A Few Words About A few words about... Goodfellas -- In High Definition (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I had planned to spot check Goodfellas for quality.

Two and a half hours later the film ended -- one more screening added on to dozens before it of Martin Scorsese's mob masterpiece.

Herein presented perfectly in High Definition by Warner Home Video.

Extremely highly recommended, and literally...

Perfect.

RAH

 

[Paul_Scott]

Courtesy of Netflix, I watched this last night for the first time since seeing it in the theater back in 1990. The film disturbed me quite a bit back then, and the thought of ever owning it, and spending anymore time with these people sort of filled me with some revulsion. But being strapped at the moment for treats to see what this player can do, I looked forward to re-visiting it, and I came away with a much different attitude. Being older, and less pollyannish about the world helps too. Defintely merits owning now.

Had heard bad things about the image on this one, but there were many points in the film where the formats potential were realized I felt. Although to be sure, many of these first dozen or so titles are fairly dark looking films and this one is no exception.
one image in particular that stayed with me is when the mother opens the door to see Henry standing there in his new duds and she exclaims "you look like a gangster!" look at her lipstick. Look at the shine on his shoes.

 

[Jordan_E]

This is one of the few movies that, no matter the format, completely draws me in and I have to actually stop and make sure to "see" the quality of the HD DVD presentation. The improvement is subtle, but is there, but like The Godfather, once I start watching this one I can't stop to study the image.

 

[Robert Harris]

I've seen the word "dark" before in one of the HD threads, and I'm not seeing it.

Could this be function of player adjustment?

Also, having compared the HD vesrsion of Goodfellas to the earlier two disc SE, subtle is not a word that I'd use when describing the difference. One look at the Hi-Cons (the graphic titles with dates, etc.) tells you that the image is razor sharp. This may be a matter of getting "drawn in," as was noted.

I'd love to see Disney add their two Scorsese films to the early Disney HD roster. Color of Money was derived from a scratched element, and Gangs of New York, yet another brilliant film, was one of the worst looking DVDs to hit the market short of public domain, with more than a bit of a compression problem, and a severe case of digititus.

RAH

 

[Paul_Scott]

I meant dark as in - the a good % of the film doesn't take place in bright daylight or well lit interiors, and it has a many scenes in dimly lit, smokey bars and night clubs, etc.
That may be an exaggeration, but most of the signature scenes I remember share this quality.

When Batman shows up, it will be another title that has a mostly dark, almost monochromatic palette.
One reason I'm so looking forward to the Searchers and all those sun drenched Monument Valley vistas.

 

[Dave H]

I, too, compared the HD DVD of Goodfellas to the SD 2-disc and there is a big difference between the two; the HD certainly offers significantly more detail and a "naturallly" sharper image. In addition, I noticed how much more shadow detail is visible vs the SD.

My display is a very well (ISF) calibrated Sony 57" CRT RPTV.

 

[Rob_HD]

One of the nice things I noticed is that, although Goodfellas is a dark movie by design, the HD DVD version REALLY lets you see detail in the dark areas that I never saw on SD DVD. Hat's off to another greatly improved title.

 

[JohnPM]

This gets into the hardware end, I know, but you folks who are watching "GoodFellas" --- are your players behaving alright? I'm hesitating to buy because I keep hearing about lock-ups and failures to load. Otherwise, I'd get a player today and watch "Goodfellas" tonight ---

http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/

 

[Robert Harris]

To JohnPM...

"Get a player today and watch "Goodfellas" tonight --- "

I've heard of no problems with the X1, which has a backlit remote.

RAH

 

[JediFonger]

hello, for those of you that have seen it, is this a brand new transfer? i mean, is it cleaned+scrubbed? does it have those black dirt+grime spots that appear for older film negatives? haven't been to best buy lately to check out HD stuff =).

 

[Steve Blair]

I've had the D1 and A1 for almost a month and no problems. Watched Goodfellas, Serenity, Apollo 13 and Cinderella Man so far plus many sd dvd's...

 

[Steve Blair]

.

 

[JediFonger]

so, it's crystal clear like a lowry digital transfer?

 

[Jordan_E]

I'm going to have to watch it again, just to actually study the image, because like I posted earlier, I almost seem to become hypnotized by the story/filmmaking.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

It's quite clean, with the only source defect that pink vertical scratch through De Niro's face in one shot that has been in every version of the film I'm aware of. At times the detail is amazing (the first shot of the eye closeup is something else).

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Yes, I remember the "pink line" from the SE. How did they miss that?
My BIG problem with the SD transfer, which I no longer own either SD DVD version, was an daylight street scene, where a character is walking to the right and as the camera follows his movement these brown spots move with the picture. It's as if the spots were on the lens. Weirdest print damage I've ever noticed.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Hm, I don't remember seeing that but I could have missed it if I was writing notes or something.

 

[JediFonger]

that's the type of issue i'm talking about. if the original film print is no good, then the transfer will suffer as well regardless of medium.

 

[Robert Harris]

To YiFeng...

This thread seems to be going off on a very odd tangent, and possibly I've been misreading a number of your comments.

Where are you getting your information re: "dirt + grime spots" on "old" negatives?

There are no, and can be no generalizations concerning film elements, except for a certain period, and having nothing to do with dirt, etc.

Where does Lowry Digital come into play here?

Why must a DVD be "crystal clear?"

Is the interpositive used as a transfer element "no good" because one shot has either an in-camera or processing scratch?

I don't see this as an issue.

And if it is, it portends the end of quality home video, and especially high defintion.

VHS will make the damage look far better.

If your comments are due to language or semantics that may not be translating precisely, please let us know.

RAH

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Mr. Harris,
No you have it right, 'we' are CRAZY!!!
For you, to have a transfer look like film is perfect.
For 'us', to have a transfer look like looking out a window is perfect.
Big difference, sure, however you are correct. 'We' have a different view of 'movies', than you a "film preservationist" has.
Sorry to confuse you!