night.
Finih it up tonight.

I am surprised that the violence didn't take it to NC 17.....I don't think you can get a NC 17 for violence
 

Lord Dalek

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I rented Sin City yesterday and I largely agree with Mr. Harris's opinions...

HOWEVER

There's is a tiny bit of aliasing visible durring the opening titles. Otherwise the transfer is perfect.
 

JohnRice

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I think you could probably get an NC-17 for violence. Irreversible certainly would qualify. The "comic book" aspect probably saved it here.

I have to say, the DVD looks better than it did in the theater, projected from film. Now that I've seen it a second time, I can say I'm not wild about this movie (I definitely prefer Sky Captain in the pure digital, surreal genre, but I love the old Republic serials) but it is nice to see something fairly new. Rodriguez finally found a productive use for all his little toys.

I don't know about the DD soundtrack, but the DTS is positively subterranean. It is actually a bit excessive at times. It's one thing when there are low frequencies to enhance the action, but quite another when it hits an earth rattling low tone and holds it for a minute. I had to stop the movie and take some aspirin.
 

Lyle_JP

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Of course you can. Just ask Wes Craven or any other horror film director who has had to cut their film to shreds for an 'R'. In fact, Sin City only gets away with its violence because it was so stylized. Had it been shot in a straight-forward manner with realistic colors and lighting, there is no way in hell it could have gotten an 'R'!

-Lyle J.P.
 

Ron-P

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Didn't anyone else notice edge enhancement. This is one thing I saw that hampers what could have been a perfect transfer.
 

Dave Mack

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Ron, I too noticed a VERY slight amount of EE. Mostly noticeable during the credits sequence. If you can zoom in on the image, you'll see it, it's there. Whether it was intentionally added or just a by product of the compression is ??? But sometimes the live actors being composited against the digital background had what looks like old school "matte lines" around them which I think is unavoidable.

Altogether, a VERY nice transfer, but not perfect IMHO. I give it a 9/10.

:) d
 

Jeff Gatie

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Word is that Tarantino post-produced Kill Bill I's Bride vs. the Crazy 88's battle scene in black and white to avoid an NC-17 for violence.
 

JohnRice

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For one thing, there is no "transfer". This is a digital movie. Hence, nothing to transfer from. There is conversion from one digital form to another, but no transfer.

It is far more likely what is being referred to (probably incorrectly) as edge enhancement is actually a result of the digital compositing, as Dave pointed out.

There should be virtually no compression artifacts, as this DVD was done at a very high bitrate averaging 7.35 Mb/s
 

Ron-P

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I glad someone else noticed it, I was beginning to feel as if I was the only one. No review mentions it at all which kind of surprises me. I noticed it around a few of the characters at the beginning but it is nothing substantial.
 

DaViD Boulet

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DVDfile mentioned some EE in Dan's review. I personally didn't notice any from my 1.6 screen-widths viewing distance with my 106" diag 16x9 screen...and I was looking for it.

Be sure to pick up discussion in the review thread here...they get archived and the studios read them.
 

Robert Harris

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Every DVD has some amount of digital noise, artifacting, shadowing, EE, etc...

especially around titles and areas of high contrast.

This is part of the image.

What need to remember that what we have is a digital image played back via the NTSC format.

Even if one goes directly from a 2k digital source, be it a D5, hard drive, digital transmission or by whatever means, there can still be digital artifacts in an image, although different from what the home audience is currently used to seeing. A purely digital image is still dependent upon the production mechanism in original photography, compositing and down the line to the final product.

Enlarge any digital image...

You can bring it up to the point where one can count pixels...

and you're going to see something digital.

This is precisely why Mr. Boulet continually notes proper seating distances.

Whether film-based, for which if one walks up to the projection screen in a theatre with a quality projection system and quality lenses, one can see not only moving grain, but the holes in the screen...

or electronically based, for which if one gets too close one will see NTSC lines and digital anomolies...

An image must be allowed to resolve itself, and the elements that make up the image to blend into a viewable picture which can be read by the brain.

My point is that one can look too closely at an image, until one no longer sees it as intended.

Our current viewing mechanism of DVD, which is a combination of newer higher definition scanning devices for film, or a simply digital clone for prime digital images, combined with our decade old DVD format delivered via our (in the US) totally archaic NTSC system, and viewed on either a projection device or CRT, has gone way beyond what anyone might have thought possible -- even with the hard work of Joe Kane to tweak it.

Those little DVDs deliver a near miraculous image, containing hours of entertainment value. High Definition is just months away, but even when that arrives, we can still get too close to the image, where anomolies will be seen.

The studios -- every one of them -- have taken the format well beyond its original intended means, have delivered final software to us that is also well beyond what we would have expected at the beginning of the format, when we were thrilled to have a dark scene without analogue noise.

Some of today's DVD releases still have problems. But these are generally either ill-conceived or ill-produced discs.

Too many people are looking far too closely at current releases, to a point at which I question what they perceive to be correct, vs. what can actually be accomplished within the format.

This is still not film.

It is not 4k, or even 2k.

This is a tiny, light weight reflective disc, available for sale at ridiculously low prices, carrying more infomation than it ought. We're way beyond the capabilities of both software and hardware here, and in many cases being way to picky.

RAH
 

Jeff Gatie

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Bravo, Mr. Harris. :emoji_thumbsup:

I watched this last night and agree with the assessment that it is a visual delight. Being a comic book fan, I was sucked right in and now count this as one of my favorite films. Don't remember why I missed it at the theater, but I don't think I missed much seeing it on my fairly small screen. Then again, I watched it at a proper viewing distance.;)
 

Ken_McAlinden

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I was walking through the Art Institute of Chicago and I noticed some definite pixelization in Seraut's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte". :)

Regards,
 

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