What's your worst A-List Movie Anamorphic transfer? (1 Viewer)

[Michael Gilliam]

Personally, I believe "Reservoir Dogs" SE to be the worst anamorphic transfer. The extras on the new version are nice, but I'm keeping the original version from Image, despite it being non-anamorphic.

 

[soop.spoon]

Tim Buton's Batman.
If TPM is the worst A-List transfer you own, consider yourself very lucky...

 

[JeremySt]

FORREST GUMP
PHANTOM MENACE
THE MATRIX
BATMAN

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Sound of Music. Just shockingly horrid considering the caliber of this film.
grain that looks like a 5th gen 35 mm print with EE making it look almost like an early warner disc :frowning:
Oh...color purple aint good either. Looking forward to the new transfer.

 

[nousername]

Well, I just had a look at The Phantom Menace again on my new DVD player (Panasonic RP82), and I must say, it looks better now compared to when I had the Panasonic RV31.
The EE/ringing/halos (or whatever you call it) looked worse on the RV31 than with the RP82, no matter how I calibrated my TV. The EE is reduced on the RP82, to the point where it is more watchable now. Don't get me wrong, the EE is still there, but at least there's an improvement. I can probably attribute this to the superior MPEG decoder and/or video DACs in the RP82. In other words, the RV31 was probably adding some EE of its own, which made SW:TPM seem to be the worst anamorphic transfer in my collection...

 

[Reagan]

As mentioned, UNFORGIVEN, which will be replaced next week.

So, given that its time as worst ever anamorphic DVD (that I've seen) is drawing to a close, the new king is CASINO. Either it was the grainiest movie ever, or there is way too much compression. I think it was one of the first dual-layered DVDs ever, so I'll cut it some slack, but it is barely watchable. It needs a new treatment.

-Reagan

 

[Sean Patrick]

I agree with allan -

ever since getting my Panasonic RP91 (which i assume has the same progressive scan 16:9 image as a RP82), titles i used to think were wretched due to EE (TPM, Die Hard 3) Look really good now even though the EE is still visible. I think the quality of the Mpeg decoder in a dvd player changes everything.

 

[JonZ]

Its funny people say Unforgiven is a bad transfer.
I remember when DVDs first came out it was considered a very good transfer at the time.

How about Scarface

 

[JaleelK]

Personally, I believe "Reservoir Dogs" SE to be the worst anamorphic transfer. The extras on the new version are nice, but I'm keeping the original version from Image, despite it being non-anamorphic.

Try " We Were Soldiers" they should a shame of themselves for putting out such a horrible transfer.

 

[Mike Munster]

I think "Batman Returns" looks even worse than "Batman" and I think its a way better film. The blacks aren't black and there is more grain than I remember when seeing it in the theater. I'm sure a lot of this is due to the fact its a damn flipper with one side being used for the useless pan-scan version. It's time to re-issue this film and "Batman" as a special edition.

 

[nousername]

I agree with allan -
ever since getting my Panasonic RP91 (which i assume has the same progressive scan 16:9 image as a RP82), titles i used to think were wretched due to EE (TPM, Die Hard 3) Look really good now even though the EE is still visible. I think the quality of the Mpeg decoder in a dvd player changes everything.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this.
However... I'm still not letting Lucasfilm off the hook for this one. I took a look at the trailers on Disc 2 of SW:TPM, and they look soooo much better. The picture is significantly cleaner and more detailed. Much easier on the eyes.
In contrast, the movie on Disc 1 looks like somebody was a little overzealous when applying what looks to be a sharpening filter of some kind.
I wish the movie looked as good as the trailers do!

 

[William Ward]

The reason we harp on the TPM DVD is because similar scenes on disc 2 look significantlty better and much more filmlike than anything on disc 1.

I mean, look at Amidala's red makeup on her white face aboard the ship....

Halos abound.....

It kills just about any high contrast area during the movie. Now for the most part, it's on Tatooine since outdoor scenes have lots of contrast and are more susceptible(many scenes on Tombstone are this way).

The deleted scenes and trailers look pretty much like most other new release films do on quality DVDs.

 

[Brian McHale]

I just watched Rob Roy and was curious if the video was as bad as I thought. I only found one review, which was generally positve, so I did a search for "Rob Roy" and this thread popped up.

The transfer was so bad that we kept thinking it was raining. Of course, it was filmed in Scotland, but this was ridiculous!

Rob Roy may not be an A-List movie, but it's close and this transfer is pathetic. Those Scottish landscapes could have been so beautiful...

 

[Frank@N]

Scream 3 was also very poor...shimmer and jidder were all over the place.

 

[Frank@N]

'Finding Forester' also has some of the worst black levels in recent memory.

All the indoor apartment sequences are an ugly wash of featureless gray...good movie...bad transfer.

 

[David Susilo]

Beauty and the Beast. Scary to look at.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Dangerous Liaisons

Great film, absolutely atrocious transfer quality.

Dan

 

[Patrick McCart]

Try " We Were Soldiers" they should a shame of themselves for putting out such a horrible transfer.

The film was grained up on purpose. I watched it on a 43" TV and it looks stunning.

Very good film, BTW.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I'll agree with Resevoir Dogs (too bright), Tombstone (too much EE) and i'll add Lethal Weapon 3, it just looks washed out and devoid of color, plus it's way too soft IMO. I also have a 27" VVEGA.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Finding Forester' also has some of the worst black levels in recent memory.
All the indoor apartment sequences are an ugly wash of featureless gray...good movie...bad transfer.

Actually it's not a bad transfer but that's the way the film looks, I saw it at the theaters and the image was a bit on the soft side and the film almost looked like it was run through a bucket of bleach. No blacks at all, It was like watching a desaturated film print through a thick layer of smoke
I understand film-makers go for different looks, but Finding Forester just plain looked awful, regardless of any stylistic intent the director may have had in mind.