Are There Specs on "Once Upon a Time in the West" Yet? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

You must not spend much time over in the threads speculating over the death/slow demise of Blu-ray (partially based on dismal sales, even/especially for the classics)

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

of course people love classics on blu-ray. That's why they're classics, most new stuff will not become classic (some will) but most people seems to buy new films on blu-ray's instead of going to the theater to see them

 

[GMpasqua]

yeah, and the world was supposed to end a few weekends ago...but we're still here

 

[Cinescott]

If studios can consistently churn out stuff like OUATITW, then I predict Blu-ray will be around for some time to come

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The interesting thing about OUATITW is that when it

was originally released to DVD, the print was so utterly

outstanding that there was quite a bit of commotion about

a bar being raised for the quality of its release.


I suppose what I am trying to say is that Paramount

already had an incredible print on their hands this time

around (though I am not certain how much further tweaking

had to be done).


I was quite certain that based on the DVD release, this

BD release would be a real head-turner.



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[Cinescott]

Paramount has gone the extra mile and decided to put some very classy artwork on this title. I'm very pleased. [/url]

 

[montrealfilmguy]

exactly Ronald,the quality was fantastic.


its one of those blurays where i wish someone would find out if the transfer is so much better from

regular to Bluray

We'll probably see it on dvdbeaver i guess.

 

[Cinescott]

The quality on the DVD is good. I own the DVD and have watched it many times; however, it is not as good as the Blu-ray, particularly in the audio department. With Leone films, audio is critical and I have never heard the nuances in the soundtrack that I hear in this new DTS-HD MA transfer. It is spectacular. The detail in the image is better, too, with more texture and depth on faces and surfaces. Some may compare screen shots and say they don't see it, but with as many times as I have seen OUATITW, trust me it is there. There also seems to be a slight color shift to more of a red hue, which I like a lot. The greenish blue I have on the old disc never seemed right to me. For those that have the title on DVD and are not the biggest fans, I would say no, don't get this one. For fans, though, this is leaps and bounds above the DVD. For those who don't yet have it, but like it, a no-brainer with the Blu-ray at $10-$15. All of the 2 disc DVD supplements are now on a single BD-50. Nothing's been lost and there is a lot of gain.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Cinescott

The quality on the DVD is good. I own the DVD and have watched it many times; however, it is not as good as the Blu-ray, particularly in the audio department. With Leone films, audio is critical and I have never heard the nuances in the soundtrack that I hear in this new DTS-HD MA transfer. It is spectacular. The detail in the image is better, too, with more texture and depth on faces and surfaces. Some may compare screen shots and say they don't see it, but with as many times as I have seen OUATITW, trust me it is there. There also seems to be a slight color shift to more of a red hue, which I like a lot. The greenish blue I have on the old disc never seemed right to me. For those that have the title on DVD and are not the biggest fans, I would say no, don't get this one. For fans, though, this is leaps and bounds above the DVD. For those who don't yet have it, but like it, a no-brainer with the Blu-ray at $10-$15. All of the 2 disc DVD supplements are now on a single BD-50. Nothing's been lost and there is a lot of gain.

This is the situation I'm now in. I have the DVD and had planned to watch it last night to determine for myself if I wanted to upgrade to Blu-ray. I think the film is wonderful, but it's not a movie I play a lot. Anyway, my plans last night got derailed by some lengthy phone calls, so I hope tonight to watch the DVD for the first time in several years and make a final determination.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Just finished watching the Blu-ray. Decided to go for

the restored version, not really knowing what was added

over the theatrical.


It had been quite a few years since I watched this film

so it was very fresh to me. What an absolutely incredible

western this is. The photography is astounding and the

music is so sweeping that's it's like watching a western opera.

To this day I am in awe of this film. Never have I seen

a western as cool as this one.


I cannot thank Paramount enough for seeing the value

in releasing this film to Blu-ray.

Just for the sake of it, I followed up the Blu-ray viewing

by popping in the old DVD release to compare. This may

be blasphemous to say, but there was not a huge step down

between this BD release and the DVD release. I sort of

expected that, because Once Upon A Time In The West

had already been heralded one of the best-looking DVD

releases of its time.

 

[montrealfilmguy]

Thank you so much Ronald,for that wonderful post.


Just what i wanted to hear,someone comparing both SD and BD versions.

