DVD's That are Better than The Blue Ray Versions (1 Viewer)

[OliverK]

Doug,

apparently The Robe does not have to be as bad as most have seen it. There was a Technicolor and 4 channel festival in the Schauburg Theater in Karlsruhe Germany and a friend of mine that attended told me that the copy they showed of The Robe was better than he ever had seen the movie and he has seen it in at least 3 different prints before.

It was a print that was struck for a later re-release which indicates that the negative of The Robe was not that bad, but the early prints were somehow flawed.

Oliver

 

[frankie108]

Everything is about personal taste but as far as "The Longest Day" is concerned, while it's true that a lot of posters found fault with this title, I dare say that none of them would claim that the SD DVD was in any way 'better' than the BD release. Most of the fault centered around how much better the BD release coulda, shoulda, woulda been.

 

[troy evans]

Sometimes Blu-rays can be overwhelming in there picture for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they go back to the prints and reproduce them faithfully to the original. In the years we've had sd dvd versions of films we either never knew or forgotten what it originally looked like. Now, with Blu-ray it's a wake up call for some titles more than others. It's kind of like when you've been watching your tv for years not calibrated and then you finally have it done. Some people don't like the image of a well calibrated set as opposed to what the've become used to. The same thing is happening with some Blu-ray titles I think. Of course If you prefer the sd dvd then that's your right. However, that doesn't make it better just because you feel it is.

 

[troy evans]

Some of these arguements are funny. I love the Stargate Blu-ray release PQ wise. I do understand people wanting the fully loaded, both cuts of the film release. But, the PQ on Blu is way better than the previous releases of this title. One arguement I read was that the original sd dvd was better because the increased resolution of Blu makes the CGI effects stand out. That happened with ID4 as well. That's not a quality issue with Blu-ray, it's a poorly mastered sd dvd issue. It'll probably happen with titles in the future as well. I can deal with it.

 

[Douglas Monce]

The Longest Day SD DVD comes from the same master as the blu-ray and has the same problems, they are just more pronounced on the blu-ray for obvious reasons.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Oliver,

I wasn't trying to say that The Robe looks bad by any stretch. Its a beautifully photographed film. However it was photographed with the very early CinemaScope lenses and is quite a bit softer, and exhibits more distortion than films that were made with the later Bouche and Lomb lenses.

Some maybe disappointed that it isn't as sharp on HD as say Forbidden Planet, a CinemaScope film made just 3 years later

The current DVD isn't a great example of how good The Robe can look.

Doug

 

[Peter Neski]

The Longest Day SD DVD comes from the same master as the blu-ray and has the same problems, they are just more pronounced on the blu-ray for obvious reasons.

Thanks Didn't Know that,I guess Ill get it then

 

[Stephen_J_H]

And finally, for the last word on Deliverance, from RAH's A Few Words About... Deliverance thread: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ml#post3233649

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Personally I think that Cars looks better on cable then it does on BD.










Kidding! Just makin' sure you guys are awake.

I'm quite disappointed to learn, after getting my BD player, that there are examples of SD DVD's looking better than their BD counterparts. I just thank goodness it isn't all that many.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Don't be disappointed, because the "examples" in this thread are mostly personal quirks. Take Stargate, for example. I've seen every version of it on LD, DVD and BD. The existing BD is the only version that looks anything like the film source. But people complain because (a) it's only the extended cut, and (b) some of the CGI hasn't aged well.

That's doesn't make any of the SD DVDs "better". Even though I prefer the theatrical cut to the extended, I'll never touch the SD DVDs again. The picture quality of the BR is so obviously superior that there's nothing to discuss.

Or Bram Stroker's Dracula. The color timing is different. Some people don't like it. Fine, get over it. Meanwhile, the BR is the finest presentation of the film I've seen on home video, and I've seen every version back to the "director-approved" Criterion LD.

Deliverance has been dealt with by others. Peter Neski wants it colorful. Unfortunately for him, the director and the DP wanted it desaturated, which is how the BR presents it.

M.

 

[OliverK]

Very true. Stargate, Deliverance and BSD are three examples of movies that all look better than their SD counterparts in the resolution department and that is what counts for most. While I have yet to watch BSD I will also add that the difference for the first two is so big that I am stunned these are even mentioned in this thread.

If we want to discuss director's cuts and choices of color saturation this is not the correct thread title IMO, otherwise I could say that my theatrical cut Stargate VHS copy is better than the Blu-Ray

 

[Travis Brashear]

Quite true--the STARGATE BD looks more like authentic film, and has more three-dimentionality, but oddly, the THX Optimum Resolution SD DVD uses a cleaner film source as its master. Make a BD from this source and (assuming all the extras were brought along this time) we'd have a BD worth getting excited about.