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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Back to the Future -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Originally Posted by Jeff Brooks

I went ahead and ordered some of those 6-disc cases. (I needed some, anyway.)


However, I e-mailed Universal last night from their web site, and received a reply just now:


"Thank you for contacting us regarding the "Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy" Blu-Ray packaging. We will forward your comments to the appropriate department.

Additionally we will send you a diagram outlining the recommended way to insert and remove discs with this new package design. Because we cannot send attachments from this system, you will receive a separate email with the PDF attachment.
Again, thank you. We hope that you will enjoy this and future Universal releases."



More to come... Im cracking up reading that last paragraph.
 

Mike Frezon

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Originally Posted by Jeff Brooks

Additionally we will send you a diagram outlining the recommended way to insert and remove discs with this new package design.

It's like the old saw about..."you know a joke is bad when you have to explain it."


Quite an evolution from chapter inserts to instruction manuals on how to use the packaging.
 

Todd H

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Robert, for once I'm gonna have to disagree with you. From my normal viewing distance (I sit 6ft away from my 52" set), the edge enhancement is glaringly obvious. It's not original Gladiator bad, but for me it's bad enough to be distracting. And when I finally finish my dedicated projector-based home theater room, it will move from distracting to annoying.


Considering how well loved these films are, you would have thought Universal would have put forth a little more effort into the transfers. As long as consumers accept them as "good enough" and "better than the DVD" then it will continue to be business as usual for Universal catalog titles.


I'm secretly saying a prayer for the Universal-Spielberg films. Hopefully Steven will have a bit more say in how they are transferred.
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by Todd H

Robert, for once I'm gonna have to disagree with you. From my normal viewing distance (I sit 6ft away from my 52" set), the edge enhancement is glaringly obvious. It's not original Gladiator bad, but for me it's bad enough to be distracting. And when I finally finish my dedicated projector-based home theater room, it will move from distracting to annoying.


Considering how well loved these films are, you would have thought Universal would have put forth a little more effort into the transfers. As long as consumers accept them as "good enough" and "better than the DVD" then it will continue to be business as usual for Universal catalog titles.
What are your sharpness and digital settings?


I'm viewing at around 100", and while some sharpening is there, I'm not finding it terribly offensive. There is a lack of some grain, and softening, but the overall image is not something that I'm complaining about. Possibly I'm simply getting tired of complaining. Keep in mind that these are not cinematographic Academy Award winners. I more offended that the word "restored" is being used for the release. Unless the original negative were severely worn and damaged at the lab, which I doubt, even with some 70mm printing (which may have come from dupes), I'm not understanding any need for restoration. Digital clean-up perhaps, as with The Leopard, but "restoration?"


RAH
 

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Very helpful thoughts Robert, sounds like it could have been alot worse than what we got. Does anyone know if Universal does the same transfers, for their blu rays worldwide ? For example, Ive got the psycho UK release, and ive read the picture is slightly diffrent on the US release.
 

Zack Gibbs

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Originally Posted by Robert Harris


... I more offended that the word "restored" is being used for the release. Unless the original negative were severely worn and damaged at the lab, which I doubt, even with some 70mm printing (which may have come from dupes), I'm not understanding any need for restoration. Digital clean-up perhaps, as with The Leopard, but "restoration?


RAH


That bothers me too, and it's not just the word "restored," they've been boasting about all the man hours put into it, using a lot of misleading nonsense.


---


I really don't like this release. The only reason I don't argue with those that give it favorable reviews is because I admit I've already reached an 'all-or-nothing' attitude when it comes to Bluray, and that isn't really the norm. I do suspect it is going to become more common.


With the growing number of release platforms for films, there will be plenty of easier, cheaper options to watch movies in a simply 'good-enough' experience. As those options expand and increase in quality, if you're going to put it on a bluray, it better deliver all that the format has to offer. That's how I feel anyways.


To make matters worse, Universal has clearly delivered a sub-par experience not because of time or money, but out of choice. There have been some great comparisons to HD broadcasts of what are clearly the same transfer, sans all the filtering. Some shots are just night and day. These discs could have looked massively better without any added resources, but they don't. I just won't accept that.
 

Todd H

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Originally Posted by Robert Harris



What are your sharpness and digital settings?

 

I'm viewing at around 100", and while some sharpening is there, I'm not finding it terribly offensive.  There is a lack of some grain, and softening, but the overall image is not something that I'm complaining about.  Possibly I'm simply getting tired of complaining.  Keep in mind that these are not cinematographic Academy Award winners.  I more offended that the word "restored" is being used for the release.  Unless the original negative were severely worn and damaged at the lab, which I doubt, even with some 70mm printing (which may have come from dupes), I'm not understanding any need for restoration.  Digital clean-up perhaps, as with The Leopard, but "restoration?"

 

RAH
 


Sharpness is at it's lowest settng and all processing is turned off. I guess I'm just more sensitive to EE than others. To me it still doesn't look good at all. Way too harsh and digital looking.
 

TheHutt

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You pick up the package, and the cardboard and plastic thing holding the discs falls out.


And the price on this is $80?

You can pick the British or the German version which has a far superior packaging, and the price is far less.

Actually, same is valid for Alien Anthology which is highly overpriced in the US.
 

Robert Harris

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Originally Posted by TheHutt

You can pick the British or the German version which has a far superior packaging, and the price is far less.

Actually, same is valid for Alien Anthology which is highly overpriced in the US.


For the record, is the UK version region free?
 

CraigF

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^ I don't know for sure, but the number of *UK* Universal BD titles I have ever seen or heard of that are region-locked could be counted on one hand (yes, I do that) with fingers left over i.e. this is almost certainly a safe option for any cheapskates (like me) who can't wait to find out for sure. [If you meant AA, it will almost certainly be locked based on past actions from Fox for UK releases, though not quite as surely as BTTF won't be...]
 

Brian Husar

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Guess i'll be saving my money. Now Digital Bits gave the discs good reviews, I hear some talking about Universal's typical DNR and EE, and if you can't get the discs out...well i'll wait.
 

TheHutt

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Originally Posted by Robert Harris

For the record, is the UK version region free?
Yes, both of them. In case of Alien Anthology these are even the same discs (with same languages and all) as in the US.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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Originally Posted by CraigF

[If you meant AA, it will almost certainly be locked based on past actions from Fox for UK releases, though not quite as surely as BTTF won't be...]

Actually, that's untrue. Quite a few Fox catalog titles released in the UK are region free though Fox has not been inconsistent about that. The most recent, confirmed, memorable case would be Tora! Tora! Tora!, and it looks like the UK AA set is likely also region-free though I'm not sure there's full confirmation on that yet -- certainly, a couple HTF members have ordered it, and I'm planning to do so myself as well.


_Man_
 

BethHarrison

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Of course these films are "art", not in the "they belong in an art gallery" sense of the word, but in the sense that they are examples of the telling of stories using pictures and sounds, which is what all movies are
 

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