HTF HD DVD Review: Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Combo Format) - Recommended! (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Thanks Sam!

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

Sam - you really must see the first film - it is simply outstanding!
Thanks for the review - Elizabeth set the bar extremely high for this sequel (in terms of story, image and sound quality) - good to hear that it does well on the sound and image front!

Thanks.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah, kicking myself for having passed on that first review, what was I thinking? =) At least it was in capable hands:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...elizabeth.html

 

[MattGuyOR]

Great review, however I need to correct you. It was Gwyneth Paltrow who won over Cate for Best Actress. Judi Dench won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that year.

 

[Sam Posten]

Teach me to trust IMDB! Actually, I probably misread it, so they were both nominated for the same character, but in different categories, and Dench won but Cate did not?

 

[PaulDA]

That's correct.

 

[Yumbo]

I think we have a TRANSFORMERS issue on our hands.

I thought the picture quality actually stunk, right from the opening:

1. Actually all the recent Universal titles have poor contrast from the commentary disclaimer screen.

2. This one was just worse when the Universal logo showed - eeeks. WHITE haze all over, poor colours, NO blacks.

3. Picture got better as movie went along, but either the lighting was done in a way where all dark scenes just had poor contrast.

So, who saw it theatrically, and what was it like?
Sound was ok. Movie was ok, not any better than the first one.

THE INVASION in terms of AV trumps this hands down, and in my book for entertainment as well.

 

[Sam Posten]

Definitly does NOT match my experience with this film sir.

And OMG there's an ad in my review now

 

[Yumbo]

Hence the 'Transformers' comment.

I'm using 720p - would that create the contrast difference?
Another glitch we've observed with Universal HD DVDs is the extras glitch up as well, until we buff the discs (Eastern Promises).

I dare not mention these are combo discs.

ps. to quote Peter Bracke:

"I do have one fairly big gripe. Black levels are consistently muddied by gold and milky tones that occasionally wash out the detail and depth of the picture. Shadows seem flat, and the image fails to pop in these instances -- for all intents and purposes, it seems like the transfer has a serious problem. However, dig deeper and you'll discover that this was an intentional change made to the image by Kapur in post production. That may be an interesting tidbit, but I initially assumed there was something very wrong with the display. If not for this strange anomaly, the transfer would have netted five stars from me."

Exactly what I saw!

 

[Allan^L]

If it was the director's intent, then you should be seeing it!

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I read Peter Bracke's review before picking this up and it's spot-on.

 

[ppltd]

 

[Sam Posten]

Audio and video ratings are, of course, subjective, and it is not surprising to find minor differences of opinions on such from (re)viewer to (re)viewer. I respect Peter's reviews greatly and often find we mostly agree but are off by a few degrees in our categorizations one way or the other. This is healthy and I certainly recommend others to seek out multiple reviews for titles they are interested in but not completely sold on. I really dig the fact that so many other review sites still contribute to the conversation here at HTF and hope that continues and even expands.

 

[Yumbo]

Yes, the DVD picture is even worse in comparison.

I loved Jane Austen Book Club (on DVD), grin.