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Super Speedway: The Mach II SE-Better? (1 Viewer)

Jim_C

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Feb 6, 2001
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I've heard about Super Speedway but never got overly interested. Yesterday I went over to this guy's house to buy a center channel from him. We were talking about the recent addition of a Klipsch Academy center to his system so he threw in Super Speedway.
OH MY GOD!
I must have this DVD! I was planning to go out and get it today but I saw that there is a DTS version coming out next month. I tend to favor DTS versions so I could wait but I'm really dying to play this DVD in my system.
My question: Is the only thing different about the SE is the addition of DTS? Is it going to have any improvements to the transfer, etc? I don't really care if there are extras, I want it for the track scenes.
Thanks for any input.
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Jin E

Second Unit
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Nov 19, 2000
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452
As someone who owns a DTS copy of this film already (Laserdisc) I can say for certain that only one word is needed to describe the race car scence...
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET
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-Jin
My Theater
 

Mike A

Agent
Joined
Jul 1, 2000
Messages
39
I believe the new SE is going to have an anamorphic transfer. So I'm definately getting the new one.
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Scott Simonian

Screenwriter
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Jun 20, 2001
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Hey, Ive never seen SuperSpeedway. Whats it like? Is it a story based or just taped races?
Isnt it an IMAX movie? I hear a lot of talk about this movie. Is it good?
 

Brian Perry

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May 6, 1999
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Scott,
Super Speedway is extremely highly recommended as a demo DVD. It is not as long as a feature film. It shows how a race car is built, all the way from the car's conception to its testing.
The scene where Mario is driving under the overpasses will blow you away. There is deep bass going all the way down to around 15 Hz.
 
Joined
Feb 13, 1999
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This is one great demo. I have both the dolby digital dvd and the DTS LD. Awesome! I'm a car guy to begin with, but even my friends who are not are blown away. Thanks for the heads-up on the new dvd. I'll pick that up.
 

Scott Simonian

Screenwriter
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Jun 20, 2001
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Hmmm, Ill have to (double) look into this now. Are the races long? Is there a lot of races? Does the perspective change while racing, (or fixed at 1st person)?
Is it authentic to itself? I mean, are they the REAL sounds and things like that? Not foley or exagerrated.
I might have to buy it for myself or my friend who is a BIG gearhead too. (woops, is gearhead bad terminology?)
Uh, car guy. Yeah.
rolleyes.gif
 

Myram

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 18, 2001
Messages
292
Real Name
SteveH
Hey Jim.....
For those of you who don't know......I'm the guy who blew Jim's mind away with Super Speedway. LOL
Where is the new version listed on the web? I looked at a few sites and didn't find anything on it....so a couple of links would be appreciated.
This movie is taped in IMAX, and all the sounds are real authentic sounds with no fakes or add ins. Simply put......it will blow your mind!!
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James Nguyen

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Messages
295
As a long time owner and fan of the first DVD I can't believe I let it slide under the radar screen that this new release is coming out.
This disc is far and away one of THE definitive demos that I use to show off the system to home theater neophytes.
wink.gif
 

Edwin-S

Premium
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--Hmmm, Ill have to (double) look into this now. Are the races long? Is there a lot of races? Does the perspective change while racing, (or fixed at 1st person)?--
The races are not overly long...more of an appetizer than dinner. The camera rig they used for filming the in-car scenes weighed about 85 lbs, I believe.At close to 200 MPH the camera weight became a factor in the car's handling. This information comes from the documentary on the film's making...quite interesting as well. There are a couple of races with the last one being the longest. The perspective changes from in-car to out of car quite a bit. I find auto racing extremely boring to watch but when I saw this show I was impressed enough that I bought a copy of it.
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CharlesD

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 30, 2000
Messages
1,493
Great DVD. The film is an IMAX movie shot in 1.33:1 and the new DVD is somehow letterboxed. The camera weighed a lot and did effect the handling of the car, but since it was not a competition car, it was allowed more turbo pressure than the CART rules stipulated for races, so it had significantly more HP and was as fast or faster than the other cars despite the added weight and aero penalty of the IMAX camera.
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Edwin-S

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The documentary was, as I noted before, pretty good. I found the anecdote about the Cosworth factory filming amusing....especially as it related to Honda.
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Jim_C

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
2,058
Hello Steve. Welcome to HTF. BTW, I got the KV-3 set up and it sounds great. It really fills in the center of the soundstage much better than the SC-1 ever did.
Well, I think that I'll get the DD version of SS for now and then the DTS version when it comes out. My brother is just getting into HT and he's in the process of putting a new system together. I'll give him the DD version after I get the DTS one. He should have a copy to show off his new setup.
I gotta get this DVD. Now.
Thanks for all the input.
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david cro

Agent
Joined
Mar 3, 2000
Messages
32
Firstly, I have the original release on dvd, and I too was excited about a re-release especially as I have a 16x9 TV. But I have two reservations:- First of all, if it was originally shot 1.33:1 than any 16:9 version must be significantly cropped top and bottom. Secondly, I only have a DD5.1 amp, and if the new version has an additional DTS track then won't the picture and Dolby track have to be more compressed to allow for the extra bit rate taken up by DTS.
 

Rob Gillespie

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Aug 17, 1998
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I'm sure I read somewhere that only the 'making of' documentary will be anamorphic. 16:9 enhancement of a 4:3 picture results in less resolution, so there's little point.
You don't get to see a whole race. It's a documentary (though one that's contrived and rehersed), so all you get is short sections. There's one scene where the background music is Dire Straits' Once Upon A Time In The West, which is really cool, but I found the rest of it less than gripping.
Nice sound, but its' very, very, VERY loud and will tear your ears off at high volume.
[Edited last by Rob Gillespie on August 21, 2001 at 02:26 AM]
 

Mike A

Agent
Joined
Jul 1, 2000
Messages
39
Aren't all Imax films 1.33? I have the Michael Jordan to the MAX DVD and it's anamorhic and looks pretty good to me.
Also isn't there a HDTV demo loop of Super Speedway at 16X9? Or am I thinking of something else?
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Mitsubishi 55807
Toshiba 5109
Yamaha RX-V496
DVD Collection
 

Kimmo Jaskari

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 27, 2000
Messages
1,528
The addition of a DTS track should have no effect on the DD track. DD already uses a maximum bitrate of... was it 448? Full-rate DTS is over 1500 - but usually only half-rate is used nowadays. Which is too bad, IMHO.
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/Kimmo
 

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