The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 20th Anniversary DVD (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I watched mine at 103" on an Infocus 4805 and it looks great, I don't see any of the pixelation your describing.

 

[Robert Anthony]

I didn't at first--but it's right there in the screencap. That sequence is REALLY bad.

Haven't checked the underwater fight sequence yet (and that's always been one of the goofiest moments in the movie--which I skipped straight past, so I haven't even seen that yet) so we'll see if it's worse there.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

I wouldn't say it is worse in the underwater scene but you can see it. Also scenes where Unicron is torturing Galvatron and it is the red strobe effect.

 

[Geoff_D]

I noticed the blocking at various points throughout the movie. With a little noise reduction applied it's still very watchable on my 43" plasma.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Well, maybe the reason it looks fine to me is because of the Faroudjia DCDi deinterlacer in the PJ, it's cleaning up the image to a degree where I can't see the pixelation.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

John,

Can I come watch it at your house then?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Absolutely, and bring some friends, and beer.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

John,

So what is the player you are using? I've been needing a new player so maybe it is time to upgrade.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I have the Sony DVP-NS75H, it upconverts DVD's to 720p or 1080i however since the Infocus is only capable of 480p I keep the player set at that.

Actually, thinking about it more, i'm using the DVI input which defeats the Faroudia in the PJ, so I suppose it's the player that's doing the clean up, I also keep the sharpness on the PJ set at standard which softens the image even more.

It's a great player IMO.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

Great, thanks!

 

[mike kaminski]

Just got this, after waiting for this basically since 1987 or so :p . I have the previous Rhino release, which i felt was quite decent if barebones, but this was a natural buy for many obvious reasons.

The biggest of course is the original theatrical print telecine. However, i am very dissapointed. Firstly the video quality--terrible!! This is the worst compressed feature i have seen in a long time. Compression artifacts are everywhere and the picture looks very murky and ugly in any action scene--and this damn thing only clocks in at 88 minutes long! What the hell? There is also lots of interlacing problems, making things even worse. Some shots also appeared a bit soft, especially in fine detail. The video is watchable, but this is not the definitive version i hoped for.
Furthermore, aesthetically the visuals are still imperfect--i know that this differs quite differently than the previous releases because they used the original print but i suspect that this is not quite 100%. Its too bright and the colours are a bit off--i know the previous versions were too dark and that the genuine true release is brighter, but this strikes me as a bit unnatural, mostly because colours we know are supposed to look a certain way aren't quite that--for instance Hot Rod comes off with a bit of pink in him in some shots, as opposed to the darker orange/burgundy combo he is supposed to be.

Still, theres some good to be said about the film--the print is amazingly blemish-free, and its a treat to have the original theatrical aspect ratio finally released. It is, however, far from definitive, and needs another release to finally get it right.

The fullscreen version on disk 2 is just as bad in terms of compression and authoring screw-ups, and also sports a much poorer print in terms of scratches, exposure fluxtuation and general quality, although some of the colours seemed a bit more accurate than the theatrical telecine (although here they are often too dark and murky looking).

The real reason to get this is the extras, which are plentiful and a real treat for fans. A few really informative featuretts, plus commentaries and text commentaries, vintage commercials and trailers--they delivered here at least. Fantastic to finally here from those involved and get to see a behind the scenes look at the film.

For the low cost and great extras this is an easy decision for Transformers fans, but for those looking for a definitive version of the film itself this is hardly it--in fact, i may even be watching the previous Rhino edition next time i want to see the film itself.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

If you are going to get this, you should get the Japanese version. It is colored better, comes with a trailer, and has full-sized smokestacks (so he doesn't have to get used to being half a robot). (Hasbro had to shorten the smoke stacks on the American version due to safety regulations.) There's also a much smaller, less expensive Prime toy as well as a PEPSI version of the old toy.

There is also a "Masterpiece" version of Starscream.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Thanks, Jeff, the 20th anniversary edition Prime will do me fine, besides I always end up modifying anything that's wrong with a figure or toy that I buy, so i'll just replace the stacks with fabricated ones and chrome plate the appropriate parts using alcolt.

I went back and looked at the DVD again taking into account all that has been said, I even took it into the bedroom and watched some scenes on my 27" and while I do see some compression artifacts i'm not willing to go so far as to say they are quite as bad as some claim, in fact I barely saw any except for when there is flashing lights going on.

As for the light level you must keep in mind that your used to seeing this movie on VHS and the Rhino DVD which were not accurate representations of what the film looked like in theaters, both were altered in some way from the light level to the color palette, which BTW is accurate, Hot Rod was and is supposed to be pink, orange and yellow. Past editions, while being very color-rich, were over-saturated IMO and that was onlt compounded by a too dark transfer.

The color on this DVD is very clean and balanced and makes subtle colors stand apart from one another while reds and oranges tended to bleed and were sometimes indisguishable from one another before.

The light level on this DVD isn't too dark and it isn't too bright, it's just enough to give more depth to scenes and allow shadow detail to make themselves known, this is something that always bothered me about previous versions of the film and IMO they corrected that wonderfully here.

It's a case of not being used to the film looking this way, but if you go back and watch it a couple of times you'll come to accept how certain things look pretty quickly.

Like I said Flint Dille even stated that the new transfer is even more accurate than the film print and I see no reason to challenge him on that or change anything for a future edition, they could transfer the newly created master just the way it is on say an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray release in the future and it would be perfect, minus the compression and interlacing I assume.

In the end, aside from OCCASIONAL compression artifacts and some interlacing, particularly during the end credits scroll, this is a very solid release for this film, there's nothing wrong with it aside from the compression which is sparse to my eyes and the interlacing which, again, is only truly visible during the credits.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

The Oklahoman has posted an interview with Peter Cullen.

 

[Johnny Jr.]

I was saw the prime collector's set and I have to admit it looks quite spectacular. I couldn't believe the detail on the matrix. I ended up picking up the new 2-disc set and will probably end up giving my old rhino release to a friend. From what I am reading it seems that the rhino release is sub-par to this "sub-par" transfer.

On an unrelated note have any canadians found any lenticular covers?

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

After comparing some scenes tonight, I am afraid I am going to stick with the Rhino version. Sure the Junk planet scenes are VHS quality but in general I prefer it to this new version for picture quality. I will keep the new one for the extras but this for me was the biggest disappointment this year on one of the titles I was waiting for most.

 

[KyleC]

Where can you get that 20th Anniversary Prime?

 

[Rolando]

I would like to know too!

 

[nolesrule]

The one I got in 2004 came from Toys'R'Us. According to Bigbot.com the current one is available at Amazon.com TRU and Wal-mart's websites.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Or if you just want to venture out to pick it up it's available at Kay Bee Toy's and ToysRUs.

I think i'm getting it from a friend for Christmas so i'm waiting on it.