PANIC ROOM - What to Believe? (1 Viewer)

GerardoHP · Sep 16, 2002

I'm dying to get this title on DVD. But today I was crushed to read a review criticizing the DVD's sound performance. I gotta wonder if this is going to be one of those titles that make their debut in haunted form (SUSPIRIA, DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, SOUND OF MUSIC, etc.)
This is that review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=4575
I'm eager to hear the opinion of those who pre-ordered it.
Also, has there been talk of a Special Edition of this movie in the future?
Thanks.

Mike Capulli · Sep 16, 2002

I think alot of it has to do with the movie itself. These guys are comparing Panic Room to Resident Evil. First off Resident Evil's soundtrack is full of guns, zombies, monsters, killer trainrides and a rockin soundtrack. Although Panic Room is definitely a better flick, The soundtrack doesn't have much going on. This doesn't mean the DVD mastering/authoring is bad, but this is probably as good as Panic Room can get. Its a very quiet creepy movie. Its not Independence Day or Pearl Harbor.

This is almost similar to the special edition of Reservoir Dogs. The movie rules bigtime. But what is the point of remastering and remixing for DTS? The movie is all dialog!

MatS · Sep 16, 2002

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...ght=panic+room

Eric_R_C · Sep 16, 2002

This is almost similar to the special edition of Reservoir Dogs. The movie rules bigtime. But what is the point of remastering and remixing for DTS? The movie is all dialog!

I hear ya, Mike. Similarly, it's funny to hear some people complain about the Near Dark DTS soundtrack sounding dated, apparently not realizing how old the film is. While the movie has a bit more than just dialog, it still predates DTS (and Dolby Digital.) It should have been done simply in DD, and save room for the video (a suggestion from another forum.) These DTS'ers gotta have EVERYTHING in their format, or else it's BAD!!!
Of course, had there NOT been a DTS soundtrack, there would have been even more complaining. Damned either way.
(In this vein, I must confess I am a knee-jerk widescreener, though OAR isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me. This is a good thing, since I wouldn't otherwise be getting Reservoir Dogs.)

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Damin J Toell · Sep 16, 2002

(In this vein, I must confess I am a knee-jerk widescreener, though OAR isn't necessarily a deal-breaker for me. This is a good thing, since I wouldn't otherwise be getting Reservoir Dogs.)

Huh? The Reservoir Dogs SE is OAR.
DJ

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Nick Sievers · Sep 16, 2002

. The movie rules bigtime. But what is the point of remastering and remixing for DTS? The movie is all dialog!

Are you saying that to warrant DTS it has to be a big action film?

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Eric_R_C · Sep 16, 2002

Actually, Damin, there's some confusion as to which DVD (1st or SE) is OAR
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0&pagenumber=1
Based on this, I'd have to say the original disc should be in my collection.
Nick, it's not so much that ONLY action movies should have DTS, but that NOT EVERY MOVIE needs to have DTS. I wonder what criteria, if any, was used to justify this. Was it that same criteria that "sweetened" the DD soundtrack as well. It just sounds like someone decided to throw in EVERYTHING, choosing quantity over quality (and I'm not going to get into a debate of DD quality over DTS quality)

Damin J Toell · Sep 16, 2002

Actually, Damin, there's some confusion as to which DVD (1st or SE) is OAR

Of the various problems with the new disc, I think the framing is a non-issue. Artisan has said that the older disc was cropped and that the new disc is the original theatrical framing.
DJ

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Eric_R_C · Sep 16, 2002

My point exactly! I'd rather have the 1st release, which looks much better in many respects, than the OAR SE.

About the only thing going for this disc is its anamorphic transfer. An anamorphic transfer may add more "resolution", but it doesn't necessarily guarantee a better picture

I had this dilemma with Predator. The new release had DTS (not important) and an anamorphic transfer. Unfortunately, it was an anamorphic transfer of the source used for the 1st DVD, which wasn't so great to begin with. It was quantity over quality again. Even if I had a widescreen tv (someday), this would not have been enough to sway me.

