"Maverick" & "The Wild Wild West" (1 Viewer)

[MattGuyOR]

I bought it and just watched a few scenes. I had my hopes low and it's pretty decent. I have a Panasonic lcd projector and a 120" screen. I admit to not being an expert or very picky, but I was pleased. I'd probably give it a 3.5/5 for picture. The sound isn't bad, but it's only a 2.0 DTS HD surround mix. I noticed some decent bass, too. Probably rate it the same as the picture quality. For $12.99 it's a decent deal, just don't expect "Avatar" quality.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Watched this a few hours ago (on my 61" DLP), and I can't agree w/ Greg's earlier comments about the BD image being not sharp at all -- of course, he did come back to give a different impression after he revisited it on his LCD (vs his plasma). Also, I didn't find it too dark, but then again, I'm not comparing it to the old DVD.


Yes, there are some scenes/shots that are quite soft, but most of them look like low lit scenes, particularly the ones that are very soft (and tend to be in the latter half of the film). Most of the well lit daytime scenes look plenty sharp (w/ very occasional slight softness in places).


Hard to tell what's really causing the particularly soft cases, but I guess it's quite possible there was some over-application of outdated DNR tech on certain low lit and/or nighttime scenes/shots since they did not look nearly as grainy as one might expect, if little-to-no DNR was applied.


Not exactly a great BD for overall PQ, but I'm glad enough to replace the old DVD w/ it for this price. And since it never saw an upgrade on DVD, this may well be all we'll ever get on Blu...


_Man_

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by ManW_TheUncool

Watched this a few hours ago (on my 61" DLP), and I can't agree w/ Greg's earlier comments about the BD image being not sharp at all -- of course, he did come back to give a different impression after he revisited it on his LCD (vs his plasma). Also, I didn't find it too dark, but then again, I'm not comparing it to the old DVD.


Yes, there are some scenes/shots that are quite soft, but most of them look like low lit scenes, particularly the ones that are very soft (and tend to be in the latter half of the film). Most of the well lit daytime scenes look plenty sharp (w/ very occasional slight softness in places).


Hard to tell what's really causing the particularly soft cases, but I guess it's quite possible there was some over-application of outdated DNR tech on certain low lit and/or nighttime scenes/shots since they did not look nearly as grainy as one might expect, if little-to-no DNR was applied.


Not exactly a great BD for overall PQ, but I'm glad enough to replace the old DVD w/ it for this price. And since it never saw an upgrade on DVD, this may well be all we'll ever get on Blu...


_Man_

Thanks for the post. Sounds like it's a good release and like you mentioned this is the best the film will probably ever get as I doubt WB will ever do another issue of the film on blu ray.

 

[Osato]

Did anyone pick up Wild Wild West on blu ray?

 

[Stephen_J_H]

*Sound of crickets chirping.*


Just kidding, Tim; I know this film has its fans.

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H

*Sound of crickets chirping.*


Just kidding, Tim; I know this film has its fans.

I didn't pick it up either. : )

I am curious of those who did and what their thoughts were on the transfer and the audio.

I noticed WB packaged a DVD with both Wild Wild West and Maverick together a while back. In some ways it seems like an odd pairing?

I am actually a bit curious on how WB decides that Wild Wild West should be issued on blu ray too!

 

[Osato]

I watched Maverick last night. I thought the video print was good, not great and it's not a transfer that really pops either. However, I thought it looked very good for an older title. Audio was good too. I'm happy with the purchase and glad to finally have the film. I had not picked it up previously on DVD. I believe Maverick is on sale until Saturday at the sale price.

I saw that there is a review on The Digital Bits of the title as well..

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/barriemaxwell/hdm060111.html#mav

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H

*Sound of crickets chirping.*


Just kidding, Tim; I know this film has its fans.

Except for seeing a brief shot of Salma's ass in HD, I have do desire to revisit this title again.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Since it's a Warner title and Warner's known for putting many of their catalog titles on BD25's, I wonder if Maverick is also BD25 and might have been encoded w/ some compromises to fit the disc format.


I don't have a BD drive for my computer, so can't check for myself -- and don't see any online reviews indicating disc type/size so far.


Anyhoo...


_Man_

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by ManW_TheUncool

Since it's a Warner title and Warner's known for putting many of their catalog titles on BD25's, I wonder if Maverick is also BD25 and might have been encoded w/ some compromises to fit the disc format.


I don't have a BD drive for my computer, so can't check for myself -- and don't see any online reviews indicating disc type/size so far.


Anyhoo...


_Man_

Interesting. BD 25 is a cost saving measure then?

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by Tim Haxton





Interesting. BD 25 is a cost saving measure then?

Maverick is a BD50..


http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/302/maverick.html

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by Tim Haxton





Interesting. BD 25 is a cost saving measure then?

Or a manufacturing shortcut.







Crawdaddy

 

[GMpasqua]

This title should pop on Blu-ray, but it just doesn't. It looked great in the theater back in 1994. I doubt very much it was this soft in theaters back then.


