Kaufman's 1978 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS coming to Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by MichaelEl




I've seen Blu-Rays that looked WORSE than DVD - DELIVERANCE, for example.

 

1080 lines is only twice the vertical resolution of DVD, and that advantage can be completely negated if they do a lot of digital image manipulation. In fact, the best Blu-Ray transfers I've seen are ones which haven't been especially remastered for HD.

I find that hard to believe, but whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Originally Posted by Dick


Hang on to your special edition DVD -- the Kaufman commentary isn't on the new release, for whatever ungodly reason.

The BD comes with a DVD copy o the film however it is the old flipper disc but it does contain the commentary track.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Originally Posted by MichaelEl

I've seen Blu-Rays that looked WORSE than DVD - DELIVERANCE, for example.

Are you comparing between the original DVD release and the Blu-Ray, or the most current DVD release? Deliverance was shot in such a way that it's never going to be a reference disc, but to say that it looks worse than DVD without examples of your issues with the disc is, well, opinion without supporting evidence.

 

[MichaelEl]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford 

 

I find that hard to believe, but whatever.

Have you actually seen the Blu-Ray of DELIVERANCE? They used some kind of filtering to make the image darker and give it a yellowish-green tint. This seems to severely reduce the effective resolution at times. I thought the old DVD was a better representation of the theatrical release, even with the mosquito noise.

 

Of course there are a number of Blu-Rays out there that are 1080i, and these discs are often unwatchable on a large HDTV due to the combing. 

 

I wouldn't expect any problems with IOTBS, however, since it will be 1080p and probably didn't receive as much digital tampering as some other titles. 

 

[TravisR]

^ I haven't seen the Deliverance Blu-ray but I can't find any review that cites those problems. Not that a review or reviewer can't be wrong but the reviews that I looked up said that the movie would likely never look better and Robert Harris said here that it was "Just perfect!".

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Originally Posted by MichaelEl




Have you actually seen the Blu-Ray of DELIVERANCE? They used some kind of filtering to make the image darker and give it a yellowish-green tint. This seems to severely reduce the effective resolution at times. I thought the old DVD was a better representation of the theatrical release, even with the mosquito noise.

Actually, the image is a lot brighter because of the "flashing" process used by the DOP. Contrast is compromised by flashing, and the film is soft, but don't tell me that an EE riddled, mosquito-noise laden DVD looks more like the theatrical presentation because that simply isn't the case. The colour in the original DVD was manipulated to bring it back to more "normal" values, which are not representative of the original look of the film.

 

[ahollis]

With the passing of Kevin McCarthy Saturday, I now want the original Invasion in Blu-ray more than ever.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Kevin McCarthy RIP. My favourite role of his will always be as R.J. Fletcher in UHF. I can't believe he was 96!

 

[Craig Beam]

I watched my (ancient) DVD of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers today. This REALLY needs a proper presentation, either on an upgraded DVD or (preferably) blu-ray. The (again, ancient) existing DVD is severely lacking.

 

On the subject of the 1978 remake, I'll most definitely be picking it up.

 

[MichaelEl]

Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H 
 

Actually, the image is a lot brighter because of the "flashing" process used by the DOP. Contrast is compromised by flashing, and the film is soft, but don't tell me that an EE riddled, mosquito-noise laden DVD looks more like the theatrical presentation because that simply isn't the case. The colour in the original DVD was manipulated to bring it back to more "normal" values, which are not representative of the original look of the film.

I saw the film in a theater in the 70s, and I don't remember it having the obnoxious yellow-green tint of the Blu-Ray. The original DVD might've had the reds boosted a little, but the image is still more representative of the theatrical presentation I remember. My opinion is they went overboard trying to restore a tint to the image that wasn't really all that distinctive. 

 

[Doug Otte]

Wow. I'm really being idiotic this morning.

Doug
 

 

[Doug Otte]

Ignorant response by me deleted.

Doug

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I think the transfer of this blu-ray is really good. A previous post on page one touches on possible tinting to the transfer which I do own both previous DVD copies of the film. IT could be that on DVD most films colors are boosted etc and usually good HD transfers the color is usually more lifelike in terms of flesh tones

 

Others will have to chime in on that issue, otherwise no are no compression effects that I can spot, and the film grain looks really good, sometimes grain is heavier than other times, but at least the film wasn't DNR attacked.

 

I think someone at MGM/ FOX really loves this film a lot, the disc space the film gets is almost unheard of... there are exceptions (Criterion to name one distributor)

 

The extras however are all in standard 480P definition.

 

[Anthony_H]

 

The extras however are all in standard 480P definition.

 

 

That contradicts a review I read (can't remember where) which says the SE content is upscaled to 1080p. It also brings me to a slightly off-topic question. When I play the movie portion in my player.. no problem.. looks great. Without changing any settings, when I play the SE docs, they are confined to a box in the upper left hand corner of my screen. Its as if the machine is confused about which resolution to play the content. This has only occurred with this disc. Anyone else see anything similar?

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

DVD Beaver posted that it the extras and trailer were in HD, however my TV stated they were only in 480P.

 

Someone else may want to confirm but they are not in HD at all.

 

Originally Posted by Anthony_H

 

 

 

That contradicts a review I read (can't remember where) which says the SE content is upscaled to 1080p. It also brings me to a slightly off-topic question. When I play the movie portion in my player.. no problem.. looks great. Without changing any settings, when I play the SE docs, they are confined to a box in the upper left hand corner of my screen. Its as if the machine is confused about which resolution to play the content. This has only occurred with this disc. Anyone else see anything similar?

 

[Anthony_H]

Well.. proving the old adage about sitting and waiting.. the picture issue I referred to cleared itself up. It could only have been the player. In any case, now judging by the picture quality as finally having seen it fullscreen... it looks 480.