Unforgiven, Full Metal Jacket 5/16 (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Scott]

as per high def digest.

WOOO HOOOO! FMJ was one of the first must have titles for me.
hopefully this means it won't be more than 2 weeks before we get some Batman (or Potter or Matrix...) goodnes as well.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I just watched Unforgiven on regular DVD three days ago. I can't imagine a better movie with a worse PQ, I really hope they've restored the film for its HD transfer.

 

[Don Solosan]

Which version did you watch? The early single disc version is pretty horrible, but the 2-disc special edition is very good.

 

[Herb Kane]

To add to Paul's post, here is the WB Press Release:
---------------------------------------------------







FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE ATTACHED



WARNER HOME VIDEO ROLLS OUT

TW0 MORE HD DVD TITLES

Full Metal Jacket and Unforgiven Debut May 16



Burbank, Calif., (May 8, 2006) - Warner Home Video (WHV) has announced the release of the next wave of HD DVD titles: Full Metal Jacket and Unforgiven debuting May 16. Both titles will be available for $28.99 SRP.



Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick's definitive film about the Vietnam War which follows an 18-year-old marine recruit -- from boot camp to heavy fighting during the 1968 Tet Offensive; Unforgiven is Clint Eastwood's classic Western which won 4 Academy Awards® including Best Picture.



All bonus materials on the Standard Definition versions of each of the two titles will be included on the HD DVD versions.



Warner Home Video HD DVDs offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color in addition to beautifully crisp sound. HD DVD also provides a new level of interactivity, giving instant access to extra features with the debut of a seamless menu bar that allows viewers to enjoy features and settings without leaving or interrupting the film.

 

[Paul_Scott]

good to see its $29.98 SRP and not $34.98 as some were reporting!

Off to Amazon to see if I can pre-order these yet.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Probably the 1-disk (it looked bad), I ordered from Netflix, so I didn't look at the box.

 

[Paul Borges]

Talk about short timespan between announcement and release!

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Isn't FMJ a 1.33 aspect ratio film shot with a mono sound track? Hardly seems like the great demo material we'd like.

Regards

 

[Vincent_P]

FULL METAL JACKET was remixed for its last DVD incarnation in 5.1 with the co-operation of the Kubrick estate, and was released theatrically with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. I believe the HD-DVD will be widescreen.

Regardless, even if it was mono and 1.33:1, that doesn't mean the film would automatically look or sound bad. And in the end, is this supposed to be about watching good movies in the best possible presentaion at home, or giving "demos" of your home theater system?

Incidentally, Robert Harris mentioned in another thread that WB is working on several non-widescreen classics (such as the 1930s Technicolor ROBIN HOOD) for HD-DVD release- it that automatically a bad thing, too, since those films will be mono and 1.33:1?

Vincent

 

[TonyD]

i still havent opened my 2 dvd spec ed.

guess its time to start ebaying some movies see what i can get for'em

 

[Ray H]

Full Metal Jacket is a bit curious. So the only extra will be what was on the previous disc - the trailer? Warners is supposed to be doing SEs of other Kubrick films later this year so I wonder whether if this title will be given an SE anytime so soon after an HD-DVD release.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Thanks Vincent.

Now is the 1.85 version of FMJ just a matted presentation of the 1.33 original?

I bring it up not so much for my own benefit, but for others since many people do believe that this was some big wide screen film with a kicking sound track when it wasn't presented like that in the theater.

Regards

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Michael:

Virtually *all* modern films using the 1.85 ratio are photographed full-frame and matted in theatres. FMJ was in mono in 1987 because Kubrick did not "trust" Dolby Stereo decoding and it had one of the best mono tracks I've ever heard. The 5.1 remix done a couple of years ago retains all of the impact of the mono while opening up the soundfield.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Nonetheless, I'm hoping it retains the original mono soundtrack.

 

[Keith E]

I did read that FMJ was going to be a 1.33:1 Full Frame release.

How is this going to transfer to HD DVD?
Is the player going to windowbox the movie or we will have to change the settings on our projection set up to watch the movie?

 

[Paul McElligott]

I don't understand why they would do that. Kubrick favored 1.33 for home video because that was the native aspect ratio of the format. Now that home video is 16:9 natively, releasing FMJ in a HD format at 1.33:1 would seem to actually go against Kubrick's wishes.

 

[Walter Kittel]

There is a review of Full Metal Jacket up at High Def Digest. As per the review's disc specifications, this title is formatted @ 1.78:1

- Walter.

 

[Walter Kittel]

BTW, the review of Full Metal Jacket is fairly critical of the video on this disc, but considering that I really dislike the 1.33:1 framing of the current release, I'll probably add this to my collection simply for the letterbox formatting (which was how I saw the film theatrically so many years ago.)

- Walter.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

My review copy arrived today; as noted, 1.78:1 and no mono soundtrack.

 

[Ron-P]

Let us know how it looks and sounds Mark.