DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Ben-Hur - Four Disc Collector's Edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

That's not nitpicking...to be slapped with an FBI warning in the MIDDLE of a feature film...especially one as magestic as this is...is INSANE. WB should re-press disc 2 without the warning and offer a replacement. I'm not kidding.

 

[Robert Crawford]

If you're not kidding then don't hold your breath waiting for that replacement.:rolleyes




Crawdaddy

 

[TedD]

Or perhaps you could buy or build an HTPC with TheaterTek or Zoom Player and take care of the problem yourself.

I really find that an HTPC with these players both go a long way to restoring playback of DVD's to a theatrical experience.

Automatic AR and Audio format selection, and the ability to set an auto-start bookmark all mean that the movie starts with the original studio logo with your preferred audio format when you insert the DVD and press "Play".

Note that you do have to set the auto start bookmark manually the first time you insert the disc, but that takes only a minute or two when you first get the DVD.

There are also several software solutions that enable automatic skipping of all warnings/previews.

Ted

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I have to agree; that's completely ridiculous. It makes me wonder: Does the studio really mandate something like that or are the DVD authors just smoking something while they're producing the disc?

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Thanks Herb for your (as usual) great review especially regarding the picture quality of this disc.

After all my pontificating on the subject I actually sat down and *watched* the new Ben-Hur disc this past Saturday... Not just sampled a few specific scenes...but actually *watched* the movie. My dad and I had a grand old time: We watched the 1925 B&W Silent version, had a bathroom break, and then launched right into 1959 Heston epic. The experience was emotionally moving--in no small part to the outstanding image quality on this disc.

Breathtaking.

Film-like.

Natural.

The image was so velvelty smooth, it just oozed with film-like naturalness. The preservation of fine-film-grain and excellent compression maintained the "mist" effect that one enjoys with real projected prints which breathes life into the image. It was beautiful. And while this image didn't have that last degree of sharpness seen on the previous disc, the image had a greater sense of depth...one rarely experienced on the DVD format.

I have to say that the new Ben-Hur ranks up in my top-10 most "film like" DVD presentations.

Questions about optimal film-tape transfers for 65 mm and color balance are still valid and worthy of discussion, HOWEVER, they in no way negate the BEAUTIFUL presentation on this disc or undermine Warner's wonderful effort presented here. Those questions are healthy for discussion as they may help ensure that Ben-Hur's high-definition presentation is the absolute best that it can be. But I echo RAH's assertion that given DVD's resolution limitations (vertical resolution being further reduced by the 2.7+:1 aspect ratio), the image on this disc can be enjoyed in the context of a Standard Definition presentation without reservation.



Thanks Warner for continuing your great effort to bring our beloved classics to home-video in the best manner possible, and I look forward to purchasing this title yet again on Blu-ray when it becomes available.