A Few Words About A few words about...™ Henry V (1989) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris · Jan 19, 2015

Kenneth Branagh's 1989 version of Shakespeare's King Henry the Fifth has seen better days.

Thanks to MGM, this Shout Factory release is stunningly okay, if that.

It doesn't take a high level archivist to understand that the first image on screen, against a black background, should not be cut-through scratches the the film element used for transfer. I'd guess a low-con print, but someone may have actually damaged an IP.

Other scratches, dirt, detritus come and go, making one feel that they are viewing the film in 16mm in a high school English class.

Grain is uncertain, but not as it should be. Shadow detail is eh...

Color okay.

Not happy with this one. It appears that if MGM had their way, the good bard, whose work has been around for more than a century, would not stand the test of time.

As to the film, and others of its ilk, the fact that an HD master may exist, does not mean that people should see it.

Image - 3

Audio - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass (barely)

RAH

David_B_K · Jan 19, 2015

That's a shame. Guess I'll stick with my DVD.

lukejosephchung · Jan 19, 2015

David_B_K said:
That's a shame. Guess I'll stick with my DVD.

Your DVD is non-anamorphic and very likely renders a less-than-acceptable image on an HD screen...I'm committed to upgrading to this blu-ray...

Konstantinos · Jan 19, 2015

The German Bluray seems better, with almost double bitrate, and situated in a BD-50 (not a BD-25 as the US release).

German:
Disc Size: 41.825.587.200 bytes
Video Bitrate: 36 Mbps

US:
Disc Size: 23,232,917,170 bytes
Video Bitrate: 19.22 Mbps

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/110141

Robert Harris · Jan 19, 2015

Konstantinos said:
The German Bluray seems better, with almost double bitrate, and situated in a BD-50 (not a BD-25 as the US release).

German:
Disc Size: 41.825.587.200 bytesVideo Bitrate: 36 Mbps US:
Disc Size: 23,232,917,170 bytesVideo Bitrate: 19.22 Mbps

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/110141

That would explain a bit, but the less than stellar film element is the basis of the problem, in addition to no attempt at any cleanup.

Dennis Nicholls · Jan 19, 2015

What are the consumer-oriented specs of the German disc? Is it region locked? Are there burned subtitles?

Dennis Nicholls · Jan 19, 2015

lukejosephchung said:
Your DVD is non-anamorphic and very likely renders a less-than-acceptable image on an HD screen...I'm committed to upgrading to this blu-ray...

I have the old DVD version MGM disc 1000681, and it's anamorphic.

Yorkshire · Jan 20, 2015

Robert Harris said:
That would explain a bit, but the less than stellar film element is the basis of the problem, in addition to no attempt at any cleanup.

In many ways, this is the bit that bothers me least.

After years of rep cinema, I'm used to print damage.

In the years before Blu-ray Disc, if you wanted a collection of films which looked like...well, films, you had to spend many, many thousands of pounds on 35mm prints, and that's if you could find one.

With Blu-ray Disc we now have something approximating a film, as long as there's not too much digital tinkering.

Obviously I'd like every release I ever buy to be perfect. But if I end up with something not too dissimilar to fairly decent 35mm print with a little damage, than I'll happily put up with that, if that's as bad as it gets.

I have the German disc but haven't watched it yet. Hopefully the higher bitrate will mean it's more like watching 35mm in a high school English class.

Steve W

David_B_K · Jan 20, 2015

Dennis Nicholls said:
I have the old DVD version MGM disc 1000681, and it's anamorphic.

Yes, as is mine. I believe it only has Dolby 2.0 also. I also still have the laserdisc which featured a "making of" feature that the DVD lacked. Wonder if the only-ok Blu-ray will have it?.

Konstantinos · Jan 20, 2015

Dennis Nicholls said:
What are the consumer-oriented specs of the German disc? Is it region locked? Are there burned subtitles?

Here are the specs from caps-a-holic. Unfortunately no subtitles!

PLAYLIST REPORT:
Name: 00002.MPLS
Length: 2:17:40.001 (h:m:s.ms)
Size: 41.825.587.200 bytes
Total Bitrate: 40,51 Mbps
VIDEO:
Codec Bitrate Description
----- ------- -----------
MPEG-4 AVC Video 36000 kbps 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
AUDIO:
Codec Language Bitrate Description
----- -------- ------- -----------
DTS-HD Master Audio German 1121 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1121 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 896 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1162 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1162 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 896 kbps / 16-bit)

Oh, and it seems to be Region B.

moovtune · Jan 20, 2015

Yorkshire said:
In many ways, this is the bit that bothers me least.

