DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Cold Mountain (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

Thanks Rob for sharing those details. Really gives us all a picture of your HT experience and helps provide context for your impressions. Sounds like a GREAT set up.



BTW, which DVI DVD player did you get? Bravo/Momitsu/Samsung/Denon?

-dave

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I got the Bravo D1.

I want a Universal DVI player that does DVD-A and SACD. Perhaps the upcoming Samsung HD 941 will be the ticket. List price is only $350.00 and it has the Faroudja chip. Time will tell.

Thanks for the comments regarding the theater. Here is a (not great) picture taken from the back row. The screen doesn't look all that big since I was using a wide angle lens to get as much of the side walls in as possible:

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I'm one of those who sits 13 feet back from a 57" diagonal crt based rptv, much more than 1.6 screenwidths. I'm using a Zenith dvb 318 upconverting to 1080i via component. While Cold Mountain was not absolutely horrible in this scenario it was not as good as it should have been and I was disappointed in the pq, especially in the first hour or so of the film.

I had rented this, not expecting to like it enough to purchase as I'm not a huge fan of Kidman, was afraid it was just a star vehicle for her and Law, and am not particularly fond of sappy love stories or films set in that time period.

Unlike star vehicles like Last Samurai I was pleasantly surprised at the development of the secondary characters and the performances of the actors in those roles. More than made up for whatever faults there were in the two leads (and they weren't really all that bad).

I'm picking this up when it hits the used bins at Hollywood video.

 

[Ravi K]

Any speculation as to why such filtering/EE would be done to a video transfer?

Cold Mountain, English Patient, Gangs of New York (though feature is split on 2 discs), and Pulp Fiction all have the common denomininators of being longer than usual and DTS. Could these two factors combined be a reason Miramax is filtering out detail? But Kill Bill was not even 2 hours long...

 

[TonyD]

well, i didnt like the movie very much.
i thought it was too long.
i just didnt care for these people enough.
i didnt even like the music.
it reminded me of another film that i think is better.
that would be.
the Hired Hand.
plus i sit about 13 ft from my 73" mits, so that must be why i didnt see as bad an image on this or the english patient.

i'll be watching the barbarian invasions friday so hopefully that will look good.

 

[Richard Gilmore]

I'd add "Chicago" to the Miramax disasters. Looks fine on my 30" TV, not so on my front projector. Based on my disappoint with "Chicago", I guess "Cold Mountain" will be a rental for me. Miramax better get their act together soon...

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Interesting impressions. Personally, I find Chicago to look pretty watchable...some very mild ringing in some scenes, but at least it's got some detail to the picture. I guess the reason why I'm not so harsh on Chicago is that I saw it theatrically and the DVD looks less muddy and more detailed than the print I saw theatrically (not saying much for the print)...

-dave

 

[Reagan]

Just want to address the "equipment" point. Bad EE is very much visible on a small (46 inch) RPTV from three screen-width viewing distance. I should know, that's my setup.

My worst EE movie: Unbreakable

-Reagan

 

[Ravi K]

Tombstone also had a lot of EE.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Just saw this last night - this transfer is very disappointing, for all the reasons David has stated.

As for the film, it was quite ambitious, and there are a few strong moments - Natalie Portman's scene is worth the price of admission alone. But as a whole, I found it to be awkward in tone and execution - the opposite of Minghella's elegant adaptation of English Patient.

Cheers,

 

[Todd McF]

My God David, you don't know what your talking about. This DVD looked fantastic on my 13" RCA. I sit 11 feet back. Looked just like "Kill Bill" and "Open Range".

I'm glad you had the courage to call the quality Shit. I thought you'd really come under fire for that one. Bravo.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I was a little apprehensive about using the S-word. But I actually had some "industry" folks contact me and agree with/support my assessment of the disc and share their disappointment with video on this DVD. It's a word I hope that I don't feel compelled to incorporate into any future review!

 

[Ian Currie]

Hey David - DVDFile has backed up your PQ assessment.

Haven't seen the transfer myself yet, but based on other reviews, I'm sure you're spot on and I'm going to be hugely disapointed.

I'd like to boycott the DVD for this bad transfer, but I love the movie too much. Sigh...

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Thanks Ian.

Here's the quote from Dan Ramer at DVDfile that applies:

(complete review - http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi...dmountain.html )


Almost scary how similar his impressions are to my own (and to RAH's). I could imagine having written that same paragraph...had I the ability to be concise and to-the-point.

I must say I'm finding that Dan's PQ assessments match my own on many discs lately. I had wondered if he upgraded to a front projector and in this review he specifically mentions his "8 foot wide screen" (the same size as my screen when viewing 2.35:1 material) so I'd image that's the case. Bravo Dan

 

[Ravi K]

If the theatrical trailer is included on the DVD, could we see a comparison shot or two between the feature and the trailer, if the trailer is not overly filtered?

 

[Julian Lalor]

You do realise that this is a Disney DVD?