New Superbits for September including Lawrence of Arabia (1 Viewer)

Due on September 9th are new Superbit editions of Hook, Lawrence of Arabia (2-discs) and Leon.

I never got the original set of Lawrence of Arabia. I'll be interested in reading reviews of how the Superbit edition compares.

The only way I will upgrade LoA is if it is the RAH approved transfer. Otherwise Superbit is nothing more than Supersh!t.

Hmmmm... Hook... perhaps...

Yes, this brings up a interesting question. Are the Superbit versions new transfers? Or is the digital information changed before downloading onto disks? I don't know how the disks are actually made, obviously.

Lawrence of Arabia needs a new transfer, not just more bits (although every little bit helps, eh?) Many of the colors are off on the current DVD, and there are some audio problems, as well.

i don't think i'll be upgrading LEON. i'd already waited til earlier this year and relented. d'oh!

but still waiting for GHOSTBUSTERS!!!!! (i mean i have the original but would gladly doubledip. hopefully it won't be a superdeluxe so that it can keep the cost down.

DeeF,

Your concerns are correct. Many times Columbia Tristar uses the same initial transfer but increases the overall bit rate. That's why many of us here are not really interested in a Superbit version of LOA unless they use the RAH approved transfer since as you said that there are color timing problems and some audio mistakes in the current transfer.

One has to wonder sometimes why everytime a classic is released it has some problems that bother collectors. Are they holding back from releasing a definitive version? Sometimes I think they do this to force to us upgrade several times. The thing is that DVD is not the final home video format. Get it right on DVD. There will be another format where you sell the same film to us all over again.

One thing that bugs me is how many single disc releases are crammed with useless extras that take away from the quality of the film. There are films where we need all the behind the scenes, but overall most of it is useless promotional fluff. I am not a huge fan of the Superbit line, but I do like the fact that if extras are presented they are on a seperate disc and thus do not take away from the quality of the film.

Here are some examples of overall bitrate of the movie on titles that have a lot of extras on single disc releases. As a result of all the extras most of these dual layer disc have about three hours of video content.
Jaws dts (2hr3min) 5.56Mb/s.
Austin Powers:TSWSM 5.46Mb/s
Austin Powers:GM 5.46Mb/s
Jurassic Park 5.60Mb/s
Blues Brothers 4.45Mb/s (close to 3.5 hours of video on a single disc)

Now here are some examples of discs that contain just the film and very few extras. * represents a Superbit title.
Dragonheart dts 8.76Mb/s
Alien 7.25Mb/s
Mask of Zorro* 6.63Mb/s
The Fifth Element* 7.39Mb/s
Seven: Platinum Series (Movie) 7.89Mb/s
Star Wars:TPM 6.87Mb/s
Star Wars:AotC 6.59Mb/s
LOTR:FOTR EE (Disc 1) 7.89Mb/s
LOTR:FOTR EE (Disc 2) 7.68Mb/s

As you can see that there is really nothing special about Superbit but you know that overall the bitrate will be higher compared to a title with the film and all the extras stuffed on one disc. But you usually can tell when a studio releases a 2+ disc set that you are going get a less compressed version of a film.

Running time is also an issue. I am starting to believe that any time a film is approaching 3 hours that it should be split into two discs for the film. Then put the extras on a third disc.

EricW,

You bring up an interesting point. From what I have seen at retailers, B&M and online, Superbit deluxe titles are no more costly than standard Superbit releases, but I think the standard Superbit titles are already overpriced.

I love LoA, but what exaclty is this RAH transfer everyone is talking about?

Robert A Harris restored Lawrence in the late 80s, and recently worked on the 70mm reissue prints as well. However he was NOT consulted for the DVD, which contains many color timing and sound errors which David Lean would..umm..have been quite vocal about

Yes RAH expressed his dissapointment with the current 2-disc DVD set.

Many of us here are hoping for once and all the definitive DVD version of LOA is going to happen with the Superbit release.

Note: Stay clear of the 1 disc version of LOA since it has been highly compressed to fit on one disc and it is from the same transfer with color timing and audio errors as the 2-disc set.

i'm guessing that since mr harris has not said anything, he was not consulted for the new superbit version either.
i hope i'm wrong.

TonyD...

Make no assumptions.

RAH

TonyD...

Make no assumptions.

RAH

YES!!!

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I will take that reply and run like hell with it!!!!

Excellent!

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i certainly never assume thats why i said i hope i am wrong, too.

rob, i'm running right with you.

Uh oh... I've got a feeling it's time to lose my 2-disc LE

I believe this calls for a Dave Lambert style BuffRun(Patent Pending)

Lose the LE? Nothing doing! With that great packaging and extras mine isn't going anywhere

Okay... you're right about the packaging... this calls for a disc swap.