Army Of Darkness Boomstick edition (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

Rutger, he didn't say all THX transfers were bad. He said some bad transfers are THX-certified. I assuem he meant Star Wars: Episode 1 and Highlander.

 

[RobertR]

he didn't say all THX transfers were bad. He said some bad transfers are THX-certified

That's exactly the point both Doug and me are making. THX doesn't mean squat with respect to guaranteeing a good transfer, and the best THX transfers are NOT better than the best non-THX ones.

In other words, sticking the THX label on an AOD transfer would mean nothing.

 

[Ruz-El]

If I remember correctly, I believe Robert Harris explained that THX certification is on the equipment used to do the mastering, not on the final product produced by that equipment. (I think in one of his digital bits coloms, excuse me if I'm wrong.)

AOD was transfered using equipment certified by THX, but you can't make chicken soup out of chicken s**t. Great source material can get wrecked by the person looking over the transfer, and poor material can be improved. Doesn't matter if it's THX or Superbit.

 

[RobertR]

AOD was transfered using equipment certified by THX, but you can't make chicken soup out of chicken s**t. Great source material can get wrecked by the person looking over the transfer, and poor material can be improved. Doesn't matter if it's THX or Superbit.

THX claims on its web site that they overlook every aspect of the production of a DVD, and that they have the power to reject the result at any point for any reason. Obviously, "chicken shit" was good enough to get their label.

 

[Damin J Toell]

If I remember correctly, I believe Robert Harris explained that THX certification is on the equipment used to do the mastering, not on the final product produced by that equipment. (I think in one of his digital bits coloms, excuse me if I'm wrong.)

The process is much more involved than that. Read about it yourself at THX's website.

DJ

 

[Damin J Toell]

THX claims on its web site that they overlook every aspect of the production of a DVD, and that they have the power to reject the result at any point for any reason. Obviously, "chicken shit" was good enough to get their label.

THX does not have the power to reject a disc for simply "any" reason. What is not a part of THX's certification program are the artistic decisions make during telecines or the elements used. As the THX website says, "The look of a movie transfer is an artistic process and is the responsibility of the telecine artist and the studio advisor." THX will not reject a transfer because it is made from the best elements known to be available, and that's exactly what the AOD disc was. Anchor Bay and Renaissance Pictures tried hard to get better elements for the director's cut, but were unable to. It's not their fault that DeLaurentis provided no help, and THX won't reject a disc simply for that reason. It would be a bit irrational for THX to reject a disc because it was sourced from the best known available elements and approved by the director. Bashing THX for doing so seems similarly irrational to me.

DJ

 

[RobertR]

to ensure the highest quality possible, every transfer and sample disc is looked at and listened to. THX QC technicians have the authority to reject entire pressings should problems occur in the manufacturing process

I find it beyond comprehension that the horrible compression job done with the original Highlander disc was an "artistic decision" about which THX had no say.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I find it beyond comprehension that the horrible compression job done with the original Highlander disc was an "artistic decision" about which THX had no say.

OK...what's that got to do with the disc Russell G commented on, you replied to about, and that I replied to about: Army of Darkness?

DJ

 

[RobertR]

OK...what's that got to do with the disc Russell G commented on, you replied to about, and that I replied to about : Army of Darkness?

Sorry, Damin, maybe the point got lost in the shuffle. Brunnen said he wished the Region 3 transfer was THX certified. My point was that the THX "seal of approval" would do nothing to make the transfer better OR worse. Experience has shown that the THX label is no more a guarantee of a great transfer than the compressionist's marital status.

 

[Damin J Toell]

Sorry, Damin, maybe the point got lost in the shuffle. Brunnen said he wished the Region 3 transfer was THX certified. My point was that the THX "seal of approval" would do nothing to make the transfer better OR worse. Experience has shown that the THX label is no more a guarantee of a great transfer than the compressionist's marital status.

I agree with that, as well, but it seemed to me that your point in replying to Russell G was that it was a bad thing for THX to have certified the "chicken shit" transfer that Anchor Bay did for the AOD director's cut. I'm sorry if there was confusion.

DJ

 

[RobertR]

it seemed to me that your point in replying to Russell G was that it was a bad thing for THX to have certified the "chicken shit" transfer that Anchor Bay did for the AOD director's cut. I'm sorry if there was confusion.

I'm sorry too. The "chicken shit" transfer I was talking about was Highlander. I don't know how the THX people can look themselves in the mirror for approving that one. Maybe they spend time looking at their bank statements instead.

 

[Ruz-El]

WOOPS!

