DVD Review HTF REVIEW: The Matrix Reloaded (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adams]

Hell if I cranked mine to -1 to 0, my ears would start bleeding.

Huh? What did you say Kevin? I couldn't quite hear you.
I do have to admit, I like my movies loud. But like I said, normal volume for me is -9 to -10, this one I had at -1.

 

[NateF]

I have to weigh in on the big screen/fancy system reviewers. I have a 108" widescreen FPTV system with a nice receiver and surround speakers. I also live in an apartment (I'm probably technically sitting too close to the screen, as the room is only 14' long).

While I agree that reviews from people using a 27" TV and TV speakers is perfectly valid, the problem is that it can't give everyone all the information they need. It's fine for talking about the movie itself, as well as special features... however, it can't really tell us big screen guys how good the transfer is, how much the LFE channel is used, or how good the soundstage is.

The purpose of these reviews is to review the *DVD*, not the movie. For that, you need to be able to experience the full capabilities of the DVD. Now does that mean you need a 108" front projection TV? Perhaps not, but having a large screen and full surround/LFE is necessary to be able to find problems that other people with similar setups would fine that lesser setups would miss.

I don't mean to bash people who have those setups. I had those setups for a long time, and most of my friends still do. I'm lucky that I have a really good job, and can (almost) afford the next step in home theater. Just because someone else can't afford to blow the amount of money I have doesn't mean they're any less of a home theater enthusiast, and I welcome your input on the DVDs.... but I still think the reviews need to be done on the best equipment possible.

On the other hand, if someone with a 200" screen and 27 speakers says the transfer is a little fuzzy, and it doesn't take full advantage of his speaker setup, I'll take that with a grain of salt, just as the 27" TV people should take the 100" FPTV reviews with a grain of salt. What is "good, but not spectacular" on that person's screen will probably look just as good as the one he calls spectacular.

-Nate

 

[Kevin. W]

Can somebody PLEASE tell me exactly what time it says on the dvd player so I can try to see what you are talking about. Last night I was looking her up and down and saw nothing.

Keep an eye during chapter 19 when they are walking through the kitchen to the keymaker and then into the hall for the fight scene.

Kevin

 

[John Alderson]

About the audio level:

I will admit I have a far from optimal system or room, but I had trouble finding that happy medium where the sound wouldn't make my ears bleed yet would still allow me to hear the dialog. I think the main problem is that much of the dialog is whispered, and then of course it gets LOUD.

I would think I found a good level, with very intelligible dialog in a particular scene (even when they were talking quietly), then later on another dialog scene would have me bumping the volume up again (the one I remember is the Horny Cake scene, which isn't even quiet dialog), after which an explosion would cause all the neighborhood car alarms to go off, sending me scrambling for the volume again (and I hate doing that).

I refuse to use dynamic compression, and I can't remember the last time I had to fiddle with the volume so much.

Along similar lines, is the Trinity kick-ass scene early on quieter than the same scene "for real" later on? It seems that way to me. *shrug* Maybe my ears were tired

 

[Mitch Stevens]

I can't believe what i'm hearing! Any person that has a 27" TV has no business what-so-ever reviewing DVDs for other people. It's much too small, and it does not display what the true DVD looks like. I completely agree with the reviewer that reviewed it on a 92" screen. I think that every single DVD should be reviewed on a screen that large since most of us, will one day or another have a screen of that size in our own homes. Especially considering that FP prices are dramatically falling, it's fairly easy to buy one, and spend far less than you would a normal TV.

Right now I have a 65" Widescreen HDTV, and I can see flaws with some of the DVDs that people consider reference....why? Because those people who claimed that it was a reference transfer, were watching it on a 27" - 36" TV. It makes me furious to go out and buy a DVD thinking that it's a reference transfer, get home, and have my jaw drop to the ground by seeing just how horrible the transfer really is!

I have seen Matrix Reloaded on my TV. I bought it Tuesday, and I do agree this is proabably the best looking DVD EVER released so far. It is absolutely incredible looking. So fantastically detailed.

New released that I had MAJOR problems with include:

2 Fast 2 Furious
&
Willard

Both are brand new films and look absolutely horrible!

 

[Carlo_M]

I will admit I have a far from optimal system or room, but I had trouble finding that happy medium where the sound wouldn't make my ears bleed yet would still allow me to hear the dialog. I think the main problem is that much of the dialog is whispered, and then of course it gets LOUD.

I too have this problem with both Reloaded and TPM.

I thought I remember reading that most DVDs have "nearfield" mixes of some sort. Not quite dialog compression, but a form of it, because the constraints of home theater are not the same as in the movie theater (i.e. having to fill up a 200-1000 seat auditorium vs. a 10-seat living room). Maybe they didn't do a nearfield mix for these two movies?

 

[Sean Bryan]

About the Persephone/Monica Bellucci thing:

Look "where you make babies", when she is leading Neo, Morpheus and Trinty through the kitchen to the door that opens to the Chateu.

You can see what she is sporting "down there".

No wood flood, no landing strip, no Hitler mustache. Good old classic triangle!

