PaulaJ
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2000
- Messages
- 695
I just got through watching the new Fox release of Jackie Chan's The Young Master, and was rather dismayed by the transfer. For one thing, it's the grainiest of the Fox martial arts releases so far. (Plus there are various scratches and bits of dirt, including what looks like a hair during the big fight at the end.) I checked it against the Universe DVD and while that is a far from perfect transfer (it's non-anamorphic to start with and it's soft and indistinct), it doesn't have the grain issues of the Fox DVD. I wonder what shape the source print for the Fox DVD was in? The Fox DVD, despite the grain, has a lot more detail than the Universe DVD.
However, even more problematic is the issue of framing. I noticed right away that it looked too tight at the top -- heads were being cut off. One shot that looks really bad is at 66:49, when Lily Li, during her fight with Jackie, stands up and straightens her skirt. On the Fox DVD, at the top of the frame her head is cut off in the middle and at the bottom you can see a bit of floor below the edge of her skirt. On the Universe DVD, you can see her entire face with just a tiny smidgeon of the top of her head cut off (it looks fine). And at the bottom her skirt meets the edge of the frame, no floor showing.
Most of the time the misframing isn't that awful or even noticeable on the Fox DVD, although in some shots it is quite obvious. Maybe it's just certain shots, not all of them. I didn't do a scene by scene check (that would require me switching DVDs back and forth and I'm just too lazy). But maybe someone with a double set-up can do a more thorough comparison.
I don't suppose Fox would agree to a re-issue a la Universal with Back to the Future and Pillow Talk...
However, even more problematic is the issue of framing. I noticed right away that it looked too tight at the top -- heads were being cut off. One shot that looks really bad is at 66:49, when Lily Li, during her fight with Jackie, stands up and straightens her skirt. On the Fox DVD, at the top of the frame her head is cut off in the middle and at the bottom you can see a bit of floor below the edge of her skirt. On the Universe DVD, you can see her entire face with just a tiny smidgeon of the top of her head cut off (it looks fine). And at the bottom her skirt meets the edge of the frame, no floor showing.
Most of the time the misframing isn't that awful or even noticeable on the Fox DVD, although in some shots it is quite obvious. Maybe it's just certain shots, not all of them. I didn't do a scene by scene check (that would require me switching DVDs back and forth and I'm just too lazy). But maybe someone with a double set-up can do a more thorough comparison.
I don't suppose Fox would agree to a re-issue a la Universal with Back to the Future and Pillow Talk...