Bad Review for "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" HD DVD - Contradicted here! (1 Viewer)

[ppltd]

David, I could not have said it better. Cleaning a release of scratches and defects is different than modifying the image to improve the perceved quality of a film. If filmaker decided a low contrast, soft image was what he was intending, or a stylized with a high contrast image, that is how it should be reproduced in HD. Not every film is going to 'blow your socks off' when produced in HD, but those subtle differences between SD and HD can immensely improve your viewing pleasure.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Exactly.

Not to sound eletist, but the new job of the educated-HT-enthusiast is to help the rest of the excited-about-HD community to start to grasp these concepts.

We did the same thing when new folks who had never heard of laserdisc started to get excited about DVD but didn't like "those black bars" on their 4x3 television screen.

Now we have some educating to do that's a little more subtle... but it still has more to do with the intended look of the art of film and most folks will get-it once they start to understand that not all 35mm films were intended to look the same way.

Now is the time to start the process. It helps consumers keep the expectations in check so they are not disappointed with HD discs that don't challenge the very limits of their display, and it also gives credit to the studios doing the very fine job that they should be in providing us with accurate HD captures of movies that don't screem "demo material".

I'd like to have all my movies in HD... demo and non-demo alike, and I don't want the studios to shy away from lesser-demo-quality films to avoid criticism by reviewers and consumers who don't really understand what HD is supposed to be doing for them.

-dave

 

[dpippel]

"Christmas Vacation" doesn't look nearly as good as "King Kong". The transfer sux d00d.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

 

[Paul_Scott]

This is my complaint with the new James Bond UEs. Contrast and color are both jacked up on all the ones I've watched so far- The look fits in with the contemporary action product that we've grown familiar with in the last few years, but it doesn't look very filmlike to me, and certainly not the way I remember some of these films looking theatrically. Its a great shame that these will be the masters that are used for eventual Bd releases.
Over on the HD DVD side, I'm very happy that so many titles are not being geared to a superficial audience weaned on flash. American Werewolf in London has a very noticeable grain structure, yet is a remarkable improvment over its sd version when you directly compare the two. As a fan of the film, I'm absolutely thrilled with it's presentation. Same for the import of King Kong ('76). At least one poster I know wants to sell off his copy due to the obviousness of the grain structure revealed in many scenes, yet the film is still a HUGE improvment over the DVNR'd R1 release. Honestly it's as large a difference as any I have seen yet.

this isn't to say that I think these are as good as they could ever possibly be. I think once 4K scanning becomes more prevelant and more economical, and some of these are revisited, we'll see more improvments- but the fact is Every single title I have seen is an improvment over its sd counterpart.
The one exception might possibly be Full Metal jacket, however I was only able to compare that one on an XGA display. If i'd had access to the 1080p one that I do now, I might not have been as down on it as I was.

btw- have you upgraded your pj yet David?
If it wasn't for your incessant mentioning of the Pearl this past summer, I woujld probably be watching everything on a 720p right now and cursing my impatience If you don't have the Pearl, I can only assume you must be in on the pre-buy for the JVC. That should be a real honey when it comes out.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Ugh... I'm fighting the temptation for the JVC pre-buy as we speak!

 

[JonZ]

The title I saw the least improvement on was Excalibur and I thought that looked better than the SD.When I showed a side by side comparison to a Laser Disc old timer who hasent invested in HD yet, he said the difference was miminal but also commented on Excailbur always looking soft.

Its off topic, but heres couple FMJ comparison pics. These were taken with a camera so they dont show much but even in these pics you can see the difference........

[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/6/6c/htf_imgcache_3858.jpeg] [/url] [url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/1/11/htf_imgcache_3859.jpeg] [/url]

[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/c/cb/htf_imgcache_3860.jpeg] [/url] [url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/3/32/htf_imgcache_3861.jpeg] [/url]

 

[Rachael B]

I remember it in the theatres too. It never was a gorgeous movie. I'm sure I saw it atleast 5 times in the cinema. B.H.T. (before home theater), I saw lots of movies multiple times. I remember this one well. It was always grungy in spots. The colour never was exactly right. The annimations aren't the best.
I was astute enough of a viewer even back then to pick all that up. None of that bridled the joy of the film for me and it sure won't now. I think the disc, I got it on BD, well represents the movie. It's just not ever gonna look overwhelmng better, IMO.

Now A.H.T. (after...), it was just like ole times again....

 

[Tim Glover]

After seeing this last night, I totally agree. The thread title is really rather negative and after alot of us have seen it, it's good. Not a tier 1 HD-DVD for sure but it looks much improved over the standard def version. Way better.

Not every title can be a Batman Begins, MI-3 or Harry Potter. You guys on the fence about this one should plunker down and get it.

Christmas Vacation in HD-DVD has never looked better.

 

[ryoohki]

I tought the PQ and SQ was really nice. The Stereo imaging is Awesome and the slide scene i tought it was a 5.1 track (upconverted a la 1980 remaster not 2000 stuff LOL). I mean the DVD looked quite ulgy, this one is improving on detail and resolution. Exterior Night Scene are very good

 

[Cees Alons]

I changed the title of this thread to reflect some of the opinions here.

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Cees! I was just about to start a more positive one!

 

[Adam_ME]

I got it in the mail this weekend and watched it. It looks fine to me. Is it a great-looking HD-DVD? No. Does it blow away the SD-DVD? I think so.

I had to crank up the volume to hear the dialogue, but otherwise I have no complaints. A worthwhile upgrade if you like the movie.

 

[Mark Basile]

I agree. I cautiously picked up "A Christmas Story" BD, fully knowing that the transfer might not be an improvement over the SD, but was more than pleasantly surprised. I never expected it to look as good as it does. The outside shots are very crisp and detailed, colors not fully saturated, but that is the style of the movie. Closeups were shot relatively soft, so they represent the filmmaker's decision and style. Grain is there, but not noticeable unless you are really looking for it. For a movie from the early 80's, you have got to be kidding me if you think this looks poor.

Bottom line is, I will pick up "Christmas Vacation" as well. Warner just remastered these titles eighteen months ago, so you know that they are not using old masters. Keep the catalog titles coming Warner...