Sorry folks, but I'm happy with the AOD transfer! The Chicken shit reference is a general statement on a basic summary on transfers: Great equipment wont make a crap transfer look better if the people running it don't put in the extra work and vice versa.

The Anchor Bay transfer was considered good enough until this new R3 version cropped up and you know what? It's still good enough for me. And that the Boomstick edition can be had for $20 Canadian doesn't make it worthwhile for me to special order a R3 disk (granted, if I saw that R3 disk on the shelf for under $30, I'd pick it up, so no swipes intended to those of you looking for the best quality)

I don't think that THX should be the reason to buy a DVD transfer, as that label has been on many crappy transfers (Sound Of Music 5star anyone?). Same with Superbit (Lots of complaints about EE on Punch Drunk Love, despite it being a director approved transfer.)

Anyways, I think my incredibly simplified and generalized statements about source material and transfers that I'm basing on my memory are basically correct. and if not, than listen to the other much wiser souls on the board. Hell, surly there is someone on the forum that is telecine operator that could get technical.

 

[rutger_s]

1. The director's version of Army of Darkness is not THX Certified. Never has been.

The only version of the film that received THX Certification is the Universal Pictures version. No where on either R1 release of Army of Darkness - Director's Cut is the THX logo, notation of certification, or even the THX trailer.


2. RE: Highlander.

Way back in the early days of DVD, THX did not have a DVD certification plan in place. Instead, if a print was THX Certified then the DVD could carry that certification. In the case of Highlander, the print used for the laserdisc was THX certified and as such the DVD could also have that certification. The same goes for Goldeneye and Twister.

By the way...both the standard and special edition releases of Goldeneye use the exact same transfer. The special edition just does not have the THX "certification" anymore since THX finally created a DVD plan.

 

[Kevin M]

the print used for the laserdisc was THX certified and as such the DVD could also have that certification.

Yes, as far as I remember only the older Laserdisc transfer they used was THX approved, not the horrifically shitty compression that plagued that old Republic DVD.
THX indeed did not have a DVD program at the time, Republic apparently slapped the THX logo on the DVD as a marketing point.

 

[RobertR]

Yes, as far as I remember only the older Laserdisc transfer they used was THX approved, not the horrifically shitty compression that plagued that old Republic DVD.

And THX allowed them to do so, even though they had no DVD program in place, and apparently never even bothered to look at the transfer.

Inexcusable on their part.

 

[rutger_s]

And THX allowed them to do so, even though they had no DVD program in place, and apparently never even bothered to look at the transfer.

As I said before...

When Republic Home Video was releasing the DVD, it got THX Certification.

What THX did was this:

If the print got a THX certification then the DVD could be called THX certified.

Since the print that THX approved was used for the laserdisc and not, at the time, intended for any other high-resolution format...the DVD suffered greatly in picture quality.

The DVD is derived from the same THX approved print print as the laserdisc. The DVD also uses the exact same transfer with no color-correction or enhancement for DVD's higher resolution. Instead, the film is squashed onto a DVD-5 with the exact same laserdisc transfer re-encoded into MPEG-2.

Now...I can't believe that with just one title error, a small sect of people believe that all THX Certified products look or sound like garbage.

Ever since THX inacted their DVD certification program, many THX certified products look wonderful or reference quality.

 

[RobertR]

I can't believe that with just one title error, a small sect of people believe that all THX Certified products look or sound like garbage.

I don't believe it either, because no one says "all THX Certified products look or sound like garbage". What people ARE saying is that THX is NOT the guarantee of quality it claims to be. There are THX labeled DVDs made AFTER their program started that do NOT look "wonderful or reference quality."

 

[Matt Stone]

I'd still say that THX lost some of it's meaning post-Laserdisc. That's not to say that they suck or anything...but so far I have seen plenty of non-reference THX approved transfers.

On the other hand (at least with later pressed films), I find all of my THX LDs are pristine.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

The only version of the film that received THX Certification is the Universal Pictures version. No where on either R1 release of Army of Darkness - Director's Cut is the THX logo, notation of certification, or even the THX trailer.

While you are correct the Anchor Bay Director's Cut of Army of Darkness wasn't THX certified, you are incorrect that the Universal version was the only version that was. In fact, the Universal release is not THX certified, but the Anchor Bay release of the theatrical version is.

 

[Damin J Toell]

While you are correct the Anchor Bay Director's Cut of Army of Darkness wasn't THX certified, you are incorrect that the Universal version was the only version that was. In fact, the Universal release is not THX certified, but the Anchor Bay release of the theatrical version is.

By "Universal Pictures version," I think rutger was just referring to the version of the film released theatrically in the United States by Universal (which would be AB's theatrical disc).

DJ