"The Haunting" DTS ES (WOW!) (Merged thread) (1 Viewer)

[Kieran Coghlan]

Antonio_M:
DTS is not to blame, if you don't like the sound track. They (AFAIK) did not master that soundtrack for that disc, the studio's engineers did. I could be wrong, but this is what I was told.
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-Kieran
My HT Page

 

[Jon D]

I had rented the DD copy a long time ago when my system was uncalibrated (re: sub up WAAAAY too high) abd I don't remember anything remarkable about it. I do remember that I thought the surrounds were too easy to notice and very gimmicky. The DTS version however floored me. The surrounds are much smoother and transparent and the bass is MUCH stronger even with my sub at a lower volume. Just do yourself a favor and disconnect your center channel so you don't have to endure the pain inducing dialog.
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Women are often attracted to men with money and power. I have neither, and they know it.

 

[David Ruiz]

I just got the Haunting DTS version yesterday. I had been fighting with myself on whether or not to buy this DVD, because I am not a fan of this movie! In fact, I hate it! But, I kept on hearing things about the incredible sound that it had, so I finally gave in, and bought it.

Anyway, just as I said, it arrived yesterday, and immediately I popped it in the DVD player, and played Chapter 10 & 17 WOW!

How in the world did they get that incredible bass in there? How come more movies don't have bass like this? The bass was truly terrifying. I thought my room was going to cave in. I have a celiing fan, and it was shaking back and fourth. I thought it was going to fall on top of me. My walls were creaking, the floor was creaking, my TV was rocking back and forth. And, I didn't even have it loud! My sub is calibrated to 75 DB, and I've *NEVER* heard bass like this coming from *ANY* movie, even though I own 200. Not even U-571 has bass like this!

This DVD makes Jurassic DTS Corrected Version sound WEAK!

I have a question. We all know that the DTS version of Jurassic park was 4 DBs too low, and that's why they corrected it, but does anyone think that "The Haunting" might have the bass TOO HIGH? Maybe it was a mistake on their part? There were a couple of times, where I thought my sub would bottom out, because the bass was just too strong!

 

[Julian Lalor]

I just got the Haunting DTS version yesterday. I had been fighting with myself on whether or not to buy this DVD, because I am not a fan of this movie! In fact, I hate it! But, I kept on hearing things about the incredible sound that it had, so I finally gave in, and bought it.

Boy, have DreamWorks got your number. Making you buy films you hate.

 

[Mike Soltis]

Julian,
What other movie shakes your house like this one?
And when I think of how bad the movie is I just look at Catherine Zeta-Jones.....

 

[Leif Wall]

I recently upgraded from the DD version of this movie. Finally got to watch it earlier today. Definitely a subwoofer killer. I've got an SVS 20-39cs and I'm in a fairly large room, but it still sounded amazing. At times there were waves of LFE you could feel. Chapter 17 though... that big bass hit where Lili Taylor gets thrown out of the bed, that was too low for the SVS at the volume I was listening at. It didn't bottom out, but oh man I know it had to be mighty close.

 

[Nick_Scott]

I think they were going for a tactile effect to increase the scare.

When I originally saw it in the theater, the sound was just stereo at low volume. The movie nearly put me to sleep. Actually, I think I did fall asleep for a minute.

But now, with the DTS DVD, you can feel the house as it goes after Nell. It almost makes the movie scary. Almost, though it makes an excellent DVD to test the tactile transducers on unsuspecting friends.

 

[Sean Moon]

I rememeber reading interviews with Jan DeBont before this festering pile of animal waste hit theaters(sorry...mind took control). He said the thing he was excited about the most with this film was the sound, particualrly Dolby EX, as this was the third film(after Phantom Menace and Austin Powers 2) to feature the sound format. He said he wanted the sound to be an actor in the film. The bad part is the sound is the only thing worthwhile in this film.

