The Ring Two Unrated Edition Video Quality - a word of warning (1 Viewer)

[Jim_E]

Thought I'd post about the Ring Two disc I had the displeasure of watching last night. I purchased the unrated version (my normal practice when offered a choice) and nearly watched it on my projector on Sunday - electing to watch Sin City instead. Whether it was the excellence of that films transfer that made me critical of the Ring Two or not I can't say - but immediatley upon playing the disc (on a regular 28inch widescreen tv) I was unimpressed by the video quality.

Things got far worse however - when it got to what I can only assume are the scenes not shown in the theatrical version (which I haven't seen). These are clearly taken from an inferior source, and feature excessive noise and grain - really taking you out of the film. The audio on some of these scense appeared to be lacking also.

I can accept a situation where this happens in a seamlessly branched extra version of the film - but when its the only choice on the disc it makes for a far from ideal situation.

Just thought people might like to be forewarned....

 

[Daniel-M]

I had no problem with the picture on my 32" widescreen

 

[Yumbo]

Yes, just watched it...the video quality is quite varying, but what really made me sit up, was the 2 or 3 occurences of moire and shimmering which I have not seen on a disc in YEARS!

EE was terrible when noticed. Sound was decent, but had overly distorted bass on the RINGS mini film.

 

[Grant H]

Maybe they're trying to lower the body count by reducing the number of people who will watch it.

 

[Dave Mack]

This blows. THE RING looked great IMHO and I didn't notice an audio problem with the separate copy of "RINGS" when it was in the 2-pack.

:frowning:

 

[Yumbo]

Yes, THE RING is way better looking.
Me thinks too many extras on disc, especially fluffy ones.

They had too much stuff on the first movie! Bit too late to add extras for that one.

 

[Doug Schiller]

Did Mirimax secretly secure the home video rights to Ring 2???

 

[Vincent-P]

Jim,
Did you see The Ring 2 in theaters? I did and thought many scenes seemed grainy and actually had a very digital look to it. I spent half the film trying to figure out if it was shot digitally because I hadn't heard anything about them going that route. I'm just curious if you saw it in the theater and what you're seeing on the disc is different or if what you're describing could in part be some of the film's "look." Anyone else who saw it in theaters feel free to chime in.

Edit: I just reread your post and realized you didn't see it in theaters.

 

[Mike<> C]

whats the differance between the rated and unrated?

 

[David Ruiz]

I don't know how much help I can be, but I saw it in theaters on the day of release. The print itself was in prestine condition, with no scratches, dirt or dust. It looked magnificent.

With that said, there were portions of the movie, where the CGI was really obvious, so everything that was CGI had a fake/digital look (at least to my eyes). Everything else looked as perfect as you can imagine.

 

[Mathew B]

More extras and widescreen on the Unrated. Fullscreen and less extras on the Rated.

It's worth noting the R2 DVD is the rated version in widescreen. Which could be an alternative, except it still has less extras (and different ones to the R1 rated version).

 

[Jim_E]

Vincent P -

As you realised I didn't see this in the cinema. I'd agree that there seems to be a somewhat 'digital' look to the whole film. However, certain scenes look noticeably worse to me. I noticed it first during a lengthy scene at an antique fair. That scene just looked to be taken from an inferior source - like some deleted scenes you see. The audio also seemed unsweetened too.

There were other instances - I'm at work now so can't check them all - one that springs to mind is a scene of Naomi Watts in a hospital watching an informercial on tv. I'll have a look again later on a different DVD player and report back any more scenes I notice.

 

[Jim_E]

Just had another quick look (not much time at the moment - packing to go to the V music festival tomorrow) - anyway - the scene to look for is indeed when they go to the farmers market - as the car pulls up the picture looks OK - but when Naiomi Watts talks to some women she meets there the picture becomes softer and the audio rougher. I'd bet this was an added scene not in the original theatrical print - anyone know?

 

[Vincent-P]

I'm not sure exactly which part you are referring to when you say Naomi Watts is talking to some women...I don't remember if that was in the theatrical cut or not. But I do remember that the flea market sequence is the one which had the most "digital" processed look to it. It's the scene that really jumped out at me as "why's the picture look like this? Did they film this digitally?"

 

[Jim_E]

That scene does look more digital than the rest - everything after they get out of the car till probably when the kid goes into the bathroom looks softer and sounds worse to me - the fact that other scenes in the film look similarly worse led to me think that they were probably the ones added. Guess we'll have to see when someone who has seen both cuts can chime in with what's different.

Off topic Vincent - but if time and money weren't a factor would you have a preference for film over digital?

 

[TonyD]

i noticed that too and a few other scenes.
seemed that when the camera would change the quality would too.

the moire or shimmering was very noticable when she goes to the hospital.
you can see rainbow on the fence and the top of the building
just above the fence.

 

[Bob clamer]

Comparisons:
R1 America - (Dreamworks Interactive) Extras:"Faces Of Fear: The Cast" featurette
"HBO First Look" featurette
Deleted Scenes
Production Notes
Bonus Trailers
Cast and Crew BiographiesSubtitles:English, French and SpanishPicture format:4:3 Anamorphic NTSC Soundtrack(s):English Dolby Digital 5.1
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
French Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundCase type:Amaray (Keep) CaseNotes:Released August 23rd, 2005.

R1 America - (Dreamworks Interactive - UNRATED) Extras:"Rings" short film
"Walter Parkes Introduces 'Rings'" featurette
"Faces Of Fear: The Cast" featurette
"Samara: From Eye To Icon" featurette
"Fear On Film: Special Effects" featurette
"The Power Of Symbols" featurette
"HBO First Look" featurette
Deleted Scenes
Production Notes
Bonus Trailers
Cast and Crew BiographiesSubtitles:English, French and SpanishPicture format:1.85:1 Anamorphic NTSC Soundtrack(s):English Dolby Digital 5.1
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
French Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundCase type:Amaray (Keep) CaseNotes:Released August 23rd, 2005.

 

[BrettGallman]

Okay, I just watched this one, and the above scene (at the market with the ladies) was not in the theatrical cut. And yes, the video quality was inferior during the added scenes, which isn't saying much. I thought the transfer as a whole was pretty poor, especially the really dark black areas on the screen. Maybe it's just me, but did blacks start to look somewhat red in parts? This was just a really bad looking disc overall; the audio is okay, but nothing to really write home about.

 

[Will K]

Compared to nearly all other newer movies on DVD, I thought this looked noticeably sub-par. They must've crammed a lot of stuff onto the disc, because it looks like a compressed DVD-R copy. The movie stunk anyway.

 

[Arnie G]

Where are the reviews?