Goodfellas: HBO max vs 2010 BLu-ray (1 Viewer)

[WinstonCely]

So, as it is Henry Hill day (May 11th) I was watching Goodfellas. That being said, I was being lazy and instead of getting my 2010 blu-ray out, I was watching on HBO Max. Right off the bat, the Hue, Contrast and focus were off. It looked as though a bronze filter has applied that turned everything into a bad version of the “Godfather-look.” Not only that, the focus was very soft and looked like a really good VHS. Eventually, I got to the scene where Karen is told to go down an alley to get some “discounted” clothing by Jimmy (I started the movie at the “May 11th, 1980*” title card). As we all know, the camera cranes up, revealing the “do not walk” and “one-way” road signs and one of them says “W 9th“ with a white background and blue text.

The quality was so distracting at this point that I couldn’t take it anymore and popped in my disc to prove to my wife how crappy the image quality was on HBO. She absolutely agreed right off the bat that there was a significant difference, the disc being better. Then it got to the crane up and we both said, “wait!” The “W 9th” sign had changed to a green background with white text! Isn’t that the more modern style? If so, is that saying that the HBO Max has been tampered with, and therefore making the image quality looking like an Instagram post? I did a quick search and didn’t find anything. Can someone point me in the right direction to find out what is going on here?

 

[Brian Husar]

So, as it is Henry Hill day (May 11th) I was watching Goodfellas. That being said, I was being lazy and instead of getting my 2010 blu-ray out, I was watching on HBO Max. Right off the bat, the Hue, Contrast and focus were off. It looked as though a bronze filter has applied that turned everything into a bad version of the “Godfather-look.” Not only that, the focus was very soft and looked like a really good VHS. Eventually, I got to the scene where Karen is told to go down an alley to get some “discounted” clothing by Jimmy (I started the movie at the “May 11th, 1980*” title card). As we all know, the camera cranes up, revealing the “do not walk” and “one-way” road signs and one of them says “W 9th“ with a white background and blue text.

The quality was so distracting at this point that I couldn’t take it anymore and popped in my disc to prove to my wife how crappy the image quality was on HBO. She absolutely agreed right off the bat that there was a significant difference, the disc being better. Then it got to the crane up and we both said, “wait!” The “W 9th” sign had changed to a green background with white text! Isn’t that the more modern style? If so, is that saying that the HBO Max has been tampered with, and therefore making the image quality looking like an Instagram post? I did a quick search and didn’t find anything. Can someone point me in the right direction to find out what is going on here?

It hasn’t been mentioned and a big deal was not made out of it, but for the 2015 anniversary blu ray release, Scorsese supervised a new 4K transfer for blu ray, and that was the basis for the 4K UHD disc. The 2015 blu is much better. But They changed the street signs for that scene in order to make them more period accurate, also, the period license plate that would fall off on the vehicle in front of Karen’s as she drives away, revealing the current plate at the time the film was shot, now stays on the vehicle. That didn’t bother me. But the bronze color timing was not on the 2015 blu ray or 4K UHD blu ray. Strange.

 

[WinstonCely]

Thank you for the clarification!

I like the idea of changing those small details to make a movie more period accurate, but I was worried that the color had been changed too in order to reflect a more modern aesthetic. The color change in the Final Cut of Blade Runner was the only thing that bothered me with that film and I am hoping that’s not the case here. I’d be curious to know if anyone else has noticed this or could confirm what I’m seeing In terms of color. Like I said, it’s a dramatic difference on my end.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I just watched “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” on HBO Max and it looked terrible. It wasn’t HD and daylight scenes were much to bright. Dark scenes were better, but I thought I was watching a very bad DVD.

 

[WinstonCely]

I just watched “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” on HBO Max and it looked terrible. It wasn’t HD and daylight scenes were much to bright. Dark scenes were better, but I thought I was watching a very bad DVD.

Oh wow! That's not cool.

Granted, this all reminds me of a conversation I had with some friends when Netflix was first making its big transition to mostly streaming. I am an advocate for physical media for image and audio quality, while my friends are advocates of streaming because of ease of use. (See my comment earlier that stated I was too lazy, at first, to put my Goodfellas disc in). In some instances, sure, but it's disappointing to see a movie of this stature (or really any movie) not being streamed in its best quality possible because I believe so many people won't mind or notice the quality problems. It breeds ignorance in the audience that need not be there. Maybe I'm overthinking it...

 

[Johnny Angell]

Oh wow! That's not cool.

Granted, this all reminds me of a conversation I had with some friends when Netflix was first making its big transition to mostly streaming. I am an advocate for physical media for image and audio quality, while my friends are advocates of streaming because of ease of use. (See my comment earlier that stated I was too lazy, at first, to put my Goodfellas disc in). In some instances, sure, but it's disappointing to see a movie of this stature (or really any movie) not being streamed in its best quality possible because I believe so many people won't mind or notice the quality problems. It breeds ignorance in the audience that need not be there. Maybe I'm overthinking it...

I’m for streaming and physical media. Streaming because I don’t want to buy every movie I might be interested in watching. Physical because of it’s quality advantage.

 

[WinstonCely]

Going on long with this theme, I watched The Matrix last night on HBO max and it looked dreadful as well.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

What was wrong with it?

 

[WinstonCely]

The colors look very muddy; as though it's a bad VHS copy. It didn't look HD at all.

From my understanding, the first film has had numerous problems with home video releases in terms of massive tampering with the color, especially in the scenes that take place in the "matrix" itself. I can remember seeing it for the first time on DVD after seeing it in the theater and thinking how green it was and that it was NOT that green in the theaters. I'm wondering if this is another case of a poor transfer being available online.

 

[Worth]

The colors look very muddy; as though it's a bad VHS copy. It didn't look HD at all.

From my understanding, the first film has had numerous problems with home video releases in terms of massive tampering with the color, especially in the scenes that take place in the "matrix" itself. I can remember seeing it for the first time on DVD after seeing it in the theater and thinking how green it was and that it was NOT that green in the theaters. I'm wondering if this is another case of a poor transfer being available online.

The green wash was added to make it look more like the sequels. The latest 4K and blu-ray transfers are a lot closer to how it originally looked in the cinema.