Of course,that's not gonna stop me from running to the store tomorrow and buying the BD for under 20 bucks.Even if the

results are negligible.


or maybe like Cinescott said,in the audio department,but i dont have a surround system yet.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by montrealfilmguy

Thank you so much Ronald,for that wonderful post.


Just what i wanted to hear,someone comparing both SD and BD versions.

Of course,that's not gonna stop me from running to the store tomorrow and buying the BD for under 20 bucks.Even if the

results are negligible.


or maybe like Cinescott said,in the audio department,but i dont have a surround system yet.

I have a hard time thinking that's the case because the BRD is still in 1080p even without bringing the audio portion of the presentation into this discussion.









Crawdaddy

 

[dpippel]

One thing that's always bothered me about the DVD release, as good as it is - the haloing. It's not major, but it's there and noticeable. This problem has been completely eradicated on the Blu-ray. This fact along with the wonderful detail and more accurate, film-like color reproduction in the1080p presentation makes this release a big step up for me. And then there's the DTS-HD audio...

 

[Carlo_M]

Even if the DVD and BD are sourced from the same excellent HD master, 720x480 = 345,600 pixels and 1920x1080 = 2,073,600 pixels. Assuming you have a display device that can do 1080p, the result will not be negligible. The DVD is fantastic, but the BD gives you 6 times the unique pixel information.

 

[Walter Kittel]

One thing that's always bothered me about the DVD release, as good as it is - the haloing. It's not major, but it's there and noticeable. This problem has been completely eradicated on the Blu-ray. This fact along with the wonderful detail and more accurate, film-like color reproduction in the1080p presentation makes this release a big step up for me. And then there's the DTS-HD audio...

Agreed. While the DVD release served me well through the years since its release, the absence of haloing on the Blu-Ray is a major improvement and creates a much more film-like viewing experience.


- Walter.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched the DVD tonight for the first time since it was released. It will serve my purposes admirably. I can't imagine spinning it often enough in the future to warrant a Blu-ray purchase. The film is certainly one of a kind and likely never to be equaled.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I can't imagine spinning it often enough in the future to warrant a Blu-ray purchase.

Once would be enough to justify the upgrade for me, personally. I consider it money well spent. But as always, to each their own.


- Walter.

 

[benbess]

I'm about half way through my new blu of this now. Very impressive.

 

[montrealfilmguy]

Then maybe you guys can help me with this,


I've been wanting to start a thread about asking people giving me specific examples of DNR and EE

so i can look for them.


Usually,i'm so engaged in the experience when i watch classics,i sort of dont look for faults.


so ..haloing...where ?


and my old boss at the video where i used to work has a dvd copy,so i'll buy that also.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I've been wanting to start a thread about asking people giving me specific examples of DNR and EE so i can look for them.

If you don't notice it, then I'm not sure you should be asking for examples, because once you see it, you can't un-see it. (I'm partially joking, and partially serious). Haloing / Edge Enhancement is a result of a digital imaging process filter applied to make pictures look artificially sharper. You tend to see the results of this filter at the intersection of dark and light objects; kind of like a force field on the dark object. Examples where it is noticeable include hats, heads, buildings, trees, etc. superimposed against a lighter object such as the sky. (Dark foreground objects superimposed over lighter backgrounds.)


In the DVD release of OUATITW, you can see haloing during the opening credits at the train station. Look at Woody Strode's hat, look at the edge of the train station interior set against the bright backdrop. The Phantom Menace has pretty extreme haloing during the sequences early in the film aboard the Trade Federation ship being visited by the Jedi Knights. The SE edition of Tombstone had some severe haloing. There are unfortunately plenty of titles that exhibit this artifact to one degree or another. I'm sure google will turn up more about the topic / titles / images / etc.


DNR stands for Digital Noise Reduction and when over applied tends to obscure detail. It has a tendency to rob skin of detail - hence the term 'clay face' or comparisons to wax figures in titles with too much DNR. Examples on Blu-Ray include Patton and Dark City and the last release of Predator.


These artifacts tend to be more noticeable on larger displays. You will probably see more discussion of these things from folks who own Front Projectors or fairly large flat panels. (And don't forget that I warned you about looking for examples - I can't un-ring that bell. )


- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Walter Kittel




Once would be enough to justify the upgrade for me, personally. I consider it money well spent. But as always, to each their own.


- Walter.

I will never tell somebody else how to spend their money, but there is no way this BRD is not clearly superior in every way to the SD DVD.








Crawdaddy