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Just for the record—there were upwards of 325 Agent Smiths in the busiest portions of the Burly Brawl sequence, according to cloth simulation supervisor Trista Ikuta in Cinefex magazine.

 

[Brent M]

A little off topic here, but Mitch, what's wrong with 2 Fast 2 Furious? It's not the best transfer on the market, but it's certainly far from "absolutely horrible".

 

[Mitch Stevens]

Brent....like you said, it IS off topic.

But, 2 Fast 2 Furious looks absolutely dreadful to me. It in no way compares to the beauty of the first dvd. The shots that have have lots of people in the frame (like over-head shots) don't have any detail at all. It's just a blury mess. I saw this at the theater TWICE and it was clear as can be. I know it's not fair, to compare film & DVD since DVD will *NEVER* and I mean *NEVER* get even close the resolution that film has, but still.

The Matrix looks aboslutely wonderful, and 2 Fast 2 Furious looks hideous. If you ZOOM the picture in (which I never do) you can clearly see just how horrible it gets. Same with Willard. Zooming-In The Matrix does not show this awfulness. Like I said, I never ZOOM in anyway, but zooming in, is just like displaying a 70" picture except you not seeing all of it, since it's obviously zoomed in. I can just imagine how disgusting it looks on a 120" screen!

Actually, Willard looks SOOO bad, you don't have to zoom in at all. At first I thought that I had a defective DVD (I was watching a rental DVD from "Netflix") but when I bought it, I saw the exact same thing. Willard is a huge mess on a larger display. I dread the day when I finally get my FP, as my favourites will look so horrible.

Anyway, back on topic. I'm so sorry I went so off topic, but Brent wanted to know.

 

[Brent M]

Mitch, I think we must be watching a different DVD because I see no bluriness whatsoever and the colors literally jump off the screen. I think Reloaded definitely looks better, but 2 Fast 2 Furious is FAR from hideous or horrible. Those words are reserved for the original release of Scarface and other titles with truly bad PQ.

 

[Mitch Stevens]

Ok, so maybe "horrible" was too harsh a word, but it's definately not a "great" transfer by any stretch of the imagination. I would give it a 6 ouf ot 10 (at most).

Close-ups definitely look fantastic, I'll give you that much, but wide shots (not only the overhead ones) leave much detail lacking. How big is the display you're watching it on?

Willard on the other hand would only get a 3 ouf of 10 from me. And it's claimed by many people to have a reference transfer

 

[Yumbo]

here's my take on transfers as viewed on a 50" plasma:

Matrix Reloaded - very clean.
2 Fast 2 Furious - very luscious.
Willard - very dark.

nothing wrong with any of them.

Fast And The Furious - looks okay.

seems to be a bit of calibration is needed somewhere possibly.

can't win 'em all.

you want bad - watch Owning Mahowny!

 

[terence]

It's to bad they did not release this disc with a dts track because my Hollywood Screener has both DD & dts. The dts track smokes the DD! It's loud, dynamic and the LFE is consistent thru out the film. I consider myself lucky to have this DVD 9 disc. I even pick up the consumer version for a comparison........can't even hold a match to it! Here is a link about other unreleased DVD 9's my cousin sent me, he works out in tinsel town.

http://hometheaterforum.com/htforum/...atrix+reloaded

 

[Brent M]

Mitch, I'm watching on a 50" plasma just like Chris and I agree with his observations completely(except for Willard which I have not seen). I would give Matrix Reloaded a 10 out of 10 and 2 Fast 2 Furious an 8 out of 10.

 

[Lev-S]

In the GAME 'Enter the Matrix', during a Wachowski written and directed scene, Ghost OR Niobe (depends who you are playing as) must kiss Persephone at some point, just like Neo did. And yes, it was hot. I swear I saw tongue.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Maybe they didn't do a nearfield mix for these two movies?

Nearfield mix reffers to a certain EQ curve,and also removing the "X curve" that is need in theatrical presentation,but would make it "harsh" sounding in home enviroments.It's not known how many DVD's are nearfield mix at this point.Dynamic range shouldn't be touched during this process,but unfortunatelly it happens,the most "infamous" case is the original FOTR theatrical cut,it was compressed by as much as 10db admitted by Mi Casa studios,and they explanation is somewhat familiar to those who complaines[rightfully] about compressed sounding music CD's.They are compressed dynamically.
They wan't to squeeze the last bit of resolution by compressing the peaks,and raise the avarage volume.
It seems many people once again confuse loud with dynamic or subjectivelly "good".It also seems that DVD may fall victim to the "HTIB" crowd just like CD did for the "Boombox" crowd, as studios catering to that level of "quality".
Before someone jumps on this, I don't dish anybody's gear here,I'm just making an observation .

 

[Brian Ford]

I enjoyed the hell out of the menu animations. The tranfer is clean, and comes close to the clarity that the Imax presentation delivered. The menu design is much more structured and easier to navigate than the original DVD. Excellent buy for a great price.

4 million copies sold on opening day. Impressive.