Is it too late to save the Planet of the Apes...or Alien...or... (1 Viewer)

I don't want to see any more classics undermined or realized well short of their potential - so is there anything to be done, or do you think these are already too far along in the production stage?What can we do- just snail mail our concerns? I'm guessing that The Omen, for instance, is already too far along to be evaluated and (postponed- if necessary) but what about the material due in Q4? or next spring. I'm sure a few people here will say I'm flying off the handle, but I would rather come across as hysterical now, and maybe prompt a little more circumspection before the fact, rather than have to post disappointment after something is already on the shelf- and years away from a more attentive remaster.
Is pre-emptive snail mail the only good recourse here?

Anyway, at least the hysteria has moved away from the format war to this issue.





Crawdaddy

In a big way too.

Yeah, I'm not saying DNR is something we shouldn't be working against but damn...

I highly doubt Fox is going to fudge the Planet of the Apes release. The picture, and sound quality will probably be leave us speechless(in a good way). As far as bonus features, that should be impressive also. If it's anything less than perfect I'll be the first to complain, but I don't think it will come to that!

Before it was released, I thought the same thing of Patton. It did leave me speechless, but not in the same way. I couldn't believe what they had done to it.

Doug

Yeah, given the issues with the Patton disc noted by no less an authority than RAH, I think "hysteria" was an unfortunate choice of words.

Still, I don't think there's any way the consumer base can be preemptive as to specific titles. All we can do is make as much noise as possible about problem titles that have been released.

M.

The one thing that helps Alien in this regard is that Ridley Scott is still alive. I'm a little more concerned about POTA, as Franklin J. Schaffner is no longer with us. That being said, Fox did right by The Sand Pebbles, so there's always hope.

I agree, I think 'hysteria' is an unfortunate choice of words as well. The enthusiast has seen way too many instances of Blu-ray Disc releases that have been DNR'ed to hell to do anything but realize this is a real problem and complain loudly.

These studios have got to realize that, while the mass market is their ultimate aim, it is the enthusiast that is going to keep BD 'alive' while it tries to reach it. By overly processing the image, they are defeating the purpose of HD and offending the customer base that would have eventually recommended this format to the later adopters.

In my own personal observations, the worst examples have been on HD DVD, but that's because the worst studio -- so far -- has been Paramount. (I just added some comments on Trading Places to the old Paramount Blu-ray thread.) At least some of those same masters are now being recycled to Blu-ray, but it's the future transfers that will bear watching, especially from other studios.

M.

I agree; however I didn't see much point in mentioning HD DVD since the focus, for me, is on the 'here and now'. In the 'here and now' there are still plenty of examples of the studio'ss over-zealous application of DNR, and, while Paramont is clearly an offender, New Line and Fox immediately spring to mind as well.

I would suggest a sticky thread regarding the issue with all of the addresses/contacts to each major studio where we can write letters to. I think the more snail mail letters EACH studio gets, the greater the likelyhood we can do something about this madness.

Yes, this is the new war and something I think most of us can unite against.

At least with respect to Paramount, those transfers are still the "here and now". There's no indication they're redoing them for Blu-ray. In fact, the only chance they'll get redone is if there's a lot of complaining about the versions on HD DVD.

M.

I suggested something similar in the Patton thread. I don't have a problem starting one, but I want to be sure it has the backing of this forum so it isn't closed as being redundant or viewed as 'stepping on studio's toes'. Additionally, I could really use some assistance succiently and adequately describing the issue and compilling a list of affected titles.

i couldn't tell from the first post but what is it we are trying to save the
Apes and the Aliens from.

is it the dnr'ing or something else.

It's the DNR'ing...a lamentable practice, to be sure, but not on the level of, say, pan-and-scanning...

Yes. Sorry. Should have been more clear on that in the inital post.
Ideally I would like to save them from "the good scrubbing" they are getting as we post (which I'm thinking was relayed-verbatim- to Bill Hunt, by his Fox contact.) Because after Patton and TLD, I can only imagine that may be what some people over there see these as needing for some reason.
Also, my perhaps greater concern is that the DNR is being 'hardwired' into the newer (re)masters. Sand Pebbles was released in a remastered edition just last year so maybe this aspect is just the luck of the draw and not an institutionalized approach yet.

.

I don't think DNR is as serious a sin as MARs either.
OTOH, I won't support a 'premium' product who goal is mediocrity and excused with a "well it's still better than the (much lower priced, more accessible, and emminently watchable) alternative"
Others and myself are not petitioning for some theoretical, pie-in-the-sky perfection. We simply want the higher degree of source fidelity that this format is capable of providing. I want my favorite films to be reproduced in a way that celebrates their genetic heritege...rather than seeming to be ashamed of it.
Or if that's too purple/pretentious for you- I don't want to wait a frustratingly long time, and then pay a premium price on top of it, only to get a product that has been dumbed down to excel with the lowest common denominator display or viewer.

I would say that if something like 20% of the high frequency information is missing because DNR has been used, its getting pretty close to Pan and Scan.

Doug