Bad Review for "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" HD DVD - Contradicted here! (1 Viewer)

[Larry Sutliff]

It is for moments like this that High Def was invented.

 

[Tim Glover]

 

[JonZ]

I couldnt find this anywhere yesterday.

(As a matter of fact it took my 4th store to find Miami Vice)

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I'd say it's a huge improvement over the standard DVD. The color rendition is particular is so much better---check out Chevy's red robe and Nicolette Scorsese's bikini. They look fabulous. It's not reference but it's a cheaply-shot movie and won't ever look terrific. I doubt very much that theatrical exhibitions looked much better than this.

 

[BrettB]

We're talking about the transfer... right?

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

I agree completely. It surprised me that the picture looked so good after first reading the review . Don't belive everything you read; They need to get the word "Bad" out of the description. It looks like Warner did one good job on this transfer, IMHO.

Paul

 

[JonZ]

Thanks for the info. Ordering this.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Slighty O/T:
I was in Circuit City today. Not one HD DVD. They had a display for BD, it was loaded with titles. They also had an endcap with the Sammy BD player on a Samsung 1080p DLP running SUPERMAN RETURNS. It didn't look too good, the player probably doesn't have the firmware fix, and the picture looked washed out-a sure sign of not even an attempt at calibration. I went into the Wal-Mart right next door, and they had both an HD DVD and BD display. The HD DVD display was empty; they had placeholders for all of the titles, but the only one they had was REDS(about a dozen copies). More BD's were available, including X3, SPEED and THE OMEN. I would have purchased SPEED, but I've been hearing that the Samsung player has a problem reading it, so I passed. I was hoping to find THE MUMMY or THE HULK, but I guess I'll just get them online.

I ended up getting the SUPERMAN SERIAL COLLECTION on SD DVD.

 

[Pete T C]

From AVSFORUM:

I was lucky enough to just score a copy of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation on HD-DVD from one of my local BB's. I just got through watching it and would like tell you my take on this release.

First off, this is personally my favorite Christmas movie ever, just beating out Bad Santa. Secondly I have owned two previous SD-DVD versions of this film, of which both transfer were, well horrible.

My initial opinion is that the new HD-DVD of NLCV is a DRASTIC Improvement over the SD-DVD version. Although, not in the league of an MI3 or Riddick in PQ, once again it is a substantial improvement over the SD-DVD version. I reviewed this film using a Sony VW50 (Pearl) Projector and a 110" Da-Lite High Power Screen.

I did notice a fair amount of film grain. This was evident in the beginning of the film, when the family is in search of a Christmas tree. In many of the white snow scenes, the film grain is evident.

I did not however notice any artifacting or macroblocking. Even in the night scene when Chevy Chase is sliding down the steep hill on the greased saucer, it was a very smooth and clear picture. I have noticed that artifacting/macroblocking is usually evident in dark action sequences. Not in this movie though.

I felt the colors were quite vibrant on this release, but I would not say they popped. They were definately more accurate and clear as compared to the SD-DVD release.

I feel the 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio works perfect for this release, as it accurately fills most HD-DVD screens. It eliminates the Pan & Scan akwardness of the 4:3 SD-DVD version.

As far as AQ goes, this release is in Dolby Digital-Plus 2.0 Stereo. I actually felt it sounded quite good once again caomparing it to the SD-DVD version. My Receiver took the 2.0 feed and converted it to a 7.1 output which I felt was very good.

In conclusion this release is not as spectacular as many of the recent films to HD-DVD, but it is a vastly improved release of any of the SD-DVD versions of NLCV.

If you are a fan of this film and make a habit of watching it this time of year, I Highly Recommend this Purchase.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=762645

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Your WM has both waring HD Disc formats on display!?!?!?!?!?
Lucky Larry!
Where do you live?
All the best.

Pete T C,
Great post, you should name the OP: Josh aka beatboy77.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Even though this HD-DVD titles seem to have a bad review. And since I do not have the SD-DVD I might pick up the HD-DVD anyway. It would be nice if Warner would correct this weak transfer but I wouldn't hold my breath. I guess it would be nice to finally have this movie in my collection even if they could have done a better job. Its not like its Pirates Of The Caribbean, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Lord Of The Rings or Star Wars where the HD transfer need to be flawless. So depending on if I have enough cash I may just end up buying it, but its not a must have at this point.

 

[BrettGallman]

This is one of my favorite Christmas movies, and I've been looking forward to picking it up on HD-DVD. And, unfortunately, I'm still only looking forward to it because once again my local stores did not get it in stock. The same thing happened with Batman Begins, Superman 1 and 2, and other various WB titles. I'm just going to start ordering from Amazon full time now.

 

[Tim Glover]

I'm very glad to hear this one is better than the early reviews. I think we (me included) can easily get spoiled by HD titles like Batman Begins, Phantom of the Opera, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta etc....Those are either flawless or near perfect.

My copy was supposed to be here today....so hopefully I'll have it 2moro.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

This was the Wal Mart on Roosevelt Boulevard in NE Philly.

 

[JonZ]

I ordered from Amazon yesterday and this morning had a email saying it shipped.

Ill have it tomorrow.

 

[Tim Glover]

Got my copy last week but haven't had time to give it a spin yet. Want to plan a special evening to watch this gem.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

All an HD capture is supposed to do is be true to the film source.

Not all movies look like Lawrence of Arabia. Not all HD captures will as a result.

However, an HD capture like this still goes to show that even "low budget and grainy" movies still look better in HD than on DVD. The increased color fidelity and better handling of grain given the better compression in HD bit-rates/codecs are just a few reasons.

I plan to pick up the Blu-ray of A Christmas Story ASAP and report on the results.

 

[JonZ]

I thought it looked really good. The darker scenes seem a bit grainy but the colorful interior scenes looked very good to me (Keep in mind Im watching this on a smaller screen)

Look at the scene were Clark is fantisizing about the swimming pool.

I agree its a bit uneven but its not the worst Ive seen either.

 

[Paul_Scott]

I wish more HD reviewers understood this David.
I see this on both sides and it's very frustrating.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Yep.

Some movies look flat and lacking in contrast in the theater projected via 35mm!

Others just ooze with depth and vibrancy and make you loathe to buy the DVD because of the expected degredation into SD.

All that a studio can/should do with any digital capture is be transparent to the source. Of course, print damamge etc. are anamolies that the director didn't intend (and first-run audiences wouldn't have seen) so naturally this isn't an argument against proper restoration... just not trying to make every HD capture look like a Pixar production.

-dave