Criterion Solaris vs. RusCiCo (with screen captures) (1 Viewer)

[Gary Tooze]

Hi all,
I got an early copy of the Criterion Solaris and compared 5 or 6 frames to the RusCiCo version...
Link Removed
in the R1 section...
The Criterion image is outstanding and the RusCiCo is cropped slightly...

RusCiCo

Criterion

You can see much better on the larger caps on my webpage.
Regards,

 

[Rain]

I've been reading a few posts about this and evidently some were concerned that the Criterion transfer may be inferior.
That comparison would appear to prove otherwise.
Criterion rules.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Outstanding work, Gary. I generally feel that Criterion does a superior job. It is always nice to see some objective work to back my subjective belief.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Unbelievably gorgeous. I'm just astonished.

(And I can't wait to hear the commentary track!)

 

[Brian Lawrence]

I have not been able to get onto dvdbeaver for over a month now :frowning: The links in Gary's post never work. This really sucks as it was one of my favorite sites.
I'm on a Cox cable modem connection and all I get is a message

Is anyone else having a problem.

 

[Jussi Tarvainen]

Thanks a lot - I can't wait to receive my copy. But I think DVD Beaver shows extremely poor judgement in favoring RusCiCo's menus over Criterion's...

 

[Gary Tooze]

DVD Beaver shows extremely poor judgement in favoring RusCiCo's menus over Criterion's

... I suppose it is a personal taste thing... of course DVDBeaver has both seen the animated menus in action and heard them...

 

[Gary Tooze]

I have added the Artificial Eye captures to the comparison ( thanks to Ole ), they are better than the RusCiCo, but still a leap from the Criterion.
I was also went through some of the Criterion Extras. The Audio Essay appears to be the same as the Commentary and it is chaptered as:
· Tarkovsky's Collaborators
· Donatas Banionis
· The Soviet Film Bureaucracy
· The issues of Special Effects
· Narrative Consistency
· Tarkovsky and his Parents
· Moral Knowledge
· Russian and Western Audiences
The Deleted Scenes are as follows:
· Berton's Flight ( 3:05)
· Kris' Takeoff from Earth (4:23)
· Something to Eat (1:08)
· Beginning of Part 2 (:59)
· Kris and Harl's Meal (2:21)
· Kris' Delerium/The Mirror Room (4:25)
· Mother (6:00)
· Further Philosophy (1:02)
The Interviews are extensive and I have timed them:
Video interviews with:
• Natalya Bondarchuk (32:20)
• Cinematographer Vadim Yusov (33:54)
• Art director Mikhail Romadin (16:46)
• Composer Eduard Artemyev (21:43)
• Documentary excerpt with Solaris author Stanislaw Lem (4:55)
All this is now included in the comparison, which has moved to the NTSC vs. PAL Section:
Link Removed
Cheers,
Gary

 

[Bill McCamy]

Slightly off topic...

Friday 11/29 at 6:30 p.m.(PST) Turner Classic Movies has "Solaris" scheduled. It might be a good opportunity to view the movie before making a purchase.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Well, obviously I was wrong on this. For whatever reason, I remembered the Ruscico disc as being flawless in every aspect. However, the Criterion is obviously a superior transfer hands-down. I prefer the Ruscico version menus and sound, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

Thanks Gary for the wonderful comparisons!

Jeff

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Friday 11/29 at 6:30 p.m.(PST) Turner Classic Movies has "Solaris" scheduled. It might be a good opportunity to view the movie before making a purchase.

sets VCR to tape record

 

[Gary Tooze]

I remembered the Ruscico disc as being flawless in every aspect

Me too Jeff! I even stated as much in my old Review... DVDs have come a long way

 

[GlennH]

The Criterion transfer is clearly superior in detail and clarity.

But the thing that immediately stands out to me is the difference in color. The Criterion has a blue cast that is lacking in the others (see the water in the scene above, or the mist and character's jacket on the other scene at DVDBeaver). The difference in "blueness" affects other colors too, like the pink shirt of the girl. Either looks fine to me taken by itself, but they are quite different in comparison. The question is, which coloring is more correct?

 

[Kevin M]

I'm not sure whether the Criterion has a bluish or "Cool" transfer or is it just that it is lacking the greenish hue that the other transfers show.

I'm not aware of which color temperature is correct but I prefer the "cool" transfer in this instance.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Ah great the Site is finally working for me again
The Criterion looks leaps and bounds better to my eyes and I suspect that the color is more accurate. It just seems to have less of a green tinge than the older discs. It really shows up on the Black & White image.
Look at the black & White pics of the guy sleeping
-The RusCiCo dvd appears to have a greenish murk to it as well as some green and reddish video noise, you can see a lot of in in the facial detail around the chin area.
-The Artificial Eye dvd also has a greenish look to it, though with less red & green analog video noise, a little still can be seen in the detail of the blanket.
-The Criterion dvd, Has a perfect black and white image without the greenish cast, Nor does it have cold whites that are common in transfers in which there is a slight blue tint or the color temp was too high.
I suspect the Criterion looks cool by comparison because the other two discs seem to have an artificial warmer look due the the analog video noise and the greenish tint.
Anyhow, I can't wait to get this disc, I'll have to wait at least until late December though because I put it on my Christmas list

 

[CristianManieri]

The only thing that really concerns me is the lack of a 5.1 track on the Criterion release. I have viewed the Region 2 release and the audio on that one blew me away. Considering the age of the movie, that is. But the Criterion does have a stellar image. Tough one, this is.

 

[Gary Tooze]

The only thing that really concerns me is the lack of a 5.1 track on the Criterion release.

I suppose it depends on how you want to hear the film; the way the director intended or supped up for Hollywood audiences. I know what I prefer.
Click HERE to view more important details regarding potential Criterion problems.... Did Tarkovsky want the blue in? ... I understand that he did and was very specific about the tints... but the Criterion does not have it...
Regards,

 

[Gary Tooze]

Brian, sorry I didn't respond earlier. The site is never down (99.999% uptime), so I would assume it is a routing problem that should eventually be resolved...

Cheers,

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Wow, that's very interesting regarding the blue? If it can be documented that Tarkovsky did indeed want the blue in there I wonder if Criterion will recall this disc and fix it?

Jeff

 

[GlennH]

Now I'm confused. In the original screenshots above and in the review it is the Criterion that is "bluer" -- but on the latest link Gary provides it is the opposite.