Oooh Boy! Fight club on HBO-HD tonight. (1 Viewer)

[CRyan]

Header says it all. Should be interesting to see how it looks and sounds. Can't wait.
Ok....ok... So I am a relative HD newbie. I get excited about these little things.
C. Ryan

 

[CRyan]

Damn. They opened up the mattes. Suck. Although, not horrible, it did kill the framing in several shots. Anyway, at least I did not get any DD dropouts, although, I did get a few sporadic drops in decibel level. The HD picture was quite good, noticeably better than the DVD.
I did an AB comparison between the two and was able to notice quite a bit more clarity. The colors were rich, but did not seem quite as deep as those with the DVD. Yet, this could simply be due to the more natural appearance of colors in general with the HD transfer. Actually, the more I think about it, that is probably the case. Film grain was less noticeable with the HD transfer. The 5.1 surround was great, better than I expected. The airplane scene erupted with sound, as does the DVD, but may have been missing a few of the intermittent thumps as the camera pans down the fuselage immediately following the crash.
I was hoping that HBO was making the switch to preserving the OAR, but it appears this may not be the case. Oh well. Maybe it is time to fire off another letter thanking them for the lack of dropouts but asking again for OAR. I mean who do they think is watching their HD channel right now? J6P? I don’t think so!
C. Ryan
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[Michael St. Clair]

If all they did was open up mattes then you are lucky. Most super 35 films either have at least some effects shots or microphones/shadows/whatever and HBO will pan-and-scan them, or at least pan-and-scan certain scenes.
And it's a new policy...for the first several months, 2.35:1 and other wider-than-1.85:1 movies were mastered in their correct aspect ratio...then HBO decided that the viewers cared more about a full screnn than composition.

 

[CRyan]

Ahh, the transfer for Three Kings was shaby. It seemed overly grainy with oversaturated colors that were way too bright.
C. Ryan
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[Michael St. Clair]

Three Kings is another super 35 film. Notice any scanning?

 

[Frank]

Some of the scenes from 3 Kings look incredible. Near the end of the film when they are trying to cross the border the level of detail and clarity is right up there with the best of them. The early part of the film does not look this good for some reason.

 

[Kevin Coleman]

Some parts of this movie were shot grainy and overexposed as this was an effect the director intended. There is a note about this I think before the movie on the DVD.
Kevin C.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

All the more reason not to shoot Super35

Jeff Kleist

 

[Jim Benard]

All this talk about the video/audio and nobody has a review of the movie? I agree with the above comments but as far as the story is concerned this movie is a total waist of time. What a garbage plot. Totally unbelievable. I had a hard time watching it all the way through. No wonder the critics hated it so much. What was this director trying to accomplish with this movie?
Kudos for one of the 1st HBO 5.1 movies that had NO dropouts!!! Hope this is a new trend for HBO HD!

 

[CRyan]

Actually, the point of this thread was to discuss the HD presentation. A review of the film would have been posted in the Movies Area. Trust me, that subject was discussed ad nausea when the DVD was first released. I actually really enjoy the film and think it is a great example of pop culture.
As you said though, it was very nice to have a movie on HBO that had no dropouts. Maybe this will be a sign of things to come.
C. Ryan
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[Eugene Hsieh]

I was just wondering what equipment those comparing the DVD to the HBO version used. Progressive scan DVD, etc.? Also, does anyone know what they used for their transfer? It would be interesting if they ever released the version without the mattes. (If I am understanding you correctly, you are talking about the same width movie, but with the top and bottom mattes removed.)

I agree with the above comments but as far as the story is concerned this movie is a total waist of time. What a garbage plot. Totally unbelievable. I had a hard time watching it all the way through. No wonder the critics hated it so much.

Some critics hated it, while others loved it. Fight club is one of my favourite movies of all time, even if ain't perfect. The plot was tight (although a bit saccharine and predictable at times), and the acting was perfect for the tone of the movie (aside from Helena Bonham Carter). I don't think it was believable either, but of course, that wasn't the point. But to each his or her own.
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[CRyan]

Eugene, I used the JVC progressive scan DVD player. Both inputs on the TV are callibrated identically using the AVIA callibration disc. I doubt you will ever see the version broadcast on HBO released to DVD. Mainly because most here want the theaterical ratio presented.
I have no idea what they used to master the HD transfer. Someone here might know.
C. Ryan
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[Rob L]

Jim,
you are missing the whole point of the movie. Maybe it is too deep for your understanding. Oh and who cares if it is not "believable"? I have news for you...90% of the movies out there are not believable.

 

[Jim Benard]

Rob, if you want compare what I meant by believable take "The Matrix". That was a deep movie on the edge that you could really appreciate. Compare that to the plot of Fight Club. I'm not saying that everything is supposed to be taken too seriously but if you emerse yourself in a movie, you should be able to buy into the plot. I understand the guy was mental and had a imaginary friend but the killer for me was when the Cops where in on the fix. I could see a select few people getting into hitting people but to find the Police also? Give me a break....
enough said... back to the topic