That's why I love blu-ray - for the older catalog titles that pop


So far this year the few titles I found that popped were:

"The Big Country"

"The Bible"

Both "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Ten Commandments" looked very good, (a little more grain may have made "Ten Commandments" pop more, but it just missed it)


"All About Eve" for some reason did not pop, but looked very good


Other titles I purchased in the last 6 months that did pop were older releases:

"Dr. No"

"Goldfinger"

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (This popped the highest and I still think it's the best catalog reference disc to date)

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

"The Sound of Music"

"North by Northwest"

"How the West Was Won"

"The Wild Bunch"

"Psycho"

"Black Narcissus"

just to give you a comparison of what I thought was the best of the best



Disappointing in that there was absolutely no pop: "Arthur" "The Color Purple" and "Maverick"

The biggest waste of money so far this year "The Greatest Story Ever Told"


I still have to view "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Grand Prix" they just came in the mail today - I would expect both to be of very high quality based on the pre-release reviews


Other titles looked good, but they didn't a make a lasting impression

 

Originally Posted by GMpasqua

This title should pop on Blu-ray, but it just doesn't. It looked great in the theater back in 1994. I doubt very much it was this soft in theaters back then.


That's why I love blu-ray - for the older catalog titles that pop


So far this year the few titles I found that popped were:

"The Big Country"

"The Bible"

Both "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Ten Commandments" looked very good, (a little more grain may have made "Ten Commandments" pop more, but it just missed it)


"All About Eve" for some reason did not pop, but looked very good


Other titles I purchased in the last 6 months that did pop were older releases:

"Dr. No"

"Goldfinger"

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (This popped the highest and I still think it's the best catalog reference disc to date)

"The Rocky Horror Picture Show"

"The Sound of Music"

"North by Northwest"

"How the West Was Won"

"The Wild Bunch"

"Psycho"

"Black Narcissus"

just to give you a comparison of what I thought was the best of the best



Disappointing in that there was absolutely no pop: "Arthur" "The Color Purple" and "Maverick"

The biggest waste of money so far this year "The Greatest Story Ever Told"


I still have to view "Once Upon a Time in the West" and "Grand Prix" they just came in the mail today - I would expect both to be of very high quality based on the pre-release reviews


Other titles looked good, but they didn't a make a lasting impression

Maybe it didn't for you, but The Ten Commandments "popped" plenty for me on my DLP projector. One of the best looking titles ever.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Gary,


Considering some of those catalog titles you mentioned that "popped" for you, I find it odd that you think Maverick is not sharp enough outside of the occasional softness I (and others) see.


Maybe what you find lacking (to taste) is the color palette and/or saturation and possibly contrast/tonality on the Maverick BD -- or maybe it's mainly to do w/ the inconsistent quality, especially in the 2nd half of the movie. I didn't see it in theaters -- and probably wouldn't remember the colors too well anyway after so many years -- but if we're only talking about sharpness and detail, I don't really see too many of those other titles popping anymore than Maverick during its better scenes.


I've only actually seen ~1/2 of the "popping" titles you mentioned and would agree that most of them produce a more consistently good-to-great image -- though Black Narcissus isn't really that sharp and has its own share of issues -- whereas Maverick is kinda all over the map, which may leave a bad impression, especially w/ how it does in the 2nd half of the movie.


I also wonder though if maybe there was more DNR applied to Maverick than we originally assumed. Maybe I need to take another (closer) look at the better scenes. I did get a little bit of the feeling that even the better scenes look a tad "digital" rather than film-like and might be the result of some bit of DNR-plus-EE yielding that look. It does remind me a little bit of certain titles like Amadeus and Dark City (though maybe not that far down the DNR-plus-EE road), so perhaps, that's what's bothering you about Maverick, besides the occasional softness here and there (which also exists on Dark City), given the other catalog titles you mentioned as "popping", including your mention about The Ten Commandments (being a little low on film grain)...


_Man_

 

[GMpasqua]

Well, by popping I do mean exceptional transfers. Many transfers are very good, but they do not have that "pop" feature.

I am also veiwing them on a 52" Pioneer Elite Plasma Screen - so please take that into consideration. On my 42" LCD the titles all appear very sharp and better than DVD


On the Pioneer Plasma Set some titles look like I'm sitting in a movie theater (and sometimes they look even better than the theater presentation)

So when I say "pop" I mean blu-rays that truly look like the film did in the theater


"Maverick" was fine on the 42" LCD but on the Plasma set it was far from the best of the best. Those titles wihich are the best though, really make your month drop, they really look that good

 

[GMpasqua]

Originally Posted by John Hermes






Maybe it didn't for you, but The Ten Commandments "popped" plenty for me on my DLP projector. One of the best looking titles ever.

"The Ten Commandments" looked very good and very colorful and clean, but (and I'm being picky here) the image was a little waxy - not as waxy as "Patton" but slightly waxy
On a smaller screen it may not be so noticable, but on the 52" Plasma it didn't have that extra grainy/sharpness other blu-rays had.


"The Ten Commandments" still looks good - very good, but it just falls short when compared to the very best transfers I've watched
Check out "The Big Country" it looks great (once you get past the problematic credits) if all 50's titles could only look that good!