International Euro Blu-ray Review: THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1 Viewer)

This review is made possible with the help of www.DaaVeeDee.comNotes on my reviews: I do not offer plot summaries in most cases, as these can be found on a million other sites, but rather focus instead on what people want to know: the image and sound presentation, default playback settings, subtitles, audio choices, etc. My equipment: Panasonic TC-P55UT50 Plasma monitor (3-D capable); Panasonic DMP-BDT220 3-D Blu-ray player; LG BD-360 all-region Blu-ray player; Denon AVE-E200 5.1 Surround receiver. All aspect ratios are physically measured on the Panasonic screen, which has been set to eliminate overscan.THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1955) COMBO (BLU-RAY/DVD)LABEL: ShockCOUNTRY OF ORIGIN: AustraliaREGION: B, LockedASPECT RATIO: 1.37:1C/BW: BLACK AND WHITESOUND: 2.0 Mono. BONUS MATERIAL: Full-length SD films, X-THE UNKNOWN and QUATERMASS II.CHAPTERS: 9This was the beginning of the British Quatermass film series, followed by a very popular t.v. series. It is arguably the best of the three films (QUATERMASS AND THE PIT a.k.a. FIVE MILLION MILES TO EARTH is also available on a U.K. Blu-ray; QUATERMASS II is a bonus on this release; THE QUATERMASS CONCLUSION starring John Mills was intended as a fourth theatrical release, but never made it to our screens. It is available from Amazon UK). THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT, titled THE CREEPING UNKNOWN for U.S. theatrical release, has that really solid, creepy Hammer Films atmosphere we know and love, right down to the James Bernard score.Why this hasn’t received a domestic release is beyond me. And why Shock has opted to include the second film, QUATERMASS II (to say nothing of the similar feature X-THE UNKNOWN), only in upconverted 720-to-1080i, is a mystery. The main feature is 1080i, but looks good to my eyes. The DVD contains only XPERIMENT, and no other features.The two SD films are really a bonus. QUATERMASS II has slightly better PQ than X-THE UNKNOWN, but both are plagued with aliasing and edge enhancement. Neither of these films has any chapter stops – they run as one long chapter. You have to scan your way through them.The main movie looks terrific on Blu. The contrast and shadow detail are just right, and the grain structure is visible and pleasing. Sound is occasionally shrill but usually sounds pretty much like most other older 2.0 tracks. I would not hesitate to recommend this it.This review was made possible with the help of www.DaaVeeDee.com

'Euro'? And Brian Donlevy isn't in X The Unknown.

"And, of course, because these are region 4 titles, there is PAL speedup involved."These "bonus films" should be encoded in 1080i/50hz. Are they SD upscales like people say?

John Hodson said:

'Euro'? And Brian Donlevy isn't in X The Unknown.

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You're right, of course. This is the only non-European title of the ten I posted, and I did not change the header. You are also right about Brian Donlevy. The scientist is played by Dean Jagger, Corrected.

Jari K said:

"And, of course, because these are region 4 titles, there is PAL speedup involved."These "bonus films" should be encoded in 1080i/50hz. Are they SD upscales like people say?

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Thanks for pointing this out. The bonus films are 1080i, but upconverted from 720, and so do not have the resolution of the main feature. And you are right, PAL speedup is therefore not an issue. Corrected.

I like Quatermass II better, i do like both though and of course Pit.

I have the disc - I think the original source of the bonus films was not 720 - it was standard def . The existing dvd's of both look better as if they are from superior sources

bluelaughaminute said:

I have the disc - I think the original source of the bonus films was not 720 - it was standard def . The existing dvd's of both look better as if they are from superior sources

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You might well be right. I have kept the DVD's and I, too, think they look better than the up-converts on this release. I hope we get a decent Blu-ray of both movies soon.

"And you are right, PAL speedup is therefore not an issue."Sorry to confuse things, but since the film is in 1080i/50Hz (and not 60Hz), there's actually some "speed-up". The running time should be the same as in PAL DVD release (well, at least close - not sure about additional logos etc).This is another reason why movies shot on film should always be in 1080p/24fps.