KennethHiland · Sep 17, 2002

Agreeing with Nick here.

One of the best DTS Soundtracks I have ever heard was the Red Violin DTS. And that movie is far from an action movie.
DTS sound does not have to be guns and special effects to sound good...

Kenneth

Eric_R_C · Sep 17, 2002

And if you read my response, you'll see that you are NOT disagreeing with me, either.

I might ask, though. How many people do you know bought The Red Violin specifically because it was DTS? Was this what made YOU buy it? Would you have bought it if it were only DD?

Dave H · Sep 17, 2002

Panic Room has a DTS track; so it must sound incredible! What's the problem?!

Mike Capulli · Sep 17, 2002

Panic Room has a DTS track; so it must sound incredible! What's the problem?!

look at the first post. GerardoHP had a concern about the linked review.

Look all im saying is, I can record myself sneezing with a microphone on my monitor and encode it in DTS. But DTS will not make it sound better than it ever did. Reservoir Dogs was a low budget independent film. There wasn't much attention paid to the audio quality when they were shooting it, so why try and jazz it up afterwards?
DATA IN = DATA OUT

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Eric_R_C · Sep 17, 2002

Amen, Mike

DTS, in and of itself, is no guarantee of great sound.

Geoff_D · Sep 17, 2002

I had this dilemma with Predator. The new release had DTS (not important) and an anamorphic transfer. Unfortunately, it was an anamorphic transfer of the source used for the 1st DVD, which wasn't so great to begin with.

I hate to say it, but Predator is one of those movies that will look like crap (from a transfer point of view) for the forseeable future.

The problems lie with the original source material. It wasn't the greatest film stock that was used originally (in very humid conditions I might add), and the movie's over fifteen years old. Obviously, the quality of the print used for telecine is pretty shabby, and it has proved very difficult to create a good transfer of Predator - on either side of the Atlantic.

MAYBE one day the negative will be taken out of the vaults, scrubbed up to within an inch of it's life, a new IP will be struck and then given a lovely high-def transfer. But this'll cost a lot of time and money, and with a R1 SE nowhere in sight (unlucky!) you're stuck with what you got. And if you do find yourself needing the bare bones anamorphic dts version one day, you'll appreciate the difference.

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Mark Zimmer · Sep 17, 2002

What I believe is that within 90 days CTHV will announce the SE with the commentary and additional stuff that was supposed to be here. I'm not biting this time, guys. No sale. Even though I loved the movie, I'll wait till you do it right. :frowning:

Jeremy Conrad · Sep 17, 2002

What I believe is that within 90 days CTHV will announce the SE with the commentary and additional stuff that was supposed to be here.

Even though Columbia has already gone on record to say that they don't have plans for a non-superbit release of Panic Room? Ok...

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Bill Laskowski · Sep 17, 2002

The use of sound in this movie is subtle and atmospheric at times, obvious and overwhelming at others. To me, the DTS track clarified both the dialogue, much of which is ambience-dependent (voices sound different depending on the room in which the characters are), and the mixtures of sound, such as the cries gradually blending with the rainstorm outside. It had clarity and punch when needed, and was on the whole beautifully done.

That said, I'd be p.o.'ed too if a special edition comes out in a year or so.

Mike Capulli · Sep 17, 2002

Just picked it up for 15bucks. The DTS track sounds fine.

Yumbo · Sep 17, 2002

well,

the cover is THIN = SHODDY.

the included teaser is 2.0 letterbox (compared to the 16x9 5.1 trailer on their other discs) - SHODDY!

There is NO SB logo on disc = you wouldn't know it was Superbit.

The opening picture is ASTOUNDING.

The sound is muted. Not low, but not as dynamic as FIGHT CLUB in terms of design. Listenable but not impressive (high end seems muffled).

Movie - ok I suppose, tad preditable, and no twists (doing the MNS trend).

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