David Coleman
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2000
- Messages
- 764
I'm starting this thread cause i'm interested if some of the views I have are shared by others. Let me say that nearly all studios put out great product nowadays and the concerns they have towards restoration of older material is commendable! However much I may want to cheer on behalf a studio there's seems to be a policy (or seeming policy) that defies convention. Well here's a few of my thoughts:
WARNER:
Hands down the best video transfers, I haven't seen a bad one of theirs in years including older catalog titles. However the bad is the Snappers (only studio doing them) almost stubborn refusal to use DTS (other than Morgan Creek releases outside the test discs) and why do they still do 384kbs DD when the standard is 448kbs?? These things confound me??
ARTISAN
T2 EE. This studio has pushed the barrier once more on DVD. First with RSDL, the first DVD-18, and their special editions are high quality. If it's not a SE it sucks-- BIG TIME!! Even RESEVOIR DOGS isn't exempt!!
UNIVERSAL:
The held such promise to me with the ULTIMATE EDITION series (Film on one disc/ Special Features on the other) but now it seems they CRAM everything on one disc!! Also their transfers while generally good lack consistency. Please help me if there are any other 2 disc sets (outside RED DRAGONC) outside the ULTIMATE EDITION banner.
FOX:
I'm sorry but right now I can't really think of a complaint. Their video quality is up there (though not at the level of a Warner) and this studio I dare say is the most consumer friendly studio out there!! They offer it all!! Multi disc sets for appropriate films. DTS as an option on films that merit them. Real special features! Restorations of important older films. They may have some caveats but I haven't noticed them lately. Pricing they are also great at too!!! The best value of all studios!!
MGM:
Much improved and love the latest Bond package. They've gone from awful to pretty good!! Their pricing is fantastic. I'm surprised by how many of their titles i've got and that's mostly cause the price is right. However, their barebones titles are really bare. No effort to upgrade the sound formats to 5.1 (not that they all need them) and little restoration efforts on the older titles that I can tell. However, long way from where they used to be!
PARAMOUNT:
Improving!!
They've had mostly top notch transfers and to their credit they've almost always tried to remix to 5.1 when possible along with giving the original sound mix on most titles. When it comes to this studio it's always the same thing!! Value!!!
Pricing is still to high for catalog releases and they come with NO extras for the most part. Now they have been dropping some of their titles to competitive levels lately but still that lack of extras is bothering. Also the fact that multi disc sets don't seem to exist (only one's I can think of are Star Treks and Forrest Gump) help me out if there's other titles
COLUMBIA/TRISTAR
I guess this is my most frustrating studio!! I love the SUPERBIT line and though the premium on them isn't really worth it I appreciate they have a line that's on par with Warner! However it irks me that they know how to produce a beter product- yet they don't do it!! They hold back quality to produce a lesser quality product to the public, then sell them the quality they should have had from the beginning and charge a premium for it!! As we all know SB is simply more than doubling the data rate, it's eliminating the level of pre-filtering of the high frequency material before encoding!! If that didn't do this on the initial releases and offered the quality first and the extras next they'd be competitive with everyone's quality!! They also are shy on the multi disc releases!!
NEWLINE:
No complaints here!! They and FOX put out the best product appropriate for each title! Newline doesn't compromise the quality but always has top flight extras for the consumers and the pricing is right!!
BUENA VISTA:
Inconsistent!!!
This studio has released some stellar releases (Pearl Harbor: VS, TARZAN: Collector's series, PLATNINUM EDITION releases,) yet they still release garbage looking transfers on the older material and aren't even consistent in them being anamorphic. They also seem to be shying away from the extras!! However they have had some stellar releases at times and do offer the option of DTS.
Well theses are just a few of my thoughts! I'm really interested to hear yours???
David
WARNER:
Hands down the best video transfers, I haven't seen a bad one of theirs in years including older catalog titles. However the bad is the Snappers (only studio doing them) almost stubborn refusal to use DTS (other than Morgan Creek releases outside the test discs) and why do they still do 384kbs DD when the standard is 448kbs?? These things confound me??
ARTISAN
T2 EE. This studio has pushed the barrier once more on DVD. First with RSDL, the first DVD-18, and their special editions are high quality. If it's not a SE it sucks-- BIG TIME!! Even RESEVOIR DOGS isn't exempt!!
UNIVERSAL:
The held such promise to me with the ULTIMATE EDITION series (Film on one disc/ Special Features on the other) but now it seems they CRAM everything on one disc!! Also their transfers while generally good lack consistency. Please help me if there are any other 2 disc sets (outside RED DRAGONC) outside the ULTIMATE EDITION banner.
FOX:
I'm sorry but right now I can't really think of a complaint. Their video quality is up there (though not at the level of a Warner) and this studio I dare say is the most consumer friendly studio out there!! They offer it all!! Multi disc sets for appropriate films. DTS as an option on films that merit them. Real special features! Restorations of important older films. They may have some caveats but I haven't noticed them lately. Pricing they are also great at too!!! The best value of all studios!!
MGM:
Much improved and love the latest Bond package. They've gone from awful to pretty good!! Their pricing is fantastic. I'm surprised by how many of their titles i've got and that's mostly cause the price is right. However, their barebones titles are really bare. No effort to upgrade the sound formats to 5.1 (not that they all need them) and little restoration efforts on the older titles that I can tell. However, long way from where they used to be!
PARAMOUNT:
Improving!!
They've had mostly top notch transfers and to their credit they've almost always tried to remix to 5.1 when possible along with giving the original sound mix on most titles. When it comes to this studio it's always the same thing!! Value!!!
Pricing is still to high for catalog releases and they come with NO extras for the most part. Now they have been dropping some of their titles to competitive levels lately but still that lack of extras is bothering. Also the fact that multi disc sets don't seem to exist (only one's I can think of are Star Treks and Forrest Gump) help me out if there's other titles
COLUMBIA/TRISTAR
I guess this is my most frustrating studio!! I love the SUPERBIT line and though the premium on them isn't really worth it I appreciate they have a line that's on par with Warner! However it irks me that they know how to produce a beter product- yet they don't do it!! They hold back quality to produce a lesser quality product to the public, then sell them the quality they should have had from the beginning and charge a premium for it!! As we all know SB is simply more than doubling the data rate, it's eliminating the level of pre-filtering of the high frequency material before encoding!! If that didn't do this on the initial releases and offered the quality first and the extras next they'd be competitive with everyone's quality!! They also are shy on the multi disc releases!!
NEWLINE:
No complaints here!! They and FOX put out the best product appropriate for each title! Newline doesn't compromise the quality but always has top flight extras for the consumers and the pricing is right!!
BUENA VISTA:
Inconsistent!!!
This studio has released some stellar releases (Pearl Harbor: VS, TARZAN: Collector's series, PLATNINUM EDITION releases,) yet they still release garbage looking transfers on the older material and aren't even consistent in them being anamorphic. They also seem to be shying away from the extras!! However they have had some stellar releases at times and do offer the option of DTS.
Well theses are just a few of my thoughts! I'm really interested to hear yours???
David