And yes, it is a subwoofer killer....BIG TIME

 

[JoshB]

I'm wondering what kind of opinions anyone has about Dreamworks Signature Selection of The Haunting. I have heard that the DD 5.1 track is great, but that the 6.1 DTS-ES is reference quality, among the best available. I have not yet seen it, and have seen it relatively cheap on auctions and such. So I was wondering how good a DVD it is, such as the replay value, quality of picture and sound, and the movie itself. I have heard quite a bit of how bad the movie itself is, but any opinions would be great.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

You summed it up correctly.
From a technical standpoint - outstanding audio and video. The lowest bass from a DVD I have ever experienced!
As for the movie itself -

 

[Mitch Stevens]

The low bass is enough to justify a purchase of this title in DTS. Don't bother with the Dolby Digital version, if you decide to buy it.

The video quality, in my opinion isn't that good. I thought it looked too compressed. I'm not saying it was plain awful, but the video was not reference.

The movie is another story altogether. I have grown to like it, since I bought it. I had seen it in theaters, and I absolutely hated it. When people started saying that the sound quality was too good to miss, I went out and bought it, knowing how much I hated it. After watching it a couple of times, it's not that bad.

I'm not saying that you'll end up liking it, if you see it more than once, that's just what happened to me. If you want a movie to demo to your friends about what kind of sound you can get out of a DVD, then this is the film to buy!

 

[Patrick Sun]

They don't call this dts DVD a sub-killer for nothing! It will expose puny subs with no built-in limiters (when played at moderate to high volume levels).

 

[Michael Reuben]

The movie is an embarrassingly bad remake of a Robert Wise classic. I suffered through it once in the theater and have had no interest in seeing any part of it ever again. I'm sure the disc is a technical marvel, but I buy discs to watch the movie, not to work out my sub.

M.

 

[MikeEckman]

Alot of people rip on this movie mainly because it was a very poor remake of a much superior film. However, in the vein of remakes such as The Time Machine, Planet of the Apes, Oceans 11 (okay, the new one was pretty good), most big budget Hollywood remakes bare very little in common with the original movies.

The new Haunting has a house with amazing atmosphere. I mean, just the house in itself is impressive to see. The acting leaves a lot to be desired, but as it stands as a cheesy B-horror movie, I think it was really well done. It is no worse than any other popcorn-horror film that Hollywood has put out in the last few years. I think that film critics (both professional and on here) unfairly rip this movie, because they are comparing it to a classic.

If youve seen the original, just pretend this is a totally different movie, if you've never seen the original, then forget this is even a remake and be prepared for a very visually and atmospherically exciting disc with an excellent soundtrack...

 

[Rich Malloy]

This movie will bore you out of your skin. Might as well be wallpaper.

 

[Marc Colella]

I borrowed the DVD from a friend (so it didn't even cost me a penny) and I still wanted my money back.

I haven't seen the original, but this was just terrible beyond belief. One of the worst movies that year.

Definetely skip this one, no matter how good the DVD is.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I think that film critics (both professional and on here) unfairly rip this movie, because they are comparing it to a classic.

It's true -- if you're going to remake a classic to capitalize on the name recognition, you're inviting comparisons. So you'd better do a good job. But even on its own as a cheesy horror film, The Haunting doesn't work. The much-derided remake of House on Haunted Hill did a much better job of catching the B-picture spirit, IMO.

M.

 

[Jack Briggs]

What Michael and Rich said. It disturbs me that more have probably seen this wretched mess than have the 1963 classic original--which is the best ghost story ever committed to film. If you're looking for some demo discs to show off your equipment, there are so many out there containing much better flicks.

 

[Marc_E]

I love the original, this movie was a bore. Borrow it if you can.

Marc

 

[Colin Jacobson]

if you're going to remake a classic to capitalize on the name recognition, you're inviting comparisons.

Do you really think they remade The Haunting "to capitalize on the name recognition"? Since 99% of the current movie-going public never heard of the original, I don't see how that's possible.

And for the record, I actually mildly liked the flick when I saw it theatrically. Didn't think it was especially good, but I enjoyed it to a moderate degree. It's worked less and less well on reviewings, though.

And back to the original question, yes, the DTS version DEFINITELY outdoes the DD one and merits a listen...