After years of rep cinema, I'm used to print damage.

In the years before Blu-ray Disc, if you wanted a collection of films which looked like...well, films, you had to spend many, many thousands of pounds on 35mm prints, and that's if you could find one.

With Blu-ray Disc we now have something approximating a film, as long as there's not too much digital tinkering.

Obviously I'd like every release I ever buy to be perfect. But if I end up with something not too dissimilar to fairly decent 35mm print with a little damage, than I'll happily put up with that, if that's as bad as it gets.

I have the German disc but haven't watched it yet. Hopefully the higher bitrate will mean it's more like watching 35mm in a high school English class.

Steve W

Well I have to disagree with this opinion. If we're willing to settle for this kind of quality on Blu, then the studios will just continue to release this quality on UHD Blu-ray. We'll have twice the resolution to see every scratch, streak, faded color, edge enhanced, grain reduced title they throw at us. No sale here.

JoeDoakes · Jan 20, 2015

Disappointing, especially for a film from 1989!

Yorkshire · Jan 20, 2015

moovtune said:
Well I have to disagree with this opinion. If we're willing to settle for this kind of quality on Blu, then the studios will just continue to release this quality on UHD Blu-ray. We'll have twice the resolution to see every scratch, streak, faded color, edge enhanced, grain reduced title they throw at us. No sale here.

Or we can refuse to accept it and demand a clean up before we buy it, at which point the studio decides it's too expensive and we don't get it at all.

As I say, I'd like perfection from every release, but to have the equivalent of a slightly damaged 35mm print isn't something to be picky about.

That is assuming, of course, that the German version is just that.

Steve W

PaulDA · Jan 20, 2015

A bit disquieting, and I'll spring for a better one if ever released, but this too is already ordered (like Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources), so I guess I'll live with it.

Brandon Conway · Jan 20, 2015

If the DVD Beaver caps are any indication I doubt I'll be as critical of the film element issues. Those rarely bother me.

sonomatom1 · Jan 20, 2015

It is very disappointing and disheartening that RAH gave this release such low marks. I have been waiting for the BD incarnation of 'Henry V' for a very long time, and it sounds like I'm going to keep waiting. It is especially sad when you consider how poor the BD release of Branagh's 'Hamlet' was - rather like the first 'Patton'. And I adamantly disagree with the writer who opined that we should accept what we get from the studios ("Or we can refuse to accept it and demand a clean up before we buy it, at which point the studio decides it's too expensive and we don't get it at all.")... I enjoy films but I am not going to be bullied into buying a hack or second rate product - they can keep it!

Stephen_J_H · Jan 20, 2015

I'll stick with my DVD, unfortunately.

FanboyZ · Jan 20, 2015

Here's the thing- it would be on Shout Factory to do the cleanup, and Shout Factory is lazy. They have zero QC.

The very best they can do is simpyl release what MGM gives them without hariming it in the encode/authoring stage.

Yorkshire · Jan 21, 2015

sonomatom1 said:
It is very disappointing and disheartening that RAH gave this release such low marks. I have been waiting for the BD incarnation of 'Henry V' for a very long time, and it sounds like I'm going to keep waiting. It is especially sad when you consider how poor the BD release of Branagh's 'Hamlet' was - rather like the first 'Patton'. And I adamantly disagree with the writer who opined that we should accept what we get from the studios ("Or we can refuse to accept it and demand a clean up before we buy it, at which point the studio decides it's too expensive and we don't get it at all.")... I enjoy films but I am not going to be bullied into buying a hack or second rate product - they can keep it!

I never said we should just accept what we're given.

The German addition appears to be a fair representation of a 35mm print with some slight damage and I'd rather have that than nothing.

That's quite different.

Steve W

Robert Harris · Jan 21, 2015

FanboyZ said:
Here's the thing- it would be on Shout Factory to do the cleanup, and Shout Factory is lazy. They have zero QC.
The very best they can do is simpyl release what MGM gives them without hariming it in the encode/authoring stage.

This is not a Shout Factory problem, nor is it anything they can fix. One must return